http://www.maximumpc.com|JAN 2011 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| 65
Choosing the Hardware
Building the System
I wanted to get more performance out of this
Windows Home Server build than I’d get out
of an off -the-shelf system, without breaking
the bank. In the end, the total cost of com-
ponents, including a beefy (but noise-free)
power supply and four terabytes of storage
came in at just under $800.
The dual-core Intel Core i3-530 runs at
2.93GHz, and should handle my transcoding
chores just fi ne. However, I hedged my bets,
choosing the mini-ITX Zotac H55 mother-
board—which has an available PCI-E x16
slot. So, if I decide I need more transcoding
horsepower, and fi nd an application that
supports GPU-accelerated transcoding, I can
add a GPU just for that purpose later. I also
like that the Zotac board has six SATA ports—
most mini-ITX boards have only four.
Any home server handling lots of media
needs plenty of storage, and Western Digi-
tal’s 2TB GreenPower drives deliver that in
spades. These are the newer, three-platter
versions that cut down a bit on power con-
sumption and deliver improved throughput.
Another desirable item is a fanless power
supply, and the Seasonic is certainly that. It’strue that 460W seems like overkill for a home
server, but the 400W sibling to the 460W unit
couldn’t be found. If a GPU or additional hard
drives are added in the future, the 460W unit
will look like a smart choice.
Finally, the case needed room for expan-
sion. The Lian-Li PC-Q08 mini-ITX chassis
has room for six hard drives—though the
two-drive bay may need to be removed if
a GPU is installed. I’d also want to pull out
the Lian-Li 14cm fan, with its annoying blue
LED, and drop in something a little quieter,
without the glow.As with any small form factor system, it’s
important to consider the order components
are installed. The good news is that the Lian-
Li case is a tad larger than most mini-ITX
cases. No knuckles were skinned or blood
shed during the building of this particular
system—that’s not always the case when
building a tiny PC!
For this particular system, I installed
the CPU, memory, and CPU cooler prior to
popping the motherboard into the case. One
of the minor annoyances with aluminum
cases is that they flex—that made inserting
the ATX I/O shield something of a chore.
Attaching the internal wiring—front-panel
and USB ports—was fairly simple (including
front-panel audio, though it’s not really
needed for a server.)
Aft er the motherboard is installed, the
next step is to attach the component cables.
The Seasonic PSU is completely modular, so
it was easy to attach the main (24-pin) power
supply cable and the 4-pin ATX12V connector
to the mobo before the power supply. I also
attached the two SATA cables that would route
to the pair of 2TB hard drives.
Make sure to line up the notches on the side of the CPU with the tabs in the CPU socket
before you drop it in place.Double-check to ensure
the CPU is completely
fl at in the socket before
closing the ZIF lever.
Also make sure the
latching notch slides
under the bolt.NEVER BUILT A PC
BEFORE?Your case, motherboard, and cooler
all come with useful instructions,
but be sure to check out our most
recent step-by-step guide at
http://bit.ly/bldcreed.