SPCR

Hey all I'm building a new whs box as my hp mediasmart server is noise-killing me . I want the maximum number of HD possible in that system and IU want it to be silent. I do not care about the size (the bigger the better for this box). so what do you guys think about that:

case: Antec P182 Advanced Super Midtower Case: P180 v.2 (11 drive bay)
mobo: S775 ASUS P5GC-MX 945GC PCIE AVL (cheapest one)
PCI-SATA Controller SYBA PCI SATA 4PORT RAID
INTEL CELERON 430 1.80G/800/512K/S775
Scythe SCNJ-1000 Ninja CPU heatsink/fan
CRUCIAL REND 667MHZ DDR2 NO-ECC 2GB
625W POWER ATX ENERMAX MODU82+
Hard drive 1tb

any other ideas for an even bigger, cheaper or silencer (is that even a word?). Am I in the right direction?

Also, would I need to put another fan in there if the server willbe iddle most of the time ? if so, which case fan do you recommend for this setup?

One last Q: is the energy diff between a celeron 430 and a celeron E1200? it's only 10$ diff but will the 430 be easier to cool off or is there no difference?

Thanks a lot in advance for the help!

I know the e2xxx series support stepping and reduce the clock multiplier to reduce energy usage. I have a Cel 430 in a Shuttle k45 at the office and an E2200 in a Shuttle k45 at home. To do it all again I would replace the 430 with another E2xxx for $20 more.

But why not AMD? The 4850e or 5050e love to be undervolted/underclocked.

Well, you certainly won't need 625W for anything that you'll be installing in a normal case with that current hardware. Even superfast enterprise drives top out around 20W each.

The E2xxx and Athlon X2 series will also support faster RAM.

thanks for the advices!

I do not care much about ram speed, my hp has 512 meg ddr2 ram and it's fast enough, all I really care about is the silence factor. are the e2000 easier to cool off?

I really thought Hard Drives took a lot more powers. a 300w power supply would be enough then? any recommendations?

6 HD's in my server and it's got a dedicated gfx card, and it won't touch 200W

My e2200 is really easy to cool and it is cooler than the 430. Are you thinking passive cooling?

1) The P182 is a big case, but it doesn't exactly have the most hard drive bays. For maximum driveage, you'd want something that is all 5.25" bays down the front, that could hold four of those 4-in-3 drive carriers.

2) Don't underestimate the power supply needs. It's true that a fileserver won't break 200W at load, but wattage is secondary. All of those drives, and all of the fans cooling them, will be drawing 12V at startup.

Whatever PSU you get, make sure it has a single big 12V rail. Otherwise you get to figure out how to enable staggered spinup on your SATA controller.