Low power, RAID, Micro ATX, [ HTPC / NAS ]

My question for anyone like me looking to build a HTPC / NAS is can a low power, HD NAS be built with in reason, cost, and power consumption.

I know, I know there are ton's of articles out there, but none of them are geared toward something a little more mainstream. With the power consumption becoming more expensive and my library of movies, tv shows and music reaching the 3TB mark, I wanted to know that other people were thinking or have built.

The article on Samsung's hard drives go me thinking about finally building a NAS / HTPC for the living room. Reason being is that in the bedroom I have a Soho tower which is quite loud and the woman would like it quieter, thus moving the storage to a NAS / HTPC out in the living room that can stay on 24/7 and not kill my electrical bill.

It would have to be something small, like a surround sound receiver size, or could fit in with the stereo equipment in the entertainment center.
- HD compatible
- Potentially blue ray compatible (slim drive)
- Nas capable, maybe 2x3 drive NAS 5.25 trays side by side with vertical slim cd drive
- Low power consumption, but able to handle streaming video

My newegg shopping list after reading and doing some research is as follows.

ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131324

AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION Agena 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 140W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103273

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231144

ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835118019

Cost: $ 348.96

As for the case and hard drives and nas 5.25 enclosures for the racks and suggestions would be helpful.

Something to bridge both the NAS itunes server maybe running Ubuntu and the HTPC so when hooked up to the TV I could either use Hulu or VLC to play the collection I have amassed.


Again, anyone with some input to anything, especially the case would be very helpful, especially if Toms Hardware Guide did build something for an article. I'm sure you'd get a few people willing to build one as well!


Sincerely,

Wonderliver.com

Hi mkyb14,

I'm looking for the exact same thing, a NAS with multimedia playback feature, silent case, low electric consumption and cool design.

I've read a lot of articles and, for the moment, selected those:

Asus P5E-VM HDMI : http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Socket [...] _HDMI.html

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E7200 http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Proces [...] E7200.html

Corsair XMS2 DDRII 1 Go PC6400 http://www.materiel.net/ctl/PC_de_ [...] C6400.html

2 Samsung Spinpoint F1 S-ATA - 750 Go - 32 Mo http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Disque [...] 32_Mo.html

I couldn't make a choice on the case yet. I would use the Asus motherboard integrated audio and video chipset.

I want the whole stuff in RAID 1 and running Linux MCE, but I don't know which remote control would be compatible.

I've posted the same message on french board:
http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Hardw [...] 6257_1.htm

Did you have a look on the Thecus M3800 NAS ?

Tell me if you find some more information about all this.

regards,

absu