Microserver N54L....or...>THIS<?

RaptorSA

RaptorSA

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So I was about to bite the bullet on getting one of those Microserver N54L deals at http://www.cybernatic.co.za/ before I decided to do some digging on Wootware to get an idea of what my alternatives are.
So the N54L deal with GPU upgrade, RAM and HDD would have worked out to about R4K.
Using that as a budget I get to this:

Bitfenix PRO-300-RRXKR Prodigy Red Mini-ITX Desktop Chassis: R905
http://www.wootware.co.za/bitfenix-pro-300-rrxkr-red-mini-tower-mini-itx-desktop-chassis.html

MSI B75IA-E33 B75 Intel Chipset Socket 1155 Mini-ITX Motherboard: R920
http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-b75ia-e33-b75-intel-chipset-socket-1155-mini-itx-motherboard.html

Antec 520C Neo Eco 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply: R699
http://www.wootware.co.za/antec-520...2v-80-plus-bronze-certified-power-supply.html

Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz LGA1155 Dual Core Ivy Bridge CPU: R1349
http://www.wootware.co.za/intel-core-i3-3220-3-3ghz-lga1155-dual-core-ivy-bridge-cpu.html

Total: R3873

Surely this is a MUCH better option for someone who wants to build a decent home server setup with Usenet/Sickbeard/Headphones/CouchPotato/XBMC machine.
I know it's not Haswell but the Haswell ITX boards are still few and far between ...not to mention too expensive. This rig should provide some real decent upgrade options in future (can even drop my i5 2500K chip from my desktop in there if I want to).

I'm guessing the Intel HD 2500 graphics should be more than enough for a decent 3D GPU accelerated experience on something like XMBC?
Also, I know I don't have HDD/SSD in there but it's OK, I have enough hard drives on my current gaming rig so I can make a plan. I'm also considering getting a Pyro SATA3 128GB SSD for my notebook (Asus G73JH which has SATA2, but should still see some performance increase, right?) and dropping the current SATA2 Mushkin Callisto SSD into the ITX Box.

As for the memory, I have a 2x4GB Mushkin Silverline RAM kit where one of the DIMMS are bad, just need to figure out which one, so that's a nice saving.

Any comments on my conlusions here?
Thanks!
 
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The THIS option is better, but will be more expensive. You seem to have forgotten that you're comparing a Microserver with RAM and HDD installed, to a PC with neither....

Also, the PSU listed is massively more than you'll need.
 
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TJ99 said:
The THIS option is better, but will be more expensive. You seem to have forgotten that you're comparing a Microserver with RAM and HDD installed, to a PC with neither....
Click to expand...

True, but I think given the pros to this even someone who needs to buy the RAM and HDD extra it's worth saving up a little and rather waiting a bit. The microserver is cool, but it's basically a dead-end in terms of potential future proofing.
 
TJ99 said:
The THIS option is better, but will be more expensive. You seem to have forgotten that you're comparing a Microserver with RAM and HDD installed, to a PC with neither....
Click to expand...

This too. The pricing difference here is a lot bigger than OP makes out.

A new N54L costs around R2500.

This machine will cost around R4500 with quoted hardware plus cheap hard drive and 2GB memory (like the MS).

So if you have R2k extra to spend they yes this is great.
 
TJ99 said:
Also, the PSU listed is massively more than you'll need.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking towards future needs, might want to drop quite a few HDD's in there, my i5 2500K CPU and maybe even my Radeon 6870... then it doesn't sound as overkill.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
This too. The pricing difference here is a lot bigger than OP makes out.

A new N54L costs around R2500.

This machine will cost around R4500 with quoted hardware plus cheap hard drive and 2GB memory (like the MS).

So if you have R2k extra to spend they yes this is great.
Click to expand...

Yip. Microserver is still a good deal at R2300 compared to that PC that will cost double but obviously one needs to weigh up the pro's and cons. If you need more power or want to play games a Microserver is not for you.

Mine is prodding along nicely with Windows 7, XBMC etc. Uses far less power than a pc as well and looks great in TV cabinet.
 
Brawler said:
Yip. Microserver is still a good deal at R2300 compared to that PC that will cost double but obviously one needs to weigh up the pro's and cons. If you need more power or want to play games a Microserver is not for you.

Mine is prodding along nicely with Windows 7, XBMC etc. Uses far less power than a pc as well and looks great in TV cabinet.
Click to expand...


How does the CPU on the Microserver handle things like Browsing with multiple tabs (Youtube, Facebook, Google+, MyBB etc.)?
That's my main concern for now since the PC won't just be a XBMC box, but also needs to handle browsing, download services like Usenet, torrents, backups etc. Not worried about gaming on it for now, but would be nice to have to option in future.
 
RaptorSA said:
I'm thinking towards future needs, might want to drop quite a few HDD's in there, my i5 2500K CPU and maybe even my Radeon 6870... then it doesn't sound as overkill.
Click to expand...

Hard drives use very little power, the Microserver's 150W can easily handle 5 and an optical drive.

Putting that CPU and graphics card in there makes no sense as a media server/player, all you'd do is rack up a nice power bill and generate noise. Unless you want to convert it to a gaming PC later...
 
RaptorSA said:
How does the CPU on the Microserver handle things like Browsing with multiple tabs (Youtube, Facebook, Google+, MyBB etc.)?
That's my main concern for now since the PC won't just be a XBMC box, but also needs to handle browsing, download services like Usenet, torrents, backups etc. Not worried about gaming on it for now, but would be nice to have to option in future.
Click to expand...

Effortlessly, even on my old N36L. As long as you increase the RAM of course. None of those things are CPU intensive at all. The things that need powerful CPUs would be video/audio conversion, 3D modelling, archive creation/extraction, and to a lesser extent gaming. Even many gaming PC's these days have way more CPU power than they need.
 
MY Microserver N40? (R1200 from Esquire (sale)+ R300 for AMD 5450 GPU) works perfectly fine with XBMC12.2, SABNZBD, Couchpatato, Sickbeard, Calibre.

Runs Windows 8, 32bit (only 2gig ram, so saw no need to go 64).

I run mine 24x7 and only reboot once a month for windows patches.
 
TJ99 said:
Effortlessly, even on my old N36L. As long as you increase the RAM of course. None of those things are CPU intensive at all. The things that need powerful CPUs would be video/audio conversion, 3D modelling, archive creation/extraction, and to a lesser extent gaming. Even many gaming PC's these days have way more CPU power than they need.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. thanks for the feedback. Dammit, I'm confused now, not sure what I need to do (first world problems :D)
I emailed Cybernatic and told them about my options, the dude said they'll throw in a free Logitech G110 USB Gaming Keyboard if I go for the N54L deal (and as luck would have it I happend to accidentally leave my Microsoft Wireless keyboard on the gas heater this weekend, the thing looks like it spaghettified while going through a black hole..haha)
...hmmm...choices choices.
http://www.cybernatic.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=764
 
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RaptorSA said:
Hmm.. thanks for the feedback. Dammit, I'm confused now, not sure what I need to do (first world problems :D)
I emailed Cybernatic and told them about my options, the dude said they'll throw in a free Logitech G110 USB Gaming Keyboard if I go for the N54L deal (and as luck would have it I happend to accidentally leave my Microsoft Wireless keyboard on the gas heater this weekend, the thing looks like it spaghettified while going through a black hole..haha)
...hmmm...choices choices.
http://www.cybernatic.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=764
Click to expand...

The N54L is a much simpler solution, you just plug it in and install your OS and you're off. From your list of requirements I don't see any reason why you would have any hassles with it.

As long as you have a GPU (any cheap Nvidia will do) in there XBMC will run just fine and it is doubtful you will notice any difference between this and the more i3 option.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
The N54L is a much simpler solution, you just plug it in and install your OS and you're off. From your list of requirements I don't see any reason why you would have any hassles with it.

As long as you have a GPU (any cheap Nvidia will do) in there XBMC will run just fine and it is doubtful you will notice any difference between this and the more i3 option.
Click to expand...

Not to mention if I get the Microserver I can pick it up on Saturday, ordering all those parts from Cape Town is a massive hassle since I don't always work at the same site and I've yet to find a courier that can find my Home Address without issues.
 
Don't forget that power consumption is playing a bigger and bigger role than ever before.

I have one main media center computer, a beast, that is next to the TV.
My two microservers are in the garage.
The best computer consumes more power than the two microservers combined.
I should really just get another microserver.
 
Garyvdh said:
Don't forget that power consumption is playing a bigger and bigger role than ever before.

I have one main media center computer, a beast, that is next to the TV.
My two microservers are in the garage.
The best computer consumes more power than the two microservers combined.
I should really just get another microserver.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you should rather get something like a Raspberry Pi, or BeagleBone Black to front your two microservers. They'll consume next to nothing, and you can simply leave the hard work to the microservers.
 
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