Small Quiet PC.... Parts?

[johnaintdoe]

Somehow, it seems the electric bill just keeps on rising... 311 watt idle computer left on overnight doesn't seem like a good idea. Yeah, and it's all for bittorrent.

Now this dilemma has been bothering my friends and me for a long time... They are pretty much all offering me 50 bucks to build them an alternative (they pay for parts).
I'm planning to get a cheap and quiet pc for NAS (500 gb, just cifs) and bittorrent. So I'm thinking of a price range of around 150 minus the hard drive and disc drives... I'm probably going to use freebsd.

It would be great if it was fanless but necessarily so and it must consume less than 65 watts idle (no monitor, lol). The size has to be smaller than ATX, smaller than mini-atx would also be a plus but pico-itx would be overkill (or underkill...?)

Has anyone have any experience building these types of PCs? I figured that my Pentium II would do the job with Samba and Rtorrent on freebsd... Just a little big.

Thanks

 

[Synomenon]

Shuttle has a barebone PC (I think the model number is: SD11G5). It's their most silent XPC.

Edit:
http://us.shuttle.com/barebone/Models/sd11g5.html

After getting all the parts for it though, it's kinda expensive.

 

[jpeyton]

AMD Sempron 64 3000+ 35W AM2 Retail - $30

Foxconn AM2 Nvidia GeForce 6100 mATX - $45

Transcend 1GB DDR2 667 - $30

Antec NSK3300 mATX Case W/ 300W PSU - $80

That's probably the best option if you're buying new, but you can get some excellent deals on used older AMD parts on forums and on eBay. Just make sure to look up the CPU and make sure its a low-wattage model (older Semprons have a TDP of 62W).

The processor is 35W TDP by default, but can be undervolted/underclocked using RMClock; you can get the idle power of the entire system to around 50W or less (I don't have a calculator handy, but the undervolted Sempron should consume wattage in the low teens).

The stock AMD heatsink shouldn't be very noisy at low CPU speeds, but you can always upgrade to something like a Scythe Ninja; that would allow you to drop the CPU fan altogether (keep the single 120mm rear fan on low and you won't hear it).

 

[tungtung]

I think what 'jpeyton' suggested would be as cheap as it might go with "current" components.
I mean you can always scrounge eBay and try get those old mini-ATX boards for your P2 or some other old processor.

As far as going smaller, I don't think with your budget you can get anything smaller than mini-ATX. The only possibilty would be the old mini-ITX sytems. But the chance of getting a full mini-ITX setup for $150, even for the used old parts is a bit slim. Not many people have those systems, so used parts is kinda hard to get.

Edit: I stand corrected. There are some old mini-ITX boards currently active in eBay auction. Just search for 'ITX' and you'll see some. I see a few old parts that is currently still going for under $100. So that might be one option you might want to try.

 

[zig3695]

there are some routers that can run bit torrent now, and i believe they consume about 10w.


actually, what i would do is ebay or craigslist for a used, old laptop. $200 will easliy get you a bit-torrent worthy machine that will run about 50w at most (with screen off)

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

macmini!

 

[zig3695]

$$$$!!!