Hi everyone,

i want to build a HTPC based on the case "Origen AE S10V" (S14V is just as good) and i was wondering how i could best combine the following criteria:

a) as quiet as possible
b) able to play 1080p HD material
c) low energy consumption

Other than playing 1080p HD material it's only used to stream music and provide network storage.
Noise is fine as long as i don't hear it from >1 meter distance to the device. But the quieter the better of course.

So, please help me:
What CPU should i choose for my purpose? What mainboard goes best with it? How do i cool it sufficiently without too much noise?
My budget is about 600€.

Thanks for your help,
mikar

A low-powered (45W) Athlon II CPU paired with a 785G-based mobo would be plenty capable of what you ask. Pair it with a passive CPU heatsink and quiet HDD(s) and you would only have to worry about the PSU and/or case fans for noise

However, those cases have 60mm fans which won't really be quiet. I would consider looking at the S16v if you really dig that style. The X11/X15 are options as well. I own the X11 and with the fans running @ 5v, they are very quiet.

There are some other cases from Silverstone and Antec that use 80mm and 120mm fans for cooling which will give plenty of airflow at low speed.

You could probably make the two cases you listed quiet with some effort, but it would be easier to start with something that has slightly larger fans.

Having already built an s14v for my lounge I decided to go for an s10v for the bedroom.

I've just ordered the s10v myself and have very similar requirements to yours so would be interested to hear how you get on with it!

Here is my previous build in case you are interested...
www_obct.co.uk_htpc

Have you decided on a mobo/cpu combination?
What OS are you going to use?
What are you planning to use for an optical drive (DVD or Blu Ray)?

I wouldn't worry about the 60mm fans too much as they are silent (although also not very powerful!).

I think the main challenge with this case is going to be finding a suitable CPU and heatsink combination since there is not enough room to run a Scythe mini ninja. I'm leaning towards the 4050e or 5050e to keep the temperature as low as possible (as I don't want a noisy fan), problem is these chips seem to have been discontinued.

I'm also planning in building a (silent) HTPC in the near future.
I've done some research on a couple of websites and I see 2 possible builds which are both excellent for playing HD files.

First is a system based on the AMD 785G chipset.
Components:
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H
AMD Athlon II X2 250
2 GB DDR3 Memory 1066/1333 MHz
Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200 rpm or Spinpoint F3 EcoGreen 5400 rpm (Amount is your choice)
Be Quiet! Pure Power L7 300 Watt
Scythe Big Shuriken
DVDRW/Blu-ray is your choice
WiFi card if you want Wireless Network

The other is based on the Intel H55 chipset.
Components:
GigaByte GA-H55M-UD2H
Intel Core i3 530
2 GB DDR3 Memory 800/1066/1333 MHz
Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200 rpm or Spinpoint F3 EcoGreen 5400 rpm (Amount is your choice)
Be Quiet! Pure Power L7 300 Watt
Scythe Big Shuriken
DVDRW/Blu-ray is your choice
WiFi card if you want Wireless Network

Both have optical S/PDIF-out and integrated graphics which are perfectly capable of playing 1080p HD files. The last setup has better performance, but it's also more expensive! As for energy consumption and noise, both are low

As for OS, I would probably go with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

The OrigenAE S10V is the most beautiful HTPC case I've come across, but it's also very expensive. Also note that with this case you'll need a slim optical drive (slot-in?).
I'm also liking the Antec Fusion, which is a lot cheaper

Greetz,
Yoshimitsu

Thanks Yoshimitsu, the MB and Cooler both look great! My only concern would be if the AMD Athlon II X2 250 would run too hot under load?

In my current s14v I have an Athlon X2 5600+ 2.9 which is also 65W and almost the same clock speed. The additional case height means I can run the Scythe Mini Ninja but found that the Scythe fan was far too loud for my liking. I therefore switched to the SILENT EAGLE 1000 80mm which made it completely silent BUT it couldn't keep the heat down when the CPU was run at full stretch for more than about 45 seconds. I then went for a SILENT EAGLE 2000 80mm which is a happy medium between power and noise - however it's still a little more noisy than I'd like!

I'm thinking that for my needs a 45W processor might be better suited to this case and might even be able to run passively or with the SILENT EAGLE 1000 80mm.

I also think I'd be able to get a lower consumption PSU than 300W? I'm running happily now with 380W and this is driving my 5 channel amplifier too!