- Joined
- Nov 6, 2011
- Messages
- 45
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH
- CPU
- Intel Core i7 3770K
- Graphics
- ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Here are the proposed parts for a multifunction computer for my living room. I need a parts check by the smart tonymacx86 crowd, this is kind of a weird one. The functions will be:
You might think I'm better off storing a NAS somewhere else to avoid the hard drive noise. My living room isn't particularly quiet as it is, and the TV doesn't get used all that much. The biggest challenge from the room is the temperature. It can get up to about 85F (29C). Not the best from a cooling perspective. I would still like to keep noise as low as achievable without real sacrifices, if I can.
You might also think that OS X isn't the best OS for these roles. I agree. But I like OS X, so that's what I want to use.
Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-I
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K (already owned)
CPU cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
GPU: Intel HD4000 (integrated)
RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
SSD: SanDisk Extreme SATA 6Gb/s 120GB
HDD (x4): Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Optical Drive: LG Electronics 14x Internal BDXL Blu-Ray Rewriter with Software WH14NS40
WiFi: TP-Link PCI Express WiFi Adapter (TL-WDN4800)
Bluetooth: Targus Bluetooth USB Adapter (ACB10US)
Power Supply: COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS-550-PCAR-E3 550W ATX12V
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (already owned)
The thing will be hooked up to my TV. The TV's VGA port if I can get away with it; otherwise HDMI.
Main questions I still have:
1) Would adding to/switching out the case fans be appropriate?
2) I hate having to use the sole PCIe slot for WiFi, but I absolutely cannot sacrifice connection speed for this machine. Is there any USB solution that can compete?
Some notes about the components:
Motherboard: It's mini-ITX, has the six SATA ports I need, and people have already gotten it working (mostly) with OS X. With a modded BIOS I should be able to get power management.
CPU: I realize that the 3770k is likely overkill for this device, especially since I doubt that I will overclock the processor. The reason I own this chip is that I was able to get it at half the current retail price through a friend.
GPU: HD4000 should be fine for the purposes of this machine. The most stress that will be put on the graphics is driving 1080p videos (which the HD4000 can do), and emulating old console and arcade games (which does not utilize hardware acceleration).
RAM: Low profile so as to hopefully not conflict with any present or future CPU coolers.
SSD: Mountain Lion boot and applications drive.
HDD: Four of these. I've got a Seagate 3TB and I'm not super happy with the head parking noise it makes unless you tinker with it and disable the drive's power management. So I'm trying the WD Reds, which are supposedly made for 24/7 operation. Speed is not tremendously important for these drives, which will just be holding various types of media.
Optical: Bit of a test to see if I can get this Blu-Ray drive working in OS X, using third party software of course. Worst case scenario, I rip it out and put it in my Windows machine.
Power Supply: It's a bit tricky to find a PSU that can easily fit this case, link up to 6+ SATA devices, and doesn't have some kind of other fatal flaw.
- Serving stored media (video, audio, etc.) to the TV and a bunch of other household electronics. I'm talking potentially north of 10 TB of stuff, backed up offsite.
- Some minor Internet serving
- Offloading of long-running computational tasks from my main computer
- Acting as a Blu-Ray player
- Retro gaming system via emulation and attached controllers
You might think I'm better off storing a NAS somewhere else to avoid the hard drive noise. My living room isn't particularly quiet as it is, and the TV doesn't get used all that much. The biggest challenge from the room is the temperature. It can get up to about 85F (29C). Not the best from a cooling perspective. I would still like to keep noise as low as achievable without real sacrifices, if I can.
You might also think that OS X isn't the best OS for these roles. I agree. But I like OS X, so that's what I want to use.
Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-I
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K (already owned)
CPU cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
GPU: Intel HD4000 (integrated)
RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
SSD: SanDisk Extreme SATA 6Gb/s 120GB
HDD (x4): Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Optical Drive: LG Electronics 14x Internal BDXL Blu-Ray Rewriter with Software WH14NS40
WiFi: TP-Link PCI Express WiFi Adapter (TL-WDN4800)
Bluetooth: Targus Bluetooth USB Adapter (ACB10US)
Power Supply: COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS-550-PCAR-E3 550W ATX12V
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (already owned)
The thing will be hooked up to my TV. The TV's VGA port if I can get away with it; otherwise HDMI.
Main questions I still have:
1) Would adding to/switching out the case fans be appropriate?
2) I hate having to use the sole PCIe slot for WiFi, but I absolutely cannot sacrifice connection speed for this machine. Is there any USB solution that can compete?
Some notes about the components:
Motherboard: It's mini-ITX, has the six SATA ports I need, and people have already gotten it working (mostly) with OS X. With a modded BIOS I should be able to get power management.
CPU: I realize that the 3770k is likely overkill for this device, especially since I doubt that I will overclock the processor. The reason I own this chip is that I was able to get it at half the current retail price through a friend.
GPU: HD4000 should be fine for the purposes of this machine. The most stress that will be put on the graphics is driving 1080p videos (which the HD4000 can do), and emulating old console and arcade games (which does not utilize hardware acceleration).
RAM: Low profile so as to hopefully not conflict with any present or future CPU coolers.
SSD: Mountain Lion boot and applications drive.
HDD: Four of these. I've got a Seagate 3TB and I'm not super happy with the head parking noise it makes unless you tinker with it and disable the drive's power management. So I'm trying the WD Reds, which are supposedly made for 24/7 operation. Speed is not tremendously important for these drives, which will just be holding various types of media.
Optical: Bit of a test to see if I can get this Blu-Ray drive working in OS X, using third party software of course. Worst case scenario, I rip it out and put it in my Windows machine.
Power Supply: It's a bit tricky to find a PSU that can easily fit this case, link up to 6+ SATA devices, and doesn't have some kind of other fatal flaw.