Yet Another HTPC-advice Thread!

[TheSeeker]

@neoonwheels - could you pls tell if the circle lil cabinet can accommodate 2 HDDs + 1 SSD?

@sam9s - pls suggest a solution to attach more HDDs if SATA ports on the mobo have been exhausted. a sata port multiplier card to be used? its not available anywhere locally here (including lamington road), & online prices are simply ridiculous! may've to import it.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

@neoonwheels - could you pls tell if the circle lil cabinet can accommodate 2 HDDs + 1 SSD?

@sam9s - pls suggest a solution to attach more HDDs if SATA ports on the mobo have been exhausted. a sata port multiplier card to be used? its not available anywhere locally here (including lamington road), & online prices are simply ridiculous! may've to import it.

Search for pci RAID card.

Sent from a handheld device. Some typos might creep in.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

When I connect my AVR with my NUC with Windows 10, the screen overshoots. Even after the Intel driver installed, when in full resolution the screen gets cut from all the side. What do I need to do? Is there a fix for this?

There should be an option in TV menu settings which does an auto adjustment of display area. This is how I fixed the same issue with my TV.

Sent from a handheld device. Some typos might creep in.

 

[balzac]

There should be an option in TV menu settings which does an auto adjustment of display area. This is how I fixed the same issue with my TV.

Sent from a handheld device. Some typos might creep in.

The issue got resolved by my TV setting itself. It's working now. :yahoo:

 

[balzac]

All FM members,

Installed Remix OS for PC. I have been using it for a week on my NUC. Works well, just the Playstore keeps crashing now and then. Not able to get a fix for that.

Would try to install "Phoenix OS" - An Android Windows like OS.

Lets see how it goes.

 

[regeHA]

@neoonwheels - could you pls tell if the circle lil cabinet can accommodate 2 HDDs + 1 SSD?

@sam9s - pls suggest a solution to attach more HDDs if SATA ports on the mobo have been exhausted. a sata port multiplier card to be used? its not available anywhere locally here (including lamington road), & online prices are simply ridiculous! may've to import it.

I would simply increase the capacity of the hard drives, most solutions will be a hit and a miss. Been down this path, trust me on this.

A simpler solution would be simply to connect external hard drives especially if USB 3.0 is supported, it will be a good option for faster transfer speeds, the external hard drives can be powered on for months without issues, and even if you use any Linux or NAS software, they can be used and mounted as regular hard drives.

A more expensive solution is to add the operating system to a PCI/PCIE SSD, but these are terribly expensive in India at least. You could simply buy a new motherboard with more ports for a fraction of the cost.

Search for pci RAID card.

RAID, hardware or software, will decrease capacity and not increase it.

A better solution is to look for PCI to SATA converters, but I've not had much success with them, and had a ton of performance issues. Simply better to buy a new motherboard with more SATA ports.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

RAID, hardware or software, will decrease capacity and not increase it.

A better solution is to look for PCI to SATA converters, but I've not had much success with them, and had a ton of performance issues. Simply better to buy a new motherboard with more SATA ports.

Care to explain how a pci raid card with sata ports will decrease the capacity?

Sent from a handheld device. Some typos might creep in.

 

[regeHA]

Care to explain how a pci raid card with sata ports will decrease the capacity?

Why even introduce physical RAID? Its primary purpose is to achieve redundancy, that's what RAID is for. I am trying to understand why RAID is even a necessity? Any form of mirroring will only half the capacity.

Like I said a simpler solution is to simply get a PCI to SATA converter without adding RAID to the mix. But I have tried such solutions, and speed definitely takes a hit, and in a NAS setting will drop down gigabit speeds to fast ethernet speeds. Not a good solution when moving or streaming gigabits of data, especially Blu-ray movies which is what most of us use it for.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Why even introduce physical RAID? Its primary purpose is to achieve redundancy, that's what RAID is for. I am trying to understand why RAID is even a necessity? Any form of mirroring will only half the capacity.

Like I said a simpler solution is to simply get a PCI to SATA converter without adding RAID to the mix. But I have tried such solutions, and speed definitely takes a hit, and in a NAS setting will drop down gigabit speeds to fast ethernet speeds. Not a good solution when moving or streaming gigabits of data, especially Blu-ray movies which is what most of us use it for.

First of all, if someone uses NAS, RAID is a very very important feature and a next to 'must have thing'.

I have no clue why you even skipped that necessary part and this might be misleading others.

The other aspect of having a SATA RAID card is not necessarily mean one has to mirror data. There are other variation of RAID where user can store data without mirroring it. It's a nice to have feature (like all SATA ports in a standard motherboard have RAID capabilities).

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[sam9s]

@sam9s - pls suggest a solution to attach more HDDs if SATA ports on the mobo have been exhausted. a sata port multiplier card to be used? its not available anywhere locally here (including lamington road), & online prices are simply ridiculous! may've to import it.

Below is what you need. I have one and it works perfectly, only down side is I could only find 2 SATA addon and not more than two

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Syba-2-Port-...867989?hash=item2818267f55:g:CToAAOSw1KxXNFTS

 

[sam9s]

I would simply increase the capacity of the hard drives, most solutions will be a hit and a miss. Been down this path, trust me on this.

He cannot increase the capacity coz he has run short of SATA ports on mobo and almost all solutions with an add on PCIe or PCI sata cards are hits, there is no miss on this, unless you purchase a faulty card.

A simpler solution would be simply to connect external hard drives especially if USB 3.0 is supported, it will be a good option for faster transfer speeds, the external hard drives can be powered on for months without issues, and even if you use any Linux or NAS software, they can be used and mounted as regular hard drives.

Simpler but not viable and certainly not in the lines of sata. USB 3 even though quite fast still cannot match the SATA III 6Gbps connection, so even though adding external USB 3.0 HDD might be simpler solution it is not performance oriented, plus internal HDD always makes the PC clutter free.

RAID, hardware or software, will decrease capacity and not increase it.

No, not all RAID will decrease the quantity, yes most do but not all.

Simply better to buy a new motherboard with more SATA ports.

No not correct, if you have multiple 1x PCIe or PCI slots you can purchase add on cards to get ateast 3-4 extra SATA III ports, for a price of less than a decent mother board.

 

[sam9s]

Search for pci RAID card.

Sent from a handheld device. Some typos might creep in.

He would not need a RAID card for this, all he needs is a normal PCIe 1x addon sata III card to add more HDDs, thats all.

 

[regeHA]

He cannot increase the capacity coz he has run short of SATA ports on mobo and almost all solutions with an add on PCIe or PCI sata cards are hits, there is no miss on this, unless you purchase a faulty card.

I meant increasing capacity of the existing HDDs, as in go from 2TB to 6TB or 8TB capacity drives.

As already mentioned I've been down that road, and have used PCI/PCIE converters to SATA and while they work, they also dropped speeds significantly. Speeds came down significantly from gigabit ethernet to fast ethernet, not a workable situation in a NAS setting where terabytes of data is synced and moved.

Of course, PCI is limited, and if the OP chooses to go down this road then I would recommend using PCI Express as opposed to the older PCI.

Off topic and personally I had the best purchase by moving to a PCIe SSD, but unfortunately these are terribly expensive in India at the moment. However, if getting by the US route, then it is the best implementation in terms of speed increase (especially if you can get an Intel PCIe SSD) for a gaming rig. They are even faster than M.2.

 

[sam9s]

As already mentioned I've been down that road, and have used PCI/PCIE converters to SATA and while they work, they also dropped speeds significantly. Speeds came down significantly from gigabit ethernet to fast ethernet, not a workable situation in a NAS setting where terabytes of data is synced and moved.

Well I am not sure what converter you used but what I shared is what I have used and it IS a pretty much workable solution, there was no drop in speed what so ever and the HDD performed exactly the way any SATA III 6Gbps HDD would.

 

[TheSeeker]

thanks for the suggestions!

not looking fwd to moving data over the network FROM the htpc (i feel its slow). but yes, occasionally will move data from my downloading laptop/plug PC onto the HDDs of the htpc.

thanks sam! seems good solution.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

The issue got resolved by my TV setting itself. It's working now. :yahoo:

Thats great!

 

[TheSeeker]

sajjan log, pls advise an HTPC-case to me. have decided to change my present one. the config is:

Giga GA-H97M-D3H
Zotac GTX 750ti
Corsair 550W PSU
No optical drive as of now
1 SSD
1 HDD (planning to add in more)

i was contemplating upon Circle Lil. any other suggestions?

 

[sam9s]

^^ Budget .??? Horizontal, Vertical .. ???

 

[TheSeeker]

^^ Budget .??? Horizontal, Vertical .. ???

horizontal would also do, as have to buy an AVR in future and will have to get a rack to place it in.

but in my budget i hope i can get a horizontal case (upto 5k).

 

[sam9s]

horizontal would also do, as have to buy an AVR in future and will have to get a rack to place it in.

but in my budget i hope i can get a horizontal case (upto 5k).

Thats the closest I could find ...

http://www.amazon.in/Silverstone-Al...id=1480962781&sr=1-10&keywords=micro+ATX+htpc

SilverStone Technology Milo 9 ML09B Cases ML09B for 5340/-