iMac or MBP...

[Peter Korsten]

Hi Martin,

> What exactly did you have in mind as DIY system? I checked the
> Supermicro webpage, but didn't find anything even close to the form
> factor. Mind you, I associate Supermicro with LOUD fans from my own
> experience...

Hmm, I've got a Supermicro C7X58 mainboard with an Intel Core i7 960 CPU 
and a monstrously large Noctua CPU cooler in a Fractal Design Define R3 
case. There's a bit of noise, which I think comes from the video card 
(bit old these days) and PSU. In a very quiet room, you hear a gentle hum.

Anyway, the mainboard I was talking about is this:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/ICH9/X7SPA-HF-D525.cfm

And then put it in this case:

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=43

Add some SO-DIMM modules, a couple of discs, and you're done. Well, 
except for the software of course.

> I don't mind the putting together part, although my DIY quota is
> sufficiently fulfilled this year after renovating the house... ;-) What
> I mind are the headaches of configuring software, chasing drivers,
> resolving long dependency chains (to compile X, you need Y, which in
> turn requires Z and Q, except that Q isn't compatible with P....).

I've found FreeNAS a breeze. Now this is based on FreeBSD, so driver 
support is a bit more of an issue than with Linux, but from what I can 
find on the internet, people are actually running FreeNAS on this 
motherboard.

As for discs, I'm seeing recommendations for the Samsung F4 'green' 2TB 
discs - green meaning they spin at 5400 RPM. I've got a Seagate 
Barracuda at that speed, but with 1.5TB, and it's fast enough for 
storage of media in my own PC.

- Peter