Lian Li PC-Q09B Sandy Bridge HTPC build
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:44 pm
Finally found a little time to gather my notes on this build. This is a small box intended to sit (preferably quietly) on a shelf doing HTPC duty.
TV tuners and file storage is accessed over the network, so add-in cards and lots of disks are not needed.
Components used:
Lian Li PC-Q09B case: Small, unobtrusive. Comes with an external 110W power brick. Layout is quite unusual, but makes for a pretty easy build.
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Geh ... anguage=en
Asus P8H67-I Deluxe motherboard: Reviewed on this fine site. Originally got this to build a Mini-ITX gaming machine, but got fed up fighting heat and noise. Really nice board with all the onboard stuff you'd ever need. That's also the reason the board is sporting 8 gigs of memory - I would normally never put that much into an HTPC.
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge CPU - didn't bother with the low power version. Plenty of horsepower for what it will be doing.
Scythe Kozuti CPU cooler: Low height required in order to fit in the case - good replacement for the stock Intel i3 HSF.
2 x 4GB Corsair DDR3-1333Mhz: 8GB is overkill for an HTPC, sure ... but since I had it, why not use it
Seagate Momentus XT 250GB 2.5" hard drive: Case only fits a single 2.5" drive, and I would like a decent lump of storage - and this is decently quiet as well
Sony Optiarc BC-5500H Blu-Ray reader / DVD burner - would have liked the slot-in version, but it wasn't in stock at the time.
The 80mm exhaust fan was replaced with a Scythe S-Flex SFF80B (max 1500RPM)
Pictures:
Everything in, top lid off
Top shot - not too cramped actually
Scythe Kozuti blocking the expansion slot
Rear view
Bottom view
The box is nice and quiet, and plenty fast - power LED is obnoxiously bright, but that's to be expected. Will post power draw figures later on when I get them measured.
/ Gramkow
TV tuners and file storage is accessed over the network, so add-in cards and lots of disks are not needed.
Components used:
Lian Li PC-Q09B case: Small, unobtrusive. Comes with an external 110W power brick. Layout is quite unusual, but makes for a pretty easy build.
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Geh ... anguage=en
Asus P8H67-I Deluxe motherboard: Reviewed on this fine site. Originally got this to build a Mini-ITX gaming machine, but got fed up fighting heat and noise. Really nice board with all the onboard stuff you'd ever need. That's also the reason the board is sporting 8 gigs of memory - I would normally never put that much into an HTPC.
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge CPU - didn't bother with the low power version. Plenty of horsepower for what it will be doing.
Scythe Kozuti CPU cooler: Low height required in order to fit in the case - good replacement for the stock Intel i3 HSF.
2 x 4GB Corsair DDR3-1333Mhz: 8GB is overkill for an HTPC, sure ... but since I had it, why not use it
Seagate Momentus XT 250GB 2.5" hard drive: Case only fits a single 2.5" drive, and I would like a decent lump of storage - and this is decently quiet as well
Sony Optiarc BC-5500H Blu-Ray reader / DVD burner - would have liked the slot-in version, but it wasn't in stock at the time.
The 80mm exhaust fan was replaced with a Scythe S-Flex SFF80B (max 1500RPM)
Pictures:
Everything in, top lid off
Top shot - not too cramped actually
Scythe Kozuti blocking the expansion slot
Rear view
Bottom view
The box is nice and quiet, and plenty fast - power LED is obnoxiously bright, but that's to be expected. Will post power draw figures later on when I get them measured.
/ Gramkow