Hey SPCR,

I've been lurking and I see a lot of helpful folks. I am trying to build a compact desktop HTPC in a Commodore 64 case...

I am going to be using this for the following..order by heirarchy (sp?)

Audio production
Media streaming to HDTV
Gaming but only for retro emulators.....the most powerful will be ePSXe.
Browsing the web

The following components will be (hopefully) installed..

The C64 case comes standard with a card reader and slimline dvd optical drive.

- Biostar TH61ITX H61 chipset mobo

- 16gb GSKILL Ripjaws 1333 DDR3 Ram

- Intel i5-2500k

- OCZ Solid 3 SSD 60gb (for system and app root drive)

- 1.5 gb 5900 SATA drive for storage

- 300 gb 10000 RPM WD Raptor drive for audio

- Optical slot drive

Peripherals - (2) USB midi controllers, optical mouse, USB mic w/ built in phantom power, keyboard, monitor.

I'm going to be using this for audio production. My main concerns are. 1 - heat and 2 - sufficient power

I want to run the unit with a picoPSU 160-XT....when (hopefully)\if they become available again. Can't find them anywhere.

The only compromise I can't make is the SSD which has to be mounted in the case. Ideally, I'd like to keep one of the mechanical drives in the box, if feasible..but if both heat and power will be a concern..I can run both the mechanical drives externally with docking stations with their own power supplies.

Throughput on the audio drive should be more than acceptble running eSATA. The storage drives throughput is irrelevant.

So basically what I would like to know is..

1 - would the SSD, i5, card reader, optical drive and peripherals be too much of a workload for the pico 160 xt? Even considering the two drives being powered externally....I will be using the integrated gpu also.

2 - How much would heat be an issue in this build? The cooling options fan wise would appear to be very limited due to headspace. And would 8gb be significantly less heat than 16gb ram?

Thanks in advance for reading my rant...lol...any advice is greatly appreciated.

Nobody?

Really just concerned with how much heat is going to be an issue in the C64 chassis.

And if the 160 XT can push the 2500..

Apologies for the rant.

Nobody?

1. Would depend mostly on your choice of AC/DC adapter. You want something with reasonably headroom, 200W would be overkill, but 150W is probably not. An off-the-cuff guess on max DC power draw if all the components could be maxed out simultaneously is maybe 120W... but this is usually not possible, so maybe 100W peak is the most you'll really see.

2. Hard to say, I don't even remember what a C64 case looks like, but if you're modding & hacking, I'm sure you can get creative about ensuring adequate in/out vents.

In my micromi build (check sig), im running a 2500K but with a dedicated GPU, 83W idle and 144W load, so since the GPU isnt getting any load, im assuming the difference is all the GPU, 60W, so your setup should load at the most around 85W, but im my case im not using the intel HD3000 at all (its turn off via bios), so maybe 100W tops.... so i concur with MikeC, i think even a 120W should be enough as long as you dont have that many hdds, or extra cards, but if you plan on adding then maybe something like Premium picoPSU-160-XT/16A 192W AC-DC could be worth it.

Mmmm hard to say, but i dont think it would make much of a difference, in all my builds even at load, it bearly gets warm. If you have a use for the 16gb go for it. There are some low voltage modules out there if you are worried about ram, lower voltage will mean less heat also, how significant.... hard to say, but regardless, something like Gskill Eco Series is cheap and 1.35V.

Thanks a lot for the reply!!

Well..I'm a very capable modder...I was going to just throw a scythe kozuti in the thing and see what happens. I'm sure I'd have no issues with an i5-2405s...but I don't know howvsignificant of an upgrade it would be from my core2duo e8500.

I never went past 70% cpu load on the core2. I'm sure I would come nowhere near taxing an i5...I don't game so...maybe heat won't really be a cause for concern

Just wanted to give a few shots of the case to show what I'm dealing with..





As far as cooling...There is one 40mm fan in the back. The ventilation is next to nothing. The bottom is vented and theres very mediocre ventilation at the top.

And as far as cooling the cpu cooling goes I have two choices.

Scythe Kozuti or Thermaltake Slim x3

I have two choices of CPU after some more thought. It's either going to be a 65w i7-2600S or the 45w i5-2500T. I don't want to put the T in unless a 65w TDP is totally not feasible.

The most significant mod I can do right now is taking out the card reader and setting up two 40mm fans. One pulling and one pushing.

But I've read people hitting 60+c with an Atom integrated mobo in this case

Not looking too good right now lol