My Budget NSK-2480 build.

Show off your quiet rig.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
yamahaSHO
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:38 am
Location: Bellvue, Nebraska
Contact:

My Budget NSK-2480 build.

Post by yamahaSHO » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:54 am

Since I had so many spare parts from past computer builds, I convinced the fiance to let me build a HTPC in the bedroom. After a very recent P180B build for the living room HTPC, I was still wanting to make a build in an "HTPC case".

For the build, I needed a PSU, CPU, and motherboard... I didn't really need a case as I had a good case just sitting around (which I sold today), but I was able to talk my way into the NSK-2480 as it had a decent PSU that came with the case.

Although this a budget build with some older parts, it still does very well and gets great Vista scores. My lowest score is the RAM with a 4.7, then next lowest is the CPU with a 5.1 of 5.9. The parts I had to buy were:


- Core2Duo E4500 - $125
- Scythe Ninja Mini (w/ Thermalright Bolt-Thru kit) - $33 (okay, I didn't NEED that)
- Gigabyte 8I865GME-775-RH - $50
- NSK-2480/PSU - $100
- Vista Home Premium OEM - $110


Total cost was just over $400... It was more than I was originally going to spend, but I decided not to use my spare copy of XP MCE 2005 and went with Vista... I couldn't live with stock cooling either, so the Scythe seemed like a good choice.

I used the 80mm fan that came with the Scythe and swapped it into the PSU. I can't hear it and the Ninja Mini is close enough to the case fans that it does not need its own.

Parts I already had:


- Corsair DDR400 1GB x2
- HIS X1650XT 512MB AGP
- Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE Kit
- Microsoft MN-730 Wireless Adapter
- 80GB & 120GB Seagate SATA1 HDD's
- Memorex CD/DVD Recorder
- Microsoft Wireless Desktop Elite for Bluetooth
- Xbox wireless gaming receiver


This is connected to a 32" Samsung 720p LCD in my master bedroom. I don't want to wake up the new born, so I'll take pictures of everything running tomorrow :)

Anyway, here are some pictures:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

I made a duct to help direct air flow through the Ninja Mini.
Image

Image

Swapped Scythe fan
Image

Over all, I am VERY happy with this case. It looks nice resembling A/V equipment, cools well, and is very quiet. My dad asked me to build him a HTPC with the same case. Originally my front panel was damaged from shipping/factory, so Antec sent out a replacement panel for me to swap in.

yamahaSHO
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:38 am
Location: Bellvue, Nebraska
Contact:

Post by yamahaSHO » Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:53 pm

After installing the video card (after running onboard video waiting for my RMA'd card), I started to have some issues with Windows going slow. I reinstalled Vista and not only does it run great, but my RAM score and Gaming graphics score went up. These scores are pretty decent considering the older equipment.

Image


Here are some pictures of the whole bedroom setup... Now I'm trying to talk the woman into letting me buy some speakers :)

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

yamahaSHO
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:38 am
Location: Bellvue, Nebraska
Contact:

Post by yamahaSHO » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:16 pm

Guess everyone is tired of Antec cases?

Jay_S
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 715
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:50 pm
Location: Milwaukee, WI

Post by Jay_S » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:09 am

Yeah, seriously! No one commented on my NSK2400 HTPC either (except for you). Maybe these cases just do everything so well that there's nothing to comment on!

I have the same Gigabyte motherboard sitting unused right now. What an awesome product - lets us use our old DDR and AGP gear with a new C2D. I just replaced it with an Asus P5E-VM HDMI (also pretty awesome), but I plan to use the GB board in a media server re-build.

By the way, are you the same yamahaSHO as on AVSForum? I'm the same Jay_S.

kittle
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 336
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 4:44 pm
Location: San Jose, CA

Post by kittle » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:15 pm

nice looking setup.

As for speakers -- build your own. MUCH MUCH cheaper.

Jackal5
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 4:03 am

Post by Jackal5 » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:46 pm

Maybe people are feed up with Antecs ineptitude to provide the black faceplate models when builders have been requesting them for some time. I know that I am. They can provide them to some markets and not others? Right. :?

But as for your build, you did a great job. I have the case myself and was considering the new smaller version for my next build but I'm looking for alternatives that come in black.

yamahaSHO
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:38 am
Location: Bellvue, Nebraska
Contact:

Post by yamahaSHO » Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:40 pm

Jay_S wrote:Yeah, seriously! No one commented on my NSK2400 HTPC either (except for you). Maybe these cases just do everything so well that there's nothing to comment on!

I have the same Gigabyte motherboard sitting unused right now. What an awesome product - lets us use our old DDR and AGP gear with a new C2D. I just replaced it with an Asus P5E-VM HDMI (also pretty awesome), but I plan to use the GB board in a media server re-build.

By the way, are you the same yamahaSHO as on AVSForum? I'm the same Jay_S.
Yep, I carry this screen name just about everywhere. Where did I comment on your build? I look at a lot of the posts that have the same cases I have, so I don't remember right off.

I really like this Gigabyte board... I really wanted to use all my older, but very good parts and I was really happy when I found I could use a Core2duo processor with them. I was actually looking for decent P4 on Ebay when I came across this motherboard.
kittle wrote:nice looking setup.

As for speakers -- build your own. MUCH MUCH cheaper.
I'm just looking at a decent sounding 2.1 computer setup. I don't want to add an amp and there are some very decent computer setups that sound good.
Jackal5 wrote:Maybe people are feed up with Antecs ineptitude to provide the black faceplate models when builders have been requesting them for some time. I know that I am. They can provide them to some markets and not others? Right. :?

But as for your build, you did a great job. I have the case myself and was considering the new smaller version for my next build but I'm looking for alternatives that come in black.
I am going to build my dad an HTPC in the next few weeks using this case. I was going to use the black fusion, but I'm sure he doesn't want to mess with the VFD/Volume knob issues (neither would I). I am just going to take the front panel off the 2480 and paint it black... Easy enough.

Jay_S
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 715
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:50 pm
Location: Milwaukee, WI

Post by Jay_S » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:57 pm

yamahaSHO wrote:Where did I comment on your build? I look at a lot of the posts that have the same cases I have, so I don't remember right off.
Not quite the same case - NSK2400. Here's my gallery page.

Jay

jhhoffma
Posts: 2131
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:00 am
Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Post by jhhoffma » Sun Jan 27, 2008 2:10 pm

yamahaSHO wrote:Guess everyone is tired of Antec cases?
Nope, just not much to say that hasn't been said already. Decent build, saw the post first over at AVSForum.com.

I'd like to see some soft-mounting of the HDDs and you already know how I feel about rounded cables, but over all a very nice, clean build.

Wibla
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 779
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:03 am
Location: Norway

Post by Wibla » Sun Jan 27, 2008 2:55 pm

Very nice :)

yamahaSHO
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:38 am
Location: Bellvue, Nebraska
Contact:

Post by yamahaSHO » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:59 pm

jhhoffma wrote:
yamahaSHO wrote:Guess everyone is tired of Antec cases?
Nope, just not much to say that hasn't been said already. Decent build, saw the post first over at AVSForum.com.

I'd like to see some soft-mounting of the HDDs and you already know how I feel about rounded cables, but over all a very nice, clean build.
I have never had a problem with a rounded cable. If taken care of, I don't see why I would...

That IDE cable may be going away as I have been looking at putting a BD-ROM in place of the DVD-ROM drive

What more are you looking for in soft mounting? You want to see suspended HDD's? I'm fine with the rubber grommets used in the stock mounting. If I do get the BD-ROM drive, one of the HDD's will be removed as I only have two SATA connectors on the motherboard.

jhhoffma
Posts: 2131
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:00 am
Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Post by jhhoffma » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:10 pm

yamahaSHO wrote:I have never had a problem with a rounded cable. If taken care of, I don't see why I would...

That IDE cable may be going away as I have been looking at putting a BD-ROM in place of the DVD-ROM drive

What more are you looking for in soft mounting? You want to see suspended HDD's? I'm fine with the rubber grommets used in the stock mounting. If I do get the BD-ROM drive, one of the HDD's will be removed as I only have two SATA connectors on the motherboard.
See, that makes the difference. If it's quiet enough for you (and the wife), then that's what matters.

Sometimes, I go to far in practice, just to be "more quiet" than I need to on principle.

Post Reply