wallmounted mediacenter/server

[Winther]

Hello guys!

I have an idea I want to run by everyone, if you completly shoot it down, then that alright I just dont want to use alot of money and invest alot of time in something that you can say wont work very well

I dont know if I have the money for this, but if I do Im pretty sure I will be doing it and maybe making a thread about the progress..

Now for the specs; Im pretty sure alot will say that the motherboard is completly overkill, but again thats why Im here and asking you guys!

Specs
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE
CPU: Core i5 3570k
Cooling: H100 (mainly so I can make it as guiet as possible! can you mount push/pull on that rad?)
Soundcard: Creative X-Fi titanium (a card that I already have)
and then 5 WD drives that I already have from my current computer. 2 x 500gb, 1 x 1tb and 2 x 2TB Black drive (all good 7200rpm drives, im pretty sure they are all server grade drives)

Now for my defense on the motherboard:
I chose this because it looks damn good and it has built in WiFi and the WiFi GO! feature. I guess there are programs similar to WiFi GO! that would work good or maybe even better so, give me some idea for that if you can!
wouldnt actually mind cutting the price of the mobo in half..

Another thing is:
Is the Core i5's built in GPU enough for playing 720p/1080p video ?

And now for my idea with mounting it on the wall:
I have my old Fractal Design R2 case that I dont have any use for now. So my idea is to cut out the motherboard tray and mount that on the wall (probably going to cut it as close to the motherboard standoffs as possibly so you cant see it too well) and then just mount the mobo on there.

I have a few ideas about the harddrives:
mounting them flat underneath the motherboardtray, would look nice and clean, but I dont know about heat and.. well I dont think there is room for more than 4 3.5" hdds.. so that probably wont work :/
the second is cutting the sidepanels from the R2 case into pieces that will fit a hotizontal stack of HDDs. (this is to muffle the sound..) Then just placing/bolting that "tower" on a shelf next to the mobo. Also using the front panel door on there, could look pretty good I think..


I dont know if you guys can follow my idea, but I hope I have explained myself relativly clear, and I do apologise for the long read there..

regards

 

[Winther]

Oh, I forgot to ask if its possible to buy some "brackets" with sata data and power connectors on them?
Just like the ones you find at the back of a hotswap bay..

my idea is to attach them to the back of my HDD cases that I will use in the hdd "tower" that I wrote about. that way I can open the door and pull a HDD out..

it doesnt have to be hotswap, but just so that its really easy. Could be a cool little feature I think

 

[andrewmchugh]

You could cut 40 quid of the mobo with the ASUS P8Z77-V that still has wifi. But for me any desktop should be wired. The deluxe does offer a bulkier VRM setup but I think the chip will hit the wall first.

Cooling: H100 (mainly so I can make it as guiet as possible! can you mount push/pull on that rad?)

Yeh, if you have room.

Another thing is:
Is the Core i5's built in GPU enough for playing 720p/1080p video ?

Yeh the intel 4000 is great. I can do that no sweat.

 

[Josh Weston]

The motherboard is, indeed, overkill, but if you're happy to spend that kind of money, then we won't stop you
The CPU is also overkill - it may be worth waiting until the new Ivy i3s come out with HD4000, as they'd fit the bill just fine.
As for cooling, I wouldn't recommend the H100 for a media centre PC, as i hear the pump can be quite loud. Why not something like a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus with the fan running at 5/7v? Would be ample cooling for an i3, and it should be dead quiet. Also, very cheap.

 

[andrewmchugh]

Oh, I forgot to ask if its possible to buy some "brackets" with sata data and power connectors on them?
Just like the ones you find at the back of a hotswap bay..

my idea is to attach them to the back of my HDD cases that I will use in the hdd "tower" that I wrote about. that way I can open the door and pull a HDD out..

it doesnt have to be hotswap, but just so that its really easy. Could be a cool little feature I think

You can get these, but they are expensive for what they are.



http://www.ebuyer.com/221436-starte...30satbk?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products


I want to know more about the setup, what is it for and where will it be? - living room TV or what? why do you want to wall mount your case?

 

[seumasbeathan]

I agree with Josh, for what you want an i3 would be just fine, also I would recommend WD Blue drives as they are a lot cheaper

 

[Winther]

The motherboard is, indeed, overkill, but if you're happy to spend that kind of money, then we won't stop you
The CPU is also overkill - it may be worth waiting until the new Ivy i3s come out with HD4000, as they'd fit the bill just fine.
As for cooling, I wouldn't recommend the H100 for a media centre PC, as i hear the pump can be quite loud. Why not something like a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus with the fan running at 5/7v? Would be ample cooling for an i3, and it should be dead quiet. Also, very cheap.

Yahr I know about the CPU, but when I looked I couldnt find any new generation i3's and now I know why.. but I was initially going to go with that one so I probably will
Ok, thats good to know, but is the pump also noisy on the lowest setting? my idea was to get the H100 and fit good but quiet fans in push/pull and then turn down the pump to get the lowest noise levels, but ofcourse I dont know if that is going to be enough. keep in mind that I wont be OC'ing!
that might be better, but I would like to avoid big ugly CPU coolers because this is afterall going to be on the wall for everyone to see..

You can get these, but they are expensive for what they are.

http://www.ebuyer.com/221436-starte...30satbk?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products


I want to know more about the setup, what is it for and where will it be? - living room TV or what? why do you want to wall mount your case?

I dont know if thats just the only option or if you misunderstood me. I dont want entire cases with hotswap bays. I just want a bracket with a sata to sata (both male connectors) and the same for sata power..
its so I dont have to fiddle around with cable if I want to change a drive.

It would be mainly for a mediaserver, I dont know it would just be connected to my TV like a normal monitor or by using DLNA or some other sort of mediacenter program. And the plan was to hang it on the wall next to the tv screen, just for a different look i guess..

regards

 

[Josh Weston]

Yeah, the new i3s aren't out quite yet, but they are due soon. In honesty though, the previous i3s with HD2000 would be enough.
I can't say much about the H100, as I don't have one myself, I've just read a fair few complaints about the pump being noisy etc.
For the H100 money, however, you could get a completely passive heatsink - can't get any quieter than that.

 

[jamesriley94]

I have to say, I'm regretting getting my P8Z77-v Deluxe a little. I did also mainly buy my board for the build in wifi, which isnt actually good enough IMO to warrant spending the extra money.
Get an MSI G45 and get a good powerline kit. Dont bother with wifi for streaming and using as a server, it's not really worth it tbh.

As for the wall mounting, it's an idea...
I wouldnt like it myself, because for a server/media PC I'd prefer it to be hidden, completely in a case to maintain the silence you're after. I'd just stick with the full set R2 and get a D14 in. On the i3, run it passively even with the 120mm as a rear exhaust, then a set of the Corsair air flows in the front to blow over the hard drives.

 

[Winther]

Yeah, the new i3s aren't out quite yet, but they are due soon. In honesty though, the previous i3s with HD2000 would be enough.
I can't say much about the H100, as I don't have one myself, I've just read a fair few complaints about the pump being noisy etc.
For the H100 money, however, you could get a completely passive heatsink - can't get any quieter than that.

Ok, I will probably get the new i3 if this project is going anywhere.
I have though about a pissive radiator, but then I would have to get a pump, a res and a waterblock for the CPU. all in all that would double or close to tripple the prise of the H100.
but I will read some more about the H100 before I make a decision.

I have to say, I'm regretting getting my P8Z77-v Deluxe a little. I did also mainly buy my board for the build in wifi, which isnt actually good enough IMO to warrant spending the extra money.
Get an MSI G45 and get a good powerline kit. Dont bother with wifi for streaming and using as a server, it's not really worth it tbh.

As for the wall mounting, it's an idea...
I wouldnt like it myself, because for a server/media PC I'd prefer it to be hidden, completely in a case to maintain the silence you're after. I'd just stick with the full set R2 and get a D14 in. On the i3, run it passively even with the 120mm as a rear exhaust, then a set of the Corsair air flows in the front to blow over the hard drives.

Ok. I think im backing a little down with that board aswell.. though i was thinking about cabling it and just using the WiFi funcion to remote control it with a smartphone or tablet. but I guess there are other programs for that.

if im getting a case, I want a small, really sleek and nice looking case like the Fractal Design Node 304 or a BitFenix Prodigy.. but then I would be limited by the ITX board and its 4 internal sata ports..

 

[andrewmchugh]

Why not have a server in a big case with tons off hdds near your router and then have a media center with like a silverstone milo case running a low profile heatsink.

 

[jamesriley94]

lol - the wifi remote control feature is shit. Dont even think about using that. The remote desktop streaming works ok, where you get the picture on the tablet or device itself, but the resolution messes up terribly, and the precision on the phone or tablet just isnt there to make it usable. I tried it on my ipad, so probably the biggest screen you'd even be using, and it's still not really usable.

As for the keyboard and mouse through it, that's an even bigger gimmick. There's over a secon delay between moving your finger on the pad, and the mouse actually moving. When I first got the board, it took 2 updates for the thing to work at all.

I too thought it could come in quite useful, but it just doesnt.

The programs / apps that let you do that - Splashtop Desktop Remote, which does the remote display onto the tablet or phone - again, not really too usable, but it is better than the asus one.

IMO, it's not really worthwhile to get a board with that until they can make it extend the screen onto your tablet, so it adapts to the proper resolution of your device, rather than trying to run your PC's resolution on the device. That's where I can see it working well - if you have your screen playing a film or something - and a second touch screen (tablet) running internet browsers and emails etc.


Do you really need more than 4 hard drives? Considering you can get 4gb drives now, you could get up to 16tb storage from the 4, 12 if you're wanting a disk drive as it's a media PC.

 

[Winther]

because then I would have 3 computers and a leptop.. thats a little too much for a single guy.. that would be cool too though..

I dont really need more than 5-6 hdds..

 

[Winther]

lol - the wifi remote control feature is shit. Dont even think about using that. The remote desktop streaming works ok, where you get the picture on the tablet or device itself, but the resolution messes up terribly, and the precision on the phone or tablet just isnt there to make it usable. I tried it on my ipad, so probably the biggest screen you'd even be using, and it's still not really usable.

As for the keyboard and mouse through it, that's an even bigger gimmick. There's over a secon delay between moving your finger on the pad, and the mouse actually moving. When I first got the board, it took 2 updates for the thing to work at all.

I too thought it could come in quite useful, but it just doesnt.

The programs / apps that let you do that - Splashtop Desktop Remote, which does the remote display onto the tablet or phone - again, not really too usable, but it is better than the asus one.

IMO, it's not really worthwhile to get a board with that until they can make it extend the screen onto your tablet, so it adapts to the proper resolution of your device, rather than trying to run your PC's resolution on the device. That's where I can see it working well - if you have your screen playing a film or something - and a second touch screen (tablet) running internet browsers and emails etc.


Do you really need more than 4 hard drives? Considering you can get 4gb drives now, you could get up to 16tb storage from the 4, 12 if you're wanting a disk drive as it's a media PC.

ok, great! then I know that thanks!! that was the main reason.. I had a hunch that it wouldnt work very well.. but I thought it might and that feature looked really cool..!

do you mean kayboard and mouse through a tablet or phone?

I can just buy a wireless kayboard with a built in mousepad instead then and get a cheaper MOBO..

I already have 5 harddrives and thinking about getting another 2TB.. and I would really like to have the option of getting more.
another thing is that I would like to have the option of putting in a graphics card if that is necesary at some point and I think ill add a soundcard.. and ITX cases only has 1 slot.. :/

 

[jamesriley94]

Unless you have seriously good tv / surround sound speakers, you wont really benefit too much from the sound card.

Ask yourself, do you really need all the hard drives?

If so, I'd probably leave it all in the R2, and go for my original idea of a passive D14 with 2/3 case fans on an MSI board

 

[Winther]

I have a good system.. not really expensive but not one of those small cheap soundsystems from from the TV manufacturers either..

maybe not.. I will think about it and then I will see if I have the money and the space for it when i find an apartment..