rush77 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Hi, Sorry in advance if my question is stupid... I want to build a "multi-purpose" which acts as a kind of NAS and at the same time can act as a HTPC or media player. The build I thought is based on an AMD Fusion E350 MoBo with 2-4 Gb of RAM, a 16Gb SSD for OS and 2Tb for storage. The OS would be W7 or Win Server and I would install a kind of XBMC for the media part but my question is that if I run simultaneously FTP + File sharing + torrent, it will stress too much the hw? Is it possible to build a system like this at all? Thank you in advance for your help Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 yes it is but you will need a more powerful board/CPU... The E350 is great for an HTPC on its own but you get too much going and it chokes. it scores 3.8 in the Win7 CPU test compared to 7.9 for others so its a little sluggish. it would be fine for a NAS as well but movie playing might be laggy is its doing something intensive like un-Wrar'ing a file Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rush77 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) but I thought that the gpu is helping with the video play. (I'm not really sure how this works) And what kind of build would you recommend for this? (must be around max 300-400$) Edited May 9, 2011 by rush77 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Rush - to protect your budget I'd recommend that you ditch the 16Gb SSD drive. Trust me you'll regret getting a drive that size. Invest that money into a better board/cpu combination. I think Doc's actually running one of those Fusion rigs right now, so his advice would be solid. But just looking at the specs., I'd predict that no matter what you do it isn't going to be a very multi-task friendly platform. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rush77 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Ok. Then I'll try to search something else for this. Thanks for the help Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 a simple 890G or equivalent mATX board and and something like a Athlon II 250 would work wonders... the onboard GPU of the E350 (APU) does work very well for video in an HTPC environment. Where it runs into issue is doing other things at the same time...the CPU and GPU (APU combined) work together as one... adding in a dedicated video card doesnt offset CPU cycles like you would think it actually makes the APU work harder. although anything rendered on the card is slightly better. Where the E350 really chokes is Flash applications like Web Flash mainly stuff like those Facebook games. Those are totally unplayable Either the board is totally unable to cope or Flash just isnt optimised for the APU and I bet its both... I have the Asus E350 mATX version so I can run the test...but for Web it just sucked and that was with 8gb ram and 4gb ram tested and a 4650 video card and without. if you look for my build in the system builds (to fusion or not to fusion) you can see. I ended up swapping out the board. For HTPC or file server they are great but combined I just dont think you'd be happy. I wasnt Internet really lagged. I think when the Quad comes out and has Dual Channel Ram it will be much better Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaporX Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Movie playback on a fusion based system was outstanding in my testing at 1080 resolutions. While the processor is not the strongest I found ti more than strong enough for HTCP use and even light gaming at 720 resolutions. Using it as a NAT as well I would for sure up the RAM to at least 4 gig. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imm0rt41 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 I am running a mATX board with an Athlon II 620 in it and it makes a fantastic HTPC. Not only does it handle HDMI output with the installed GT240, but I even play some starcraft II on it with friends if we need a spare machine. Definitely a good route to take! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rush77 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) And what about this? MoBo: ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 250 (maybe downclocked for better consumption as it would go 7/24) RAM: KINGSTON 2Gb Notebook DDR3 (SO-DIMM) 1333Mhz *2 HDD: WD 2000GB Caviar Green 5400rpm 64MB SATA2 WD20EARS HDD: for OS:wd_250gb_scorpio_blue mini ITX capable case This would cost around: 350$ Edited May 9, 2011 by rush77 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Hey Rush, just thought I might start a little "recommended HTPC parts list" for you. This might be useful if you decide to go the mATX route and will give everyone a chance to pipe in; Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 (on my list because it's the same board I use in my main HTPC) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357 $52.99 + free shipping = $52.99 Processor Intel Celeron E3400 Wolfdale 2.6GHz Dual Core Desktop Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116348 $44.99 + free shipping = $44.99 Memory A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211188 $57.99 + free shipping = $57.99 Video SAPPHIRE 100293L Radeon HD 5570 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874 $59.99 + $2.99 shipping = $62.98 ( see note at the bottom if you want to go nVidia) OS Drive Your choice - but focus on a standard SATAII drive / 7200rpm Budget $45 - $65 Storage Drive Your choice Budget ? Total = $283.95 without storage drive figured in If you'd like to go with nVidia gpu instead of ATI you might consider this; EVGA 01G-P3-1523-KR GeForce GT 520 (Fermi) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130633 64.99 + $2.99 shipping = $67.98 Now, I know that the Socket 775 platform is getting a little long in the tooth and is three generations behind now - but what I've recommended above would make a nifty little combo HTPC/NAS/FTP etc. type box without breaking your budget. You can upgrade to another 2x2Gb of memory a little down the road. I'd recommend Windows 7 if you can swing it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_Capitan Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 He lives in Hungary, wevs, prices might be different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rush77 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) Hey Rush, just thought I might start a little "recommended HTPC parts list" for you. This might be useful if you decide to go the mATX route and will give everyone a chance to pipe in; Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 (on my list because it's the same board I use in my main HTPC) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128357 $52.99 + free shipping = $52.99 Processor Intel Celeron E3400 Wolfdale 2.6GHz Dual Core Desktop Processor http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116348 $44.99 + free shipping = $44.99 Memory A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820211188 $57.99 + free shipping = $57.99 Video SAPPHIRE 100293L Radeon HD 5570 1GB http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102874 $59.99 + $2.99 shipping = $62.98 ( see note at the bottom if you want to go nVidia) OS Drive Your choice - but focus on a standard SATAII drive / 7200rpm Budget $45 - $65 Storage Drive Your choice Budget ? Total = $283.95 without storage drive figured in If you'd like to go with nVidia gpu instead of ATI you might consider this; EVGA 01G-P3-1523-KR GeForce GT 520 (Fermi) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130633 64.99 + $2.99 shipping = $67.98 Now, I know that the Socket 775 platform is getting a little long in the tooth and is three generations behind now - but what I've recommended above would make a nifty little combo HTPC/NAS/FTP etc. type box without breaking your budget. You can upgrade to another 2x2Gb of memory a little down the road. I'd recommend Windows 7 if you can swing it. Sounds nice. However I prefer AMD, I'll think about this as well. It's quite a hard choice this HTPC staff My above "choice" was because of the mini ITX MoBo with AM3 CPU and I think the IGP could handle the videos as well. My only problem is with the prices, here en europe everything is much more expensive than in US so It's hard and takes quite a lot of time to finally choose the "good value for money staff". Edited May 9, 2011 by rush77 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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