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Thread: ITX media server/htpc

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    ITX media server/htpc

    I'm looking to change my media server to a ITX motherboard. I have been looking at Atom CPU's which would be good for low power consumption however, no boards that i have found have enough sata ports. I need 7 sata ports in total for my drives.
    What im not sure about is, will an atom cpu with onboard graphics have enough power to play 1080p video files?
    Would have 4gb ddr2 ram.
    I have been looking at this board Zotac IONITX-F-E NVIDIA ION then adding in a raid card. This then raises another problem if i add a raid card will the onboard dvi/hdmi graphics still work?

    Thanks,
    Tim

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    Re: ITX media server/htpc

    adding a raid card will have no effect on on board video, so that's fine.
    the main thing I can think of is, if you need 7 hard drives, would it not be better going for a matx board? the overall size will be similar, the boards are cheaper and you might be able to find one with enough sata ports.
    also, you can undervolt / underclock intel and amd cpus to use the same if not lower watts than an atom. Bear in mind that a raid card will use watts, so factor that into the power consumption figures.
    I've decided that ignorance is bliss, so I don't want to know how many watts my 2 dell perc cards plus drives plus workstation board chipset are guzzling. Must get around to undervolting and setting up s3 / wol myself.
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    Re: ITX media server/htpc

    You can get mATX motherboards that use the atom, although they might be OEM only and not available to retail.

    I would say looking at a mATX, say a AMD 785g or 880g chipset with one of the low power Athlon II dual cores
    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...board-graphics
    +
    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-a...che-45w-retail

    The main reason is that I know of no miniITX case that will hold 7 hard drives unless you are planning to mod/scratch build a case.

    If you are doing a custom case, then for 1080p on an atom platform you want to be looking for the Atom N330 Dual core + nvidia ION chipset that combo will handle 1080p playback
    And that Zotac board is the one you want to go for
    Putting a pci-e sata raid controller card in it should not effect the on-board graphics.

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    Re: ITX media server/htpc

    I'm not aware of any ITX boards with 7 sata, or and cases with 7 drive mounts... you could always use an external eSATA expander box off of an PCI-E eSATA card which supports it though.

    I would just buy a regular case though, it'll be large if it has 7 mounts but then I'd pick up a basic G41 mATX board & Celeron, then undervolt/clock it if power consumption matters that much...

    If you want this machine to actually playback 1080p files then stick in a Radeon 5450, assuming all your 1080p files are in a format that's acceleratable but UVD.

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    Re: ITX media server/htpc

    The case I have been looking is the Fractal Design Array R2 which can hold 6 3.5" drives and a SSD.

    Still not sure what to go for, i have been looking at getting the H55-ITX with USB 3, this has six SATA ports. However, this increases the cost as i have to get the CPU and new RAM.

    Im not sure how much power this would draw in comparison to the Atom board. I would ideally like the one that would draw the least amount of power. Would i be able to under clock/ under volt the H55? (CPU would be i3 530 or 530)

    Also i think the graphics on the i3 would be better, am i right in saying this?

    Thanks Tim

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