Best PC Builds VOTE NOW $500 Low Power NAS Build

[Jsimenhoff]

Vote now for the Best PC Build under $500! Here are the final five:

Storage Heaven by ScrewySqrl

The Cheater by USAFRet

NAStradamus by g-unit1111

NAS Hot Swap by Ingstar

Gateway by Finstar

Welcome to the Summer 2019 Best PC Builds Competition! For more than two decades Tom's Hardware has brought you news and reviews of the latest and greatest in hardware, growing to over 2 million users in the process! With constantly evolving technology, our members have developed an unmatched talent for finding the best prices and putting together the best system builds anywhere.

We've gone ahead and changed the rules a bit, so please make sure to read the list of ground rules below.

Be warned:

• We no longer accept Newegg as a source of parts.
• Build lists must link directly to the Amazon product page.

So why the change? Well, in the past few competitions we've noticed that prices using the PCPartPicker builder don't necessarily reflect actual availability. Given that and the confusion in regards to the list of available vendors, we wanted to simplify the process to encourage more participation.

When exporting your build lists from PCPartPicker, please make sure to edit the links so they point directly to the Amazon product page (please see the BBcode in my example build below for further clarification).

This thread is for the $500 Low Power NAS Build budget category. We are looking for the best performing low power, low profile, NAS storage build under $500. This means we want builds you can stick just about any where, use very little wattage, and have a high storage capacity. Bonus points if your build is fanless. Please only submit builds within the $500 budget category to this thread. All other builds will be disqualified.

We will accept submissions over the next 2 weeks.

Please make sure to follow the ground rules below. Any builds over budget will be disqualified.

Here are the ground rules:

• Only one build per budget category, per user. Multiple builds from a single user or duplicate accounts will be disqualified.
• Do not go over budget.
• Use only Amazon to source parts.
• DO NOT USE Amazon 3rd Party Sellers to source parts.
• Use list prices only: coupons, rebates, bundles or any other limited-time offers will not be accepted.
• Do not include shipping or tax in your final budget.
• Do not include the Operating System, Monitor or VR Headset, Keyboard, Mouse or Gamepad.
• All builds must have a name.
• Do not put your forum handle in the name of your build, and avoid odd capitalization & symbols.
• Provide direct links to the Amazon product pages of each component — we encourage users to use PCPartPicker's System Build for speedy construction. Do not post a link to your build, but rather please be sure to export as BBCode and then edit with the product page links for a quick copy/paste to the forums.

Here's an example build for formatting help:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($251.89 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition 57.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($126.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.81 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB STRIX GAMING OC Video Card ($489.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT - H500 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: $1030.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-19 12:26 EDT-0400

Here are links to all five build categories:

$500 Low Power NAS Build
$750 Media Center Home Theater Build
$1000 Mainstream Gaming Build
$1500 Gaming and Streaming Build
$2000 Content Creation Workstation
$5,000 Ultimate Watercooling Build

Good luck and may the best build win!

 

[NightHawkRMX]

"Store-MI-Stuff"
PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor | $79.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $59.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial - 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory | $61.19 @ Amazon
Storage | Patriot - Scorch 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $25.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Case | Apevia - X-Qtis MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $31.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA - BR 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $49.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $497.10
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-21 13:29 EDT-0400 |

Small M.2 Nvme to install OS onto.

4x3tb 7200rpm hard drives to set in a raid array for a whopping 12 terabytes of speedy storage.

Lower power CPU and ram for solid performance while not making much noise.

The case allows for expansion via adding a 2.5in HDD or SSD. Case also looks decent and can house an optical drive.

Did think of passive cooling, however amazon doesnt have any passive coolers capable of cooling the 65w 2200g.
All links direct to amazon.

 

[Finstar]

"Gateway"

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel - Celeron G4900 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($44.66 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC - Alpine 12 Passive Fanless CPU Cooler ($9.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - H370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 4 GB (1 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($18.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA - SU800 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($22.03 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - IronWolf NAS 6 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($164.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake - Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $456.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-21 15:19 EDT-0400

M.2 drive for OS and software.

Wireless networking so it can be located anywhere.

Can be made fanless by removing the case fan and disabling the PSU fan, the only noise it would make would come from the HDD when accessing data.

High quality HDD made for NAS use.

Expansion room for another 3.5 drive and 2x 2.5 drives.

 

[ingtar33]

Since this is an storage/nas device hotswap bays are necessary, figure you'd run some version of Linux as an OS for this build.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Athlon 200GE 3.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($56.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($68.87 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($29.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - PM961 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($66.40 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake - Toughpower SFX 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply ($92.88 @ Amazon)
Custom: StarTech.com 5.25in Trayless Hot Swap Mobile Rack for 3.5in Hard Drive - Internal SATA Backplane Enclosure ($18.17 @ Amazon)
Custom: StarTech.com 5.25in Trayless Hot Swap Mobile Rack for 3.5in Hard Drive - Internal SATA Backplane Enclosure ($18.17 @ Amazon)
Total: $477.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-21 17:53 EDT-0400

 

[Hellfire13]

The Vault...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor | $79.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI - B450M PRO-M2 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $64.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $37.99 @ Amazon
Storage | ADATA - SU800 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $22.03 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ Amazon
Case | Zalman - T2 Plus MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $39.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $64.90 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $497.85
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-22 04:15 EDT-0400 |

Note: Memory CAS Latency is 15.

 

[Rdslw]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA - XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master - Silencio 352 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($64.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $485.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-22 03:51 EDT-0400

reasoning:

1. Can work back as your PC without an issue.
2. big & fast SSD allows 2.5G network saturation.
3. cold storage HDD will be mostly sleeping, configure linux with sudo hdparm -S 5 /dev/sdX
4. All parts were picked for low noise work.
5. whenever I had a choice I picked products I used/trust.

 

[bloodroses]

Look ma no fans
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Athlon 240GE 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($56.26 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine Passive Fanless CPU Cooler ($11.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($114.11 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($36.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A400 240 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill SCM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: Mistel Vision MX550 Fanless Power Supply with 550W 80 Plus Gold Certified Fanless PSU, Full Modular Power Supply for PC, Featuring with RGB LED Power Supply Controlled via Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $482.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-23 17:07 EDT-0400

This build fits most of the requirements of low power, silent, and storage (with 2 more headers on the motherboard to support 2 more drives since 3tb is small IMO and you'll want some form of RAID besides 0). A 240GB SSD is used for the boot drive. The setup is completely fanless, so the only noise you'll hear is the hard drives.

The only requirement I couldn't squeeze in was a tiny sized case that'd support 4+ 3.5" drives (the fanless power supply is pricey ). So, I found the cheapest case I could with the intentions of it being easy to replace later on with a nice Silverstone, Fractal Design, or Lian Li. It's also why I chose a Mini ITX motherboard instead of Micro ATX; even though I could have saved over $50 on the build .

 

[jeremyj_83]

NAS/Media Server
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($38.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA - SU800 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($22.03 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox NR400 (w/ODD) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($54.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($64.90 @ Amazon)
Total w/o shipping: $497.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-22 11:05 EDT-0400

Small M.2 for OS.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

The Hub :

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA - SU800 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($22.03 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill - SCM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12III 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Wired Network Adapter: Intel - E1G44HTBLK PCIe x4 1000 Mbit/s Network Adapter ($62.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $497.95

Shipping:

$10.03

Base Total:

$487.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-22 15:27 EDT-0400

AMD StoreMI to accelerate the HDD, and a 4x 1gbps Lan connection for fast access.

 

[EECE_RET]

The Stash

Motherboard/CPU: Intel - Pentium J4105 ASRock J4105B-ITX ($108.08 @ Amazon)
RAM: Corsair Memory Kit 16GB (CMSX16GX4M2A2400C16) ($68.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Designs Node 304 ($81.99 @ Amazon)
PowerSupply: Kentek 400 Watt 400W ($22.59 @ Amazon)
Storage: WL 4TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache ($69.50 @ Amazon)
Storage: WL 4TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache ($69.50 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston 120GB A400 SSD ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Total $440.64
8TB NAS, 120GB SSD OS, 16GB Ram. Quad Core Pentium.

 

[katsfarmer]

Esport Reaper
(for the content gamer)
cpu:AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core ($63.50 @ Amazon)
motherboard:ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 ($59.99 @ Amazon)
memory:Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 ($38.99 @ Amazon)
storage:Hitachi HUA723030ALA640 3TB ($46.99 @ Amazon)
storage:ADATA XPG GAMMIX S5 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
video card:XFX Radeon RX 560 - 896 4 GB ($129.99 @ Amazon)
case:Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX ($28.99 @ Amazon)
power supply:SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX ($64.90 @ Amazon)
total: $493.34

 

[FSXwithAMD]

Lil Scamp:

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Corsair MP300 120 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.50 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($64.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $491.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-23 12:52 EDT-0400

 

[ScrewySqrl]

Storage Haven

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Athlon 240GE 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($56.26)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 AORUS M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($73.99)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($32.99)
Storage: PNY CS900 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($17.99)
Storage:5x Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.87 each)
Case: Silverstone RL01B-USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case ($60.71)
Power Supply: Rosewill 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99)
Total: $481.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-26 15:25 EDT-0400

This is a basic storage machine, with 5x 2TB Hard drives and a small 120GB SSD for OS. the drives can be put into RAID 0 for a single 10 TB drive. Alternately, the SSD could be removed and a 6th 2 TB HDD added, allowing a 6 TB RAID 1, or a 12 TB RAID 0 build. this would slow boot times, but would allow a level of redundancy, A standard SATA SSD was chosen to maximize the available drives (an m.2 would eat 2 SATA Ports), and a 2-core, 4 thread CPU is more than enough to handle disk I/O over a network.

 

[gingerrankin]

Nuvol Blanc (White Cloud)

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qTG4KB

CPU: AMD Athlon 240GE 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($61.81 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine Passive Fanless CPU Cooler ($11.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($39.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($98.95 @ Amazon)
Case:Fractal Design ATX Mid Tower Cases FD-CA-DEF-C-BK-TG ($90.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC51 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.65 @ Amazon)
Total: $498.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-26 21:21 EDT-0400

I have chosen:
A processor with integrated gpu of only 35 wats to allow operation without fans.
A cooler without a fan.
Wifi adapter to place it anywhere.
A PSU that at the power demanded by the system will run without a fan.
A ventilated box where fans can be removed at the power demanded by the system.
The Mobo is B450 to allow in the future RAID in case of incorporating a second HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

The "Cheater"
But this IS a NAS box...

Low power, low noise, space for additional drive if needed.
Even includes a small SSD for an initial cache drive.
PCPartPicker Part List

Custom: QNAP TS-451+ 4-Bay Next Gen Personal Cloud NAS, Intel 2.0GHz Quad-Core CPU with Media Transcoding ($370.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A400 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $484.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-26 23:34 EDT-0400

 

[Hed.Rat]

"LowAndSlowNAS"

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Athlon 220GE 3.4 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($56.26 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine Passive Fanless CPU Cooler ($11.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Transcend MTS800 32 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.95 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Enermax Revolution SFX 550W 80+ Gold Full Modular Power Supply with SFX-to-ATX Adapter ($103.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $490.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-28 18:20 EDT-0400


"can stick just about anywhere" - this is all mini-ITX, case dimensions (H x W x D): 10.9" x 10.2" x 12.4", includes wifi
"use very little wattage" - estimated 120W, CPU is 35W
"have high storage capacity" - 2x 3TB drives for either 6Tb total or 3TB if mirrored as normal for NAS
"bonus points if your build is fanless" - passive CPU cooler, no chipset/GPU cooler, case fan can be disconnected, this PSU is 'fanless' under 30% load. PSU is 550W, 120W is well below 30%.

Storage and memory easily meets OpenMediaVault and FreeNAS minimum capacities. ECC not possible at this price/power budget (not essential).

 

[vapour]

"Mini ITX with Big Punch"

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: TCSunBow X3 60 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($16.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($47.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($43.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $499.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-29 14:15 EDT-0400

 

[g-unit1111]

"NAStradamus":

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Celeron G4900 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($43.87 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B360M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($93.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($35.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Desktop HDD 4 TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($73.88 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Desktop HDD 4 TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($73.88 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Core 500 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($60.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($19.55 @ Amazon)
Total: $479.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-02 11:26 EDT-0400

Notes:

• Low profile, easily stackable or you can hide it in a closet / cabinet if you prefer
• SSD for operating system
• 8TB of storage for the largest media collections
• Optical drive included for converting your collection
• Total power draw of 140W
• Easy cable management and drive expansion
• Optical drive included to convert your collection to digital

 

[rui_b]

"free my nas"

Motherboard: ASRock J3455-ITX ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair 8GB(1X8GB) 1600MHz PC3-12800 204-Pin DDR3L SODIMM ($30.99 @ Amazon)
Case: iStarUSA S-35-3M1RD Compact 3X 3.5in Hotswap Mini-ITX Tower Red ($103.58 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Solid Gear Mini ITX/ FLEX ATX 180-Watts Power Supply ($33.61 @ Amazon)
Storage: SanDisk 32GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive ($6.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: [Shucked] WD 10TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive ($199.00 @ Amazon)
Accessories: SATA III 6Gbps, 2 Piece ($3.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $451.15 (Listing prices @AMAZON at the time of the post)

Notes:

• Case only has 3 hot-swap trays but there are with more. I just couldn't find them sold by Amazon at the time of the listing
• 10GB of pure data in stripped array with only one drive. Additional drives can be added for more space or extra data protection
• Drive has to be shucked. The drive inside the package is Enterprise grade level Helium filled (only for 8 and 10TB), like WD Reds.
• I've opted for the USB pen drive for the OS (ex. freenas which would only be required for boot as data is stored in the array)
• Motherboard supports 4 SATA HDDs, so an SSD can be hidden inside for the OS instead of the USB
• Extra pair of SATA cables since mobo doesn't ship with more than 2
• CPU is rated 10W TDP - with 4 drives shouldn't take more than 80W
• PicoPSU power supply could be a better option for silence and efficiency for extra cost