So I pulled the old desktop out. Refreshed it and have it running server duties. As I’m lazy as all get out, its running Windows XP. All thats needed is file shares and running TVersity for media streaming.
Flicking through the local stationary office supplier and big box store catalogs yielded a plethora of NAS devices. Some that even acted as DLNA servers. Nifty in terms of a plug and play option.
However there were a number of problems:
- Wildly varying feature sets and price points.
- Limited expansion.
- Not quite as silent as expected.
- Exchange rates causing prices to rise by 20% +.
Given these issues, I decided to plod on with the noisy heat generator.
But then the NForce 730i landed. In the shadow of the new Macbooks, these nifty HTPC motherboards offered a great feature set for a reasonable price. Reasonable graphics card, video acceleration, hdmi. All crammed into a small board designed to generate a minimum of heat.
So I set out wallet in pocket to upgrade just the core. Meaning CPU, motherboard and memory. The total cost was a touch more than the NAS option. However a lot more flexible and expandable.
Herein lies the problem. Most hardware stores are geared to volume. Even more so with the current retail climate. So these boards are scarce as hens teeth. Despite all the breathless press coverage.
So here sits CPU, memory, disk and SATA DVD burner with no useful purpose. Options multiplying to headache proportions. Going with the alternative Intel G series chipsets (supposedly less advanced but common as flies) or with a more standard motherboard (and possibly needing to upgrade the power supply as well).
The additional wrinkle. Mistakenly buying 1066 DDR2 memory.
When did it become so complicated ?
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