Building A Linux HTPC / Storage Server With The SilverStone CS381

For our storage build for testing it was based around the new AMD Ryzen 5 3400G processor, ASUS PRIME B450M-A motherboard, 2 x 8GB DDR4-3200 memory, Intel Optane NVMe SSD for OS storage and six Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SATA 3.0 SSDs for the primary storage, and was running Ubuntu 19.04 for this setup.

The ASUS PRIME B450M-A has been working out fine in our testing with the Ryzen 5 3400G. Unlike some motherboards primarily back during the earlier Raven Ridge APUs, some of them with sometimes flawed firmware would lead to graphics stability issues and other headaches. At least with the 3400G and PRIME B450M-A, I haven't encountered any such defects. The motherboard has been working out fine under Linux and allows the Picasso APU to function at its full potential without any stability/graphics worries.

Assembling this system was straight-forward and was a delight as always interacting with the SilverStone CS381 chassis.

The SilverStone CS381 does require a short CPU heatsink as to not obstruct the SSD/HDD bays. For the purposes of this AMD Ryzen build, the Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 heatsink was a great fit and left plenty of extra space.

For powering this AMD APU build and the six Samsung SSDs was a SilverStone SX700-LPT SFX-L power supply. This small form factor 700W PSU has worked out well under load and is also incredibly quiet, including not powering up the PSU fan unless needed.

The SilverStone SX700-LPT is rated 80 Plus Platinum for efficiency, 100% modular, and offers 58.4A on its single +12V rail. This power supply opens up the possibilities for powering plenty of components within this very small form factor build.