HTPC build - opinions wanted

[yetiuk]

Hi
I am wanting to build a HTPC that will sit in my hifi rack, and replace my DVD player and add freeview capability. It needs to be quiet, as it will be on most of the day

Here is what I am looking at

Silverstone LC20 case - without VFD as MCE remote and keyboard don't work with it.
Asus P5W DH Deluxe - was going to go Abit AW9 max but want more than 1 PCI slot
E6300 Core 2 Duo
Western Digital SE16 320GB Sata drive
Black Gold Dual DVB-T/Analogue PCI-express Card[/URL once available!
Seasonic S12 430W

I am undecided on graphics and cooling.
I want a quiet graphics card and am considering XFX passive 7950gt or else probably 7900gs any suggestions for a quiet card?
I have just seen the silverstone NT01 v2.0 this looks great, has anyone used it in a LC20? There is a side fan mount which looks like it will line up.

Any comments or suggestions welcome

Yeti

[yetiuk]

Forgot to say I already have
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel memory

[Clunk]

a couple of things.

you have to remember that the htpc cases are MUCH smaller, so something that would produce a reasonable amount of heat ina large case could be a problem in a small area like this.

I went with a passive graphics card (gigabyte 7600gt) and the heat from it when its not actually doing anything is incredible, seriously! And also, the conroe and the mosfets round the cpu socket, the northbridge and southbridge all give off a good (bad) amount of heat, and in a tiny enclosed space, it soon becomes a mini oven.

Air flow is a must, even if it is just moving the air around so that the extracting fans can do their work.

all your bits look fine, and thats a good psu, but you may find that the spare wires get in the way, i did, so i have gone with a modular psu (enermax liberty).

quietest drives are the samsungs.

The silverstone looks a decent enough cooler, but it takes 60mm fans, and for the airflow that they produce, arent quiet. I bought a scythe mine, but that was too tall, so i have gone for a Thermalright s1-128 which should give some cooling to the area round the cpu and also the ram. Ill let you know tomorrow

[yetiuk]

a couple of things.

you have to remember that the htpc cases are MUCH smaller, so something that would produce a reasonable amount of heat ina large case could be a problem in a small area like this.

I went with a passive graphics card (gigabyte 7600gt) and the heat from it when its not actually doing anything is incredible, seriously! And also, the conroe and the mosfets round the cpu socket, the northbridge and southbridge all give off a good (bad) amount of heat, and in a tiny enclosed space, it soon becomes a mini oven.

Air flow is a must, even if it is just moving the air around so that the extracting fans can do their work.

all your bits look fine, and thats a good psu, but you may find that the spare wires get in the way, i did, so i have gone with a modular psu (enermax liberty).

quietest drives are the samsungs.

The silverstone looks a decent enough cooler, but it takes 60mm fans, and for the airflow that they produce, arent quiet. I bought a scythe mine, but that was too tall, so i have gone for a Thermalright s1-128 which should give some cooling to the area round the cpu and also the ram. Ill let you know tomorrow

Thanks Clunk

The LC20 is actually quite big for HTPC, at 430 mm (W) x 170mm (H) x 430 mm (D).
I was thinking of running the CPU cooler passive, with a FN82 (92mm fan in 80mm housing) fan blowing onto it, with another FN82 sucking at the rear.
I guess this really does depend on where the NT01 ends up in relation to the fan mount on the side of the case. If this doesn't work, my next option will be the s1-128

How quiet is the liberty?, and what case did you go for?

[Clunk]

Yep, i would imagine that your case is a bit bigger than this one (lian-li v880) 155mm tall x 380mm wide x 465mm deep, it is full of holes though, so airflow should be ok with the lid on..not got that far yet

The liberty doesnt get here until tomorrow, so i cant say how quiet that is. The only other modular option that was recommended to me on here was the Seasonic M12, but there was only overclockers that had them in stock, and i would rather not pay their ripoff prices, so liberty it is. Tekheads had the 700w version for less than overclockers, but it was more than i wanted to pay!

good luck

[Clunk]

the si-128 fits perfectly, and with a fan on top, it has about 15-20mm clearance from the lid, so will be fine in yours. only problem i had with fitting was....if you want the si-128 blowing onto the heatsinks round the cpu, you have to take the board out because one of the retaining clips isnt reachable unless you have very long bendy fingers, which i dont. other than that, its spot on and huge!

[yetiuk]

I am going to try the silverstone heatsink first, but if that is no good, will definately use the thermalright

[scrandman]

I'm not running an HTPC, but silence is important to me so my experiences might be useful. My rig is as follows:

Abit KN8-SLI (passive motherboard)
Opteron 146 @ 1.2V / 2400MHz
Scythe Ninja Plus with 120 fan @ 40% ~ 5V (runs at ~700rpm)
XFX 7900GT Extreme with Zalman VF900Cu @ lowest setting on fanmate ~ 5V
Seasonic S12 430W (120 fan runs at ~ 760rpm)
Sharkoon 2000 120 fan @ 5V (~ 1000rpm)
Samsung 200Gb Spinpoint SATAII
Samsung DVD-RW
All cased in an Antec SLK3000B

Approximate max temps are as follows (CPU / mobo / GFX / HD):

38 / 32 / 40 / 38 (all in deg C)

Approximate idle temps are as follows (CPU / mobo / GFX / HD):

28 / 28 / 34 / 32 (all in deg C)

The noisiest component is the hard drive. The DVD-RW is noisier when it spins up (which is rarely), but overall the rig is almost inaudible. After that, it would be the Sharkoon (exhaust) fan.

My advice for an HTPC - try to keep heat generating components to a minimum as I have. If you don't generate heat in the first place, then you obviously don't need A1 cooling to dissipate it.

[R3MF]

i am about to get something very similar.

LC16-M
C2D 6600
Gigabyte DS4
XFX 7950GT
2x 320GB Seagates.

Gonna use 2x 92mm intakes on the case and a Noctua 90 Heatsink for the CPU (128mm tall)

[yetiuk]

Well I have orderd everything in my list, apart from the Harddrive. I swapped it for a Samsung spinpoint. It should all be arriving today, so will let you know how I get on with the heatsink in the LC-20

Scrandman - hopefully the I will keep heat to a minimum. For HT stuff idn't think the graphics card will run too hot.

Just trying to quieten down my sky+ box now. That is the noisiest thing in my living room!

[R3MF]

just ordered my LC16 case with a Noctua heatsink:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=378740

our cases are the same size so i will let you know how i get on.

[BubbySoup]

Unless you have money to burn, the motherboard and chip are way overkill for a HTPC. My HTPC is running an Opty 144 @ 2.4 on a sub £75 motherboard and runs anything I throw at it all the way up to 1080p.

Your choice of TV card is good but you may also want to look at the Terratec Cinergy 2400 if you can live without the analogue. Having owned both cards, I prefer the image quality of the Terratec over the Blackgold but the downside being it has no analogue reception.