Very low power NAS server

[dbh]

I see you on the list under 25 and 29! with both the Q6600 and i3 2100! The HP micro is good I won't contest that. Budget aside If i did go the A8 route does the mobo support this new bulldozer thing that will eventually be coming out? I'm happy with my Q6600 for the time being so if I did get a i3 or A8 I'd have both of them rendering together (network rendering ftw). Also have to ask about this Clearview and QuickSync thing online other forums have been mentioning to get this over the E350 as for transcoding it cains it. Afaik it's only supported in certain apps though?

[watercooled]

does the mobo support this new bulldozer thing that will eventually be coming out?

No, at least not the first generation which will be using Socket AM3+. The next gen Bulldozer with IGP (Trinity) will probably use a different socket - I can't see it being FM1 but maybe they'd use that for the mainstream parts?

Also have to ask about this Clearview and QuickSync thing online other forums have been mentioning to get this over the E350 as for transcoding it cains it. Afaik it's only supported in certain apps though?

Very few apps support it (nothing free, so factor software cost into your price) and output quality is inferior to software encoding, different reviews have different opinions on how much it differs but I suppose it depends on the content. If keeping quality is important I'd bear it in mind. And don't forget this is ONLY for video transcoding, it can't be used GPGPU-style like AMD/Nvidia GPUs.

[dbh]

Out of interest would a 90W Pico PSU be able to power the following setups:

I've seen people on spcr say a 90W should be enough but 150W is the way to go...

Setup 1:
H61 ASRock Mobo
i3 2100
2 x 4gb Corsair DDR3 XMS3
2 x 2TB HD204UI HDD
1 x Seagate 500GB 7200 2.5 HDD
USB WIFI ADAPTER
3 x 120mm low fans

Setup 2:
H61 ASRock Mobo
i3 2100
2 x 4gb Corsair DDR3 XMS3
2 x 2TB HD204UI HDD
1 x 2TB HD204UI HDD
1 x Seagate 500GB 7200 2.5 HDD
1 x Seagate 500GB 7200 2.5 HDD
USB WIFI ADAPTER
1 x Slim BD-ROM
3 x 120mm low fans

It's pushing it right? Apparently the HD204UI's use 12W on boot but 0.9W on idle. 6W on read/write.

[watercooled]

90w would definitely be pushing it, and these PicoPSUs run hot without forced air cooling even at <50% load so I wouldn't want to be running them at near full load constantly. With an efficient motherboard the 150w should be OK. Also, do you really need 8GB RAM on a NAS?

Edit: Oh and something else about using a PicoPSU, they don't have many connectors so you'd probably have to use a lot of adapters/splitters to power all those HDDs. And they start getting quite expensive at that wattage, a suitable ATX supply might be a better idea for that sort of system.

[dbh]

I'll be running a few rendering proggies on it when I'm home during the evening along side my current build so the 8gb should be helpful with large scenes. Drat figured as much about the 90W. The 150W pico should suffice with setup two though right? Though I think you're right probably better to just get an ATX psu that's better at low loads for the long run makes more sense if I decide to use the USB3 ports etc. Thanks for the speedy reply watercooled. Appreciated!

[watercooled]

What I said applies even more if you'll be stressing the system with rendering. If there is no room for an ATX supply, you could also use a 1U server power supply, should still be cheaper than a PicoPSU at the same wattage.

[dbh]

I found this PSU. http://www.seasonicusa.com/M12II.htm

Bit of overkill at 500W but JonnyGuru reviewed the S12II which is the non modular version (apparently the same thing but this new one has better regulated voltages) and it's one of the only PSU's that does over 80% eff at under 20% load. So for a machine that will idle a lot of the time that's pretty good! food for thought if anyone else is looking for a similar setup. Plus leaves much more headroom if I end up putting in a graphics card (might do as I could move my HD4850 to this machine and upgrade my main machine with a DX11 card for BF3 )

[watercooled]

The price is a bit overkill too, I was thinking more along the lines of:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/350w-...et-fan-atx-v23
or
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...ssfire-fan-atx

That XFX is a Seasonic made unit: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory3&reid=224

[dbh]

Those are indeed good options but I'd rather a decent modular PSU. Couldn't find anything else on scan that met those criteria of 82% eff under 20% load and could take a HD4850+

Why do modular psu's cost so much gah!

[watercooled]

I think modular PSUs are overrated, especially for low wattage units with not so many cables. A 400W PSU could easily handle a 4850. When I had a 4850 installed my system would pull 250W peak from the wall with Furmark + Truecrypt bench (I found it uses more than even IntelBurnTest).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Out of interest would a 90W Pico PSU be able to power the following setups:

I've seen people on spcr say a 90W should be enough but 150W is the way to go...

Setup 1:
H61 ASRock Mobo
i3 2100
2 x 4gb Corsair DDR3 XMS3
2 x 2TB HD204UI HDD
1 x Seagate 500GB 7200 2.5 HDD
USB WIFI ADAPTER
3 x 120mm low fans

Setup 2:
H61 ASRock Mobo
i3 2100
2 x 4gb Corsair DDR3 XMS3
2 x 2TB HD204UI HDD
1 x 2TB HD204UI HDD
1 x Seagate 500GB 7200 2.5 HDD
1 x Seagate 500GB 7200 2.5 HDD
USB WIFI ADAPTER
1 x Slim BD-ROM
3 x 120mm low fans

It's pushing it right? Apparently the HD204UI's use 12W on boot but 0.9W on idle. 6W on read/write.

What a waste of money. The H61 lacks RAID options too.

The Core i3 2100 is a fail for rendering and video encoding. You might as well stump up the extra cash and get one of the 45W or 65W Core i5 low power quad cores.

It is OTT for a media server too and even £400 to £500 NAS devices without hard disks use single and dual core Atoms.

The Linux drivers for the current generation Intel IGPs are also not that great too.

[dbh]

What a waste of money. The H61 lacks RAID options too.

The Core i3 2100 is a fail for rendering and video encoding. You might as well stump up the extra cash and get one of the 45W or 65W Core i5 low power quad cores.

It is OTT for a media server too and even £400 to £500 NAS devices without hard disks use single and dual core Atoms.

The Linux drivers for the current generation Intel IGPs are also not that great too.

RAID isn't a deal breaker for me have had drives fail on me when using a RAID setup so quite happy to go without RAID or have the option of doing Win 7 Raid (I know it's not the same as onboard 'fake raid' but it's comparable in speed). Plus saves a few bob over a mobo with RAID.

The spec is overkill for a NAS yes but for the price point of £400 or so isn't it better to have more horsepower if it's required? Isn't the next i5 up in the table i5 2400S like £150 though? It's a bigger jump in £££ than going from a G620 to an i3 2100. I'm not worried about Linux I'll be sticking with windows as far as I know the EyeFi soft and other packages only work on windows.

I'm thinking I'll go with the lesser of the specs (setup1) and then just upgrade if I need to.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

RAID isn't a deal breaker for me have had drives fail on me when using a RAID setup so quite happy to go without RAID or have the option of doing Win 7 Raid (I know it's not the same as onboard 'fake raid' but it's comparable in speed). Plus saves a few bob over a mobo with RAID.

I would be more worried about the VRMs overheating and the computer being kept on for yonks rendering. Cheap motherboards are cheap for a reason.

The spec is overkill for a NAS yes but for the price point of £400 or so isn't it better to have more horsepower if it's required? Isn't the next i5 up in the table i5 2400S like £150 though? It's a bigger jump in £££ than going from a G620 to an i3 2100. I'm not worried about Linux I'll be sticking with windows as far as I know the EyeFi soft and other packages only work on windows.

Why don't you just spend less and get something more appropriate for the actual usage?? You first said £300 and now it is £400.

You seem to wanting to spend pounds to save pennies.

I'm thinking I'll go with the lesser of the specs (setup1) and then just upgrade if I need to.

So basically spend more in the long term?? Fail.

If you are serious with the rendering work then save some more money and upgrade your main PC. Sell your old bits to help fund the upgrade.

A Core i5 or Core i7 will consume less power over a total render than an anemic Core i3 2100 and will do it faster. Even a Phenom II X6 will do it faster than a Core i3 2100 and consumes less power.





Even idle power consumption of the newer 95W Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs is around the same as the Core i3 2100.