HP ProLiant MicroServer

[PostmanPot]

(doesn't seem quite fair to the shop)

Sums up most of the CPA pretty well.

 

[SomeoneEls]

Can't find anything about that (doesn't seem quite fair to the shop), more irritated that its taking so long to ship, the order page says 3 days. Only after you pay you find its 5-7 working days. Might be able to get them on 19(2)(a)(i) - deliver goods on the agreed date and time!!!

My 1st (bought from the hpshop) also took a while to be delivered, where does the tracking number say it is? If the tracking number doesn't work(mine didn't) phone them, they were very helpful over the phone.

 

[Broadcom]

My 1st (bought from the hpshop) also took a while to be delivered, where does the tracking number say it is? If the tracking number doesn't work(mine didn't) phone them, they were very helpful over the phone.

Delivery status on website says 'Not Yet Shipped', however I've just phoned them - apparently the couriers took it last Tuesday!
Busy sniffing the trail now...

 

[SomeoneEls]

Update, on the update:

I'm upgrading my view on the HP MS as an XBMC player from mildly disappointed to fairly optimistic.

Mostly due to info from the HTPC GPU shootout posted above that explained frame rates, etc. quite well.

Turns out most of the artifacts I saw on high bitrate files were caused by the movie and TV frame rates not matching up. Setting the GPU to match the TV smoothed most, if not all, the 'jitter' out.

Anyone know if this card will work?

Club 3D GeForce GT 520 1GB - 64-bit, 810MHz Clock, 1024MB 64-bit GDDR3 Memory 1333MHz, 48 Cuda Cores, 1 x DVI-I Connector, 1 x HDMI, 1 x CRT, PCIe 2.0, 2 Year Warranty

http://www.prophecy.co.za/club3d-geforce-gt520-gddr3-64bit-pcie-p-91759.html#!tab2

Jannie has a MSi N520GT working with Openelec.tv as you see above he had to set it to match the TV frame rate, not sure if he had any other issues!

The drivers included in XBMC live don't include the 520 yet, but openelec does include them because it's based on the XBMC pre-'eden' or whatever it is...

 

[greggpb]

Can confirm. Did the BIOS upgrade and get same speed as other drives, around 130MB/s, measured with hdparm, on the OD port. Will test eSATA later.


Was thinking more of the spin-up time, which will be eliminated with a SD. Or does the cache drive always spin?

Suppose that really depends on you usage, cache drive will power down like the rest and it probally only take 0.5sec to spin up.. about the same time the normal authentication and tcp takes..

I don't think have a SD Cache drive would be of any benefit, the real benefit is coping to the box without the need for parity to be calculated. this process is then queued

 

[jannievanzyl]

Jannie has a MSi N520GT working with Openelec.tv as you see above he had to set it to match the TV frame rate, not sure if he had any other issues!

The drivers included in XBMC live don't include the 520 yet, but openelec does include them because it's based on the XBMC pre-'eden' or whatever it is...

So far, so good. No problem in recommending this setup (HP MS + GT520 + openelec).

 

[jannievanzyl]

Suppose that really depends on you usage, cache drive will power down like the rest and it probally only take 0.5sec to spin up.. about the same time the normal authentication and tcp takes..

I don't think have a SD Cache drive would be of any benefit, the real benefit is coping to the box without the need for parity to be calculated. this process is then queued

Copying media, I don't see any need for a cache drive - you write so seldom, it does not really make any difference - but if you want to use unRAID for work-related data storage, an 'instantaneous' cache drive could make sense.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

I'm not too clued up, but I'm sure the Consumer Protection Act says something about if the shop sells the item cheaper 7 days after the purchase, item must be given at the cheaper price/credited to you.

Nope, nothing about that else I would know about it as my wife sells retail products. But the CPA does however say that all goods must be advertised with a price and if more than one price is displayed, then the lowest price must be charged.

Nothing about price guarantee. Its fare else people would be biatching to the Spur 6 days a week because of Monday Free Burger special or Steers Wacky Wednesday.

 

[Mars]

I'm not too clued up, but I'm sure the Consumer Protection Act says something about if the shop sells the item cheaper 7 days after the purchase, item must be given at the cheaper price/credited to you.

No, would be nice, but I don't think so.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

OK, so yesterday I install Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit minimal install, Xorg, XBMC & ATI proprietry drivers. Had problems with the sound and tonight I rebooted and it all worked without a glitch.

Now I just need to tweak the ATI drivers as I get a bit of a screen sync problem at times. Now it could be my 32" HiSense to be honest. Now since this server is for my kids movies (tired of them trashing the originals), I might not be bothered for now.

On DVD playback its amazing. Some DVDs are so awesome that I no longer intend to expand my BluRay collection (with the exception of my personal movies). I did however notice some sync issues with Teletubbies & Barney but that I've also seen on 3 PCs.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Forgot to mention that with an Ubuntu minimal install as its base, XBMC runs perfectly on the 1GB RAM with a 512MB HD5450. For playback of a DVD it was using only 250MB compared to 900MB on a normal Ubuntu base install.

Will playback Tron (1,5GB file) this weekend to see how well it then performs. Still want to add another 2GB RAM.

 

[stroebs]

Well had my frist trial run today with the system and my fully setup network.

Reformatted the drives to Win7 + MCE then realised how slow and useless MCE is so downloaded XBMC and the Launcher so my MCE remote would work for it.

Current setup:
1GB RAM (Stock)
HD6450
2TB Samsung Ecogreen HDD

The machine can copy at 80 to 90MB/sec from my PC in my room via Gigabit connection while playing Black Swan 1080p (14GB MKV) - Used that as a trial run.

What I did have to do is enable H/W acceleration and make sure it used Pixel Shaders for rendering to get smooth 1080p performance in XBMC.

 

[iEverything]

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can buy a 4GB Dimm for the Microserver in JHB, seems like Kingston memory is out of stock and really struggling to find some.

Module Size: 4GB
Package: 240-pin DIMM
Feature: DDR3 PC3-10600
Specs: DDR3 PC3-10600 • CL=9 • Unbuffered • ECC • DDR3-1333 • 1.5V • 512Meg x 72 •

 

[Broadcom]

Well had my frist trial run today with the system and my fully setup network.

Reformatted the drives to Win7 + MCE then realised how slow and useless MCE is so downloaded XBMC and the Launcher so my MCE remote would work for it.

Current setup:
1GB RAM (Stock)
HD6450
2TB Samsung Ecogreen HDD

Yeah, Win7 media center runs like a dog on only 1GB, even on my AMD quad. Try 2Gb before you give up on it.

BTW, does anyone know if the microserver motherboard supports dual channel memory? i.e. is it worth putting two matching sticks of ram in it for a performance increase?

 

[PostmanPot]

Yeah, Win7 media center runs like a dog on only 1GB, even on my AMD quad. Try 2Gb before you give up on it.

BTW, does anyone know if the microserver motherboard supports dual channel memory? i.e. is it worth putting two matching sticks of ram in it for a performance increase?

Dual channel has only ever offered a ±2% increase, so probably not worth it.

 

[Sentari]

Apparently you dont need ECC Memory.

This memory will work also.

Kingston ValueRAM 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 Desktop Memory Module (KVR1333D3N9/4G)

http://www.nivo.co.za/buy~kingston.....desktop.memory.module.kvr1333d3n9.4g.~p22654

 

[karnuffel]

Apparently you dont need ECC Memory.

This memory will work also.

Kingston ValueRAM 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 Desktop Memory Module (KVR1333D3N9/4G)

http://www.nivo.co.za/buy~kingston.....desktop.memory.module.kvr1333d3n9.4g.~p22654

+1

I posted some feedback on my project earlier. I included a link to the RAM that I used.

 

[stroebs]

Yeah, Win7 media center runs like a dog on only 1GB, even on my AMD quad. Try 2Gb before you give up on it.

BTW, does anyone know if the microserver motherboard supports dual channel memory? i.e. is it worth putting two matching sticks of ram in it for a performance increase?

I think I will stick with XBMC. WAY more customization options as well as addons like iedntifying my movies, displaying my fanart for them and showing and renaming all my series' correctly with fan art.

VERY useful tools. Also weather is pretty handy. The way MCE organises (or rather doesn't organise) media is shocking.

For your RAM question: Either way, stick two DIMMs in there. 4GBx2 for 8GB of pure awesomeness.

 

[stroebs]

Yeah, Win7 media center runs like a dog on only 1GB, even on my AMD quad. Try 2Gb before you give up on it.

BTW, does anyone know if the microserver motherboard supports dual channel memory? i.e. is it worth putting two matching sticks of ram in it for a performance increase?

I think I will stick with XBMC. WAY more customization options as well as addons like iedntifying my movies, displaying my fanart for them and showing and renaming all my series' correctly with fan art.

VERY useful tools. Also weather is pretty handy. The way MCE organises (or rather doesn't organise) media is shocking.

For your RAM question: Either way, stick two DIMMs in there. 4GBx2 for 8GB of pure awesomeness.

 

[garyc]

If you want to use ECC RAM (i.e. for a server), then the recommended Kingston RAM for 2GB sticks is KTH-PL313E/2G. I think that the shop I bought a couple of these from sourced them from Axiz. Price is not bad, a bit over R300 each. These are working fine.

If you are building something like an HTPC then obviously the ECC RAM is not needed.