Building a cheap server...

[M4T VW]

Im thinking of building a mini file server for the house So we can all share files and have massive storage of movies etc

The only part i have is the chip really....:lol:
Its a AMD x64 4000+ skt 939
It should run a server with server edition windows no problem?

But then i need the other parts. MB, Case, PSU etc.

I dont really want to spend more then £100 for that lot so i think i might be looking for a 939 board in the bargain basement or super special.

Then i want a small case but with lots of storage slots. Small becuase its going under the stairs. Generic PSU should do.

So what do people think? Any suggestions?

Mat8)

[M4T VW]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+939+%28AMD%29/Asrock+939NF6G-VSTA+Socket+939+Motherboard+?productId=26541

Looks like a good board for £40!
All the ports i need like USB2, Sata2 and Lan

Thats if Aria get any stock back in?

[PeterStoba]

£100 for drives, case, psu, ram and board?

[M4T VW]

MB
Case
PSU
RAM
CPU fan....:lol:
And just one drive to run the OS for the min. I will add more as i go along and find cheap drives..

[PeterStoba]

Case & PSU #27419 £29.32
CPU fan #25586 £11.10
Hard Drive #30153 £17.57
RAM (if you get the mentioned motherboard) #19969 £14.63

£87.25 Leaving you £12.75 for a motherboard, the budget can stretch though?

[M4T VW]

Hmm. Im trying to find more parts i have to save on the budget.

So far i have:
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/200w+to+449w/Xilence+420W+Gaming+PSU+?productId=19868
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Akasa+Zen+Silent-Cool+-+Black?productId=25262
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+939+%28AMD%29/Asrock+939NF6G-VSTA+Socket+939+Motherboard+?productId=26541

Total on that is £97.70

I could save on the MB as its got alot of features i dont really need.
I would like a quality case. It seems the best quality for the money and the PSU gets great reviews. Not so much power but will be on for long periods of time.

Im sure i have some memory that will work. Ill have a look in the garage tomorrow as i have some sticks in my PC parts box.

Seems to be the only 939 MB aria do.

I can extend the budget no problem but dont want it to get silly. Make the most use of the parts i have here.

[PeterStoba]

Is the case necessary?

And is your processor socket Athlon 64 X2? if so PM me

[M4T VW]

What am i going to run it in? A cardboard box?:lol:

If the plan goes tits up i suppose i have a good case to use for somthing else:)

[Jiggles]

well duh!

How else are you going to make it easy to move if required. its also a pain to stop things from touching!

[PeterStoba]

I meant the midi tower, i thought a cube would be better and cheaper

[M4T VW]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/500w+%2B/600W+ATX+Power+Supply?productId=24485

Cheaper PSU maybe? Gets good reviews still and even more powerfull!

HDD...
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/160GB+Seagate+Barracuda+SATA+8MB+

[M4T VW]

I meant the midi tower, i thought a cube would be better and cheaper

Need more drive space then a cube can offer:mrgreen:

[M4T VW]

Hmm. Superspecial HDD

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/80GB+Western+Digital+Cavi****+WD800+?productId=214 86

:mrgreen:

What does everyone think of the other PSU?

[PeterStoba]

Fair enough, and that psu i cannot see lasting very long

[PeterStoba]

That drive is very cheap and fast, good enough capacity for OS too

[Jiggles]

That PSU would last abit of time IMO your not going to be overloading it or using big processors etc

[Sean]

I assume you're going to go for Windows Home Server as the operating system?
If offers a nice front-end for what is essentially Server 2003.
Also nice and cheap, too.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Software/Operating+Systems/Microsoft+Windows+Home+Server+-+OEM+?productId=28886

[M4T VW]

That PSU would last abit of time IMO your not going to be overloading it or using big processors etc

What one? The cheap one? As i say, it will be mostly idol and then when its under loads its only going to be transfering files.


Yes i will be using the new windows server edition but i already have a copy of that from work.:mrgreen:

[Jiggles]

yeh the cheap one :)

[M4T VW]

Cool cool. So the spec at the moment is...

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/500w+%2B/600W+ATX+Power+Supply?productId=24485

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Akasa+Zen+Silent-Cool+-+Black?productId=25262

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/80GB+Western+Digital+Cavi****+WD800+?productId=214 86

Only having trouble with the MB and memory as 939 is out of date and i cant see aria getting any more in...:sad:

[nft99]

sell the cpu on flea bay and get a core 2 instead ;)

i dont think anymore skt939 boards will be arriving in the near future u could risk a board from bargain basement then you have to get ram thats not cheap either when you can get 2gb ddr2 for around £30

[M4T VW]

I knew someone would suggest that. But i dont really want to get a C2D, Seems overkill for what i need.

[M4T VW]

Ok So spec me a cheap C2D machine. Im using the Akasa Zen case so work around that.

I cant find a cheap 775 MB that has 4x sata2 ports and supports sata raid:cry:

[nft99]

cpu : E2140 #27106 - £43
mem : 2gb corsair #27405 - £33
board : msi neo-v #25643 - £28

hows that :)

[M4T VW]

Only sata 150 and no raid support on that board:sad:

[nft99]

mobo : #28163 - £55
cpu : #27353 - £29

better?

[M4T VW]

6 sata2 ports. Thats better:mrgreen:

Might be able to stretch the budget for a better CPU. You still say mem : 2gb corsair #27405 - £338)

[nft99]

6 sata2 ports. Thats better:mrgreen:

Might be able to stretch the budget for a better CPU. You still say mem : 2gb corsair #27405 - £338)


yes i do :) er whats the budget again????

[M4T VW]

Errr Aria will do for me. Although im thinking about the case. I want it in white really but aria dont stock it, Only black.

Hows this?
http://gti-online.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/Server%20Spec.jpg

[Nifty]

not trying to put you aria or anything, you could try http://www.***********.com they are pretty good fpr 939

Haven't you learned by now that posting links to competitors websites is against the forum rules?

Looks like someone modded you pretty sharpish!

[M4T VW]

I know Alex, How many warnings has he had now?

Right, Plan F.

Im scrapping the raid idea. I just dont need it.
So im after the cheapest MB that has 6 sata2 ports.
Im thinking the Asus i already have is that but just need somone to confirm.

[M4T VW]

Anyone?:question::mrgreen:

[PeterStoba]

ASUS website confirms 6x3GB SATA Ports

[M4T VW]

On the P5B board? Is there any cheaper boards with 6 ports on too?

[mac124]

P5B is a very capable board and for around £50 for the "basic" version i doubt you will get much better. It's only real limitation is that it "only" clocks to around 350fsb which is quite away behind the more expensive versions of the same board, the P5B E+ and the P5B Deluxe but then they are double the price and more.

[M4T VW]

Damn. So what cheap boards could i be looking at that has

A good overclock feature
6 sata II ports (I can manage with 4 and a PCI card)
Hopefully 4GB ram if possible.

I see #30180 in the newsletter today. Any good?

I wanna order this lot tomorrow if possible so i have it for the weekend:mrgreen:

[mac124]

350 fsb, for a 2000 series c2d would be a MASSIVE overclock as it has a 200fsb to start with, so your talking something like a 75% overclock should you max the mobo out. The chip will be running approx 2.8ghz, which for a 1.6ghz chip whilst not impossible you would be very lucky to get such a good chip.


30180 has 2 things against it for overclocking, 1 945 chipset and 2 (probably more so than the chipset) its matx, they are notoriously bad where overclocking is concerned 99% of the time.

[M4T VW]

If im going down on the board the idea was to go up on the chip so i need to find a middle really.

Cheers for your Mac. Any more ideas?

[mac124]

Might be worth looking at nforce 650 chipset some of those overclock well and can be had for £60ish

[mac124]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/ASUS+P5N-E+SLi+NF650i+775+?productId=26686

This one might be worth a look, bit more than the P5B but supposed to be a fairly good overclocker hitting almost 500fsb in some cases.

[M4T VW]

God, Dont really want to spend that much. Wanted to spend less on the MB really and go up on the chip Whats the fastest i can got for just over a ton?

[PeterStoba]

£100 for the cpu alone?

[M4T VW]

Nah Both. About £60 chip £40 ish MB

[mac124]

In that case then i would stick with the P5B, i REALLY recommend them, check my sig out ;), and get a 2160, this comes to £110 to your door.

If you want ot overclock the extra multiplier on the 2160 will see you past 3ghz, assuming a max fsb of 350 on the P5B, it maybe more mine maxes out at around 365 iirc, should you upgrade to a q6600 later then you should see the same speed as they have the same x9 multiplier.

[PeterStoba]

#28608 has RAID if you still want it, 4 RAM slots and 4 SATA slots, onboard vga everything what you need isn't it?

[M4T VW]

The P5B is the one i think as its got the 6 sata slots and the best features for the money.
I just need to check i have a graphics card for it. I have one upstairs but not sure on what connection it is or even what the card is!:S

[M4T VW]

Well thats put another spanner in the works. The graphics card i have upstairs is only AGP:mad:

So i need a board with VGA too.

Peter. Doesnt look like that one does VGA. I dont want to have to buy a graphics card too:evil:

[M4T VW]

Dont state the bloody obvious! Of course ive looked elsewhere, Theres plenty out there but i need to get feedback and ideas from people before i buy.

And aria have had everything thats ive wanted so far:P

[Micky007]

BANNED !

[coiler]

BANNED !

Is there a post missing here? What does the ban relate too?

*scratches head* :S

[cleggypdc]

Kev broke the rules

[Micky007]

yea the posts are deleted

[Jiggles]

What rule has he broken so i dont brake em ?:D

[Nifty]

What rule has he broken so i dont brake em ?:D

He has an Apple Mac (http://www.cbentertainments.co.uk/dt.gif)... :|

[M4T VW]

Right, How about this then.

http://gti-online.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/Server%20Spec-2.jpg

I think thats final. Just need to choose a CPU. Waiting for a reply in my other thread and i will order it tomorrow hopefully:mrgreen:

Edit-Thanks to aria for the super specials:mrgreen:

[Jiggles]

He has an Apple Mac (http://www.cbentertainments.co.uk/dt.gif)... :|


Yeh YEH :D

[M4T VW]

Anyone see my post with the final spec? CB posted at the same time as me so it didnt show my new post:lol:

[Jiggles]

hehe :lol:

Dont know about the torches my self :D

[M4T VW]

Lol. My mum had one but it came unscrewed and she lost it somwhere. All thats left is the keyring screw bit.:cry::lol:

[Jiggles]

:lol: Good torches tho.

[M4T VW]

Yup. I dont have central locking on my car and when i come out of work at night its pitch black. Cant find my door lock so i use the torch, Saves me scratching the paintwork...Again:sad:

[Jiggles]

ooops :D