Upgrading a Tranquil SQA-5h
Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 12:54 pm
Hi,
I have a 4-year old TranquilPC Windows Home Server system based on the Atom D330 that's getting a bit long in the tooth.
I'd like to upgrade the OS for which I'll need more than the 2 Gb I can have in this box, so I will probably be ripping out the innards and replacing them with something else. It's a Mini-ITX case with 5 hot-swap SATA drive bays designed to be as silent as possible at that time, so I am thinking it's a good base to build off. The motherboard is passively cooled, while the drives have a big but quiet fan behind them.
The Atom D330 was very low power (8W TDP), but the motherboard had a full desktop gfx chip (GMA950?), so was very power hungry, although I can't find anywhere quite how much. I presume that this means I can stuff something a bit more powerful and still be ok, since everything now comes with a built-in gpu. I use the server mainly for serving files (docs, music, video), so it doesn't get very stressed. I have discovered Plex though and I am thinking that I may start to use the box a bit more to transcode when I'm out of home, if I had the power. But this is not so important. I run it headless and serve the TV over wifi, not as an HTPC.
My plan (a) was to go with a Brazos 2.0 E-1800, just swap the motherboard, plug the drives to the SATA controller and be done. However, it's been months since the launch and I still can't find any of those around.
A possible plan (b) I've just thought of is to go with an i3 3240T on a DQ77KB motherboard. This would have a lot more oomph. But with a 35W TDP would it be too much?
I guess the question is whether I could go with a passively cooled i3 in the Tranquil case, or whether I should stay with the Brazos. f the latter, when will they finally be available? I'm not that sensitive to spending $1-200 more, but I'd feel bad throwing the whole system away, I guess.
Thanks for pointers!
I have a 4-year old TranquilPC Windows Home Server system based on the Atom D330 that's getting a bit long in the tooth.
I'd like to upgrade the OS for which I'll need more than the 2 Gb I can have in this box, so I will probably be ripping out the innards and replacing them with something else. It's a Mini-ITX case with 5 hot-swap SATA drive bays designed to be as silent as possible at that time, so I am thinking it's a good base to build off. The motherboard is passively cooled, while the drives have a big but quiet fan behind them.
The Atom D330 was very low power (8W TDP), but the motherboard had a full desktop gfx chip (GMA950?), so was very power hungry, although I can't find anywhere quite how much. I presume that this means I can stuff something a bit more powerful and still be ok, since everything now comes with a built-in gpu. I use the server mainly for serving files (docs, music, video), so it doesn't get very stressed. I have discovered Plex though and I am thinking that I may start to use the box a bit more to transcode when I'm out of home, if I had the power. But this is not so important. I run it headless and serve the TV over wifi, not as an HTPC.
My plan (a) was to go with a Brazos 2.0 E-1800, just swap the motherboard, plug the drives to the SATA controller and be done. However, it's been months since the launch and I still can't find any of those around.
A possible plan (b) I've just thought of is to go with an i3 3240T on a DQ77KB motherboard. This would have a lot more oomph. But with a 35W TDP would it be too much?
I guess the question is whether I could go with a passively cooled i3 in the Tranquil case, or whether I should stay with the Brazos. f the latter, when will they finally be available? I'm not that sensitive to spending $1-200 more, but I'd feel bad throwing the whole system away, I guess.
Thanks for pointers!