Hybrid with SSD

[ramonh]

Hi all

I'm building my first HTPC. I was looking for a good Media Center Software.
WinMCE was not suitable, because I have moved from Windows to Ubuntu a few years ago. I'm still a newbie but very happy with Linux and the whole OpenSource idea 


I want to build this PC as a single HTPC (Core/MC Hybrid):

Silverstone SST-GD01S-MXR Grandia Desktop
Silverstone SST-ST30NF-GM Fanless-Series - 300 Watt
MSI K9A2 CF-F, AMD 790X, Socket AM2+, CF
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e BOX, Socket AM2, Dual Core, 65nm
Silverstone SST-NT01-E Fanless Heatpipe Cooler
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4, 4x1GB, DDR2-800, CL4
Club3D 9400GT Passive, PCI-E x16, 512MB, HDMI (nVidia GeForce Chipset)
Club3D Theatron DD 7.1 PCI
Noiseblocker Multiframe S-Series MF8-S1
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1300, analog TV und DVB-T Hybrid Tuner
WiiMote 


I was wondering if I could use a Solid State Disk with 32 GB to get rid of normal harddisk noise. But since SSD have limited delete cicles it could be destroyed within short time?

I will store my media on a NAS in another room.

Maybe I can record TV to the NAS as well. If not I want to use a HD to record and use the NAS for the more permanent media (like MP3, videos, etc.).
Like that the harddisk noise is reduced to record and then I can copy it to the NAS.


Does anybody have experience with ssd in the core?


Btw. I hope I'm in the correct sub-forum

[colinjones]

Not commenting on your hardware line up (you really need to research the compatibility at least with Kubuntu 0710/kernel 2.6.22-14, but also specifically if anyone has posted experience of that board on the forums/wiki. Your nVidia video is good - just update the video drivers after installation, wiki article Display Drivers - but you should look at your sound and networking hardware, too, those are the 3 most critical) - but I will mention that you need to install a second NIC for your core/hybrid and connect it correctly - http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Network_Setup

As far as SSD is concerned, I'm thinking that this should not be a problem as they are designed for this type of purpose. However, I think you would be better off with a normal HDD as typically these are far quieter than the fan anyway, much cheaper, and allow you to store your recorded TV locally which is something you probably would want to do...

[ramonh]

Thanks for your answer

I will search for the compatibility of the mainboard and the sound card, when I come home in the afternoon. But I thought MSI boards should work fine...

For the moment I just want this pc as a hybrid. Unfortunately it's not yet possible to use the core as DHCP server. 
I've read, that this is not really a problem, as long as I don't need PnP for the components.

I only have two fans in the case, which are together quieter than 10dB(A). I will give give it a try with a HDD I already have. But I would prefer recording TV to the NAS.
Or is this a problem?


Edit: I found the following values for the disks:

Super Talent UltraDrive ME SSD 32GB, 2.5 Zoll, SATA-II:
- 200MB/s read, 160MB/s write
- 0.1 ms access time
- 17.5 yrs @ 50 GB write-erase/day
- no noise
- power concumption higher than HDD (Tom's Hardware)


Western Digital Caviar GP, 7200rpm, 32MB, 1TB, SATA-II
- 3 Gb/s Buffer-to-Host
- 25-27 dBA noise (twice as loud as the two fans in the case )
- 5,4 W (read/write)


The boot times for XP are compared on the Super Talent homepage (http://www.supertalent.com/datasheets/SuperTalent%20Ultradrive%20Whitepaper_v1.0.pdf):
Seagate SP3808: 29.57 seconds
UltraDrive ME 128GB: 9.2 seconds


In conclusion:

SSD:
+ Quieter
+ Faster

HDD:
+ lower power consumption
+ cheaper