HD-PLex H5 Gen2 Silent Fanless PC Build

[petrev]

Hi,

Unboxing, and build of new HD-Plex H5 Silent PC

Overall the build is very straightforward if you follow the instructions in the Guide.
Everything lined up perfectly and nothing needed to be bashed or fettled to get it to fit.
Machining quality is really superb.

All parts were present and correct in neat little bags and trays for easy identification.

I of course had to modify the design slightly so I made myself some extra work, but I got an even better unit for my needs/wants.

Final Parts List

HD-Plex H5 Gen2 Silent PC Case (Direct)
ASRock Z97 Extreme6/3.1 (Amazon)
Intel i5 5675c Broadwell (Overclockers UK)
HD-PLex AC-DC 160W + DC-ATX 250W Power Supply (Direct)
Corsair Vengence Pro 16GB 1866 (SCAN)
Samsung 950 Pro SSD 500GB (OC UK)
KingWin 2.5 + 3.5 + USB3.0 Drive Bay (5.25) (Amazon USA)
LG GS40N DVD (Ultra Slim Slot Loading Writer) (Kikatek)
Windows 8.1 Pro (eBay from Latvia)

Additions to Standard Kit
10x M3x10mm Cup head screw
4x slim M3 nut
2x Aluminium plate 16 Guage 170mm x 80mm

Background . . .

I have been looking to build a silent PC for quite a while and kept looking at Streacom passive cases but last time I searched for ideas I came across the HD-Plex site and found that these cases were much better and about the same price. More options for internals with a passive GPU option up to say Nvidea 950, a TDP of 95W for both CPU and GPU plus amazing design and build quality.

I was initially going to build around an i5 6600K Skylake but then MS decided to stop support for Skylake going forward with Win 8.1, so I went back to the drawing board and discovered that the i5 5675C was the same power consumption with better onboard graphics. I was starting with no GPU as I probably don't need one at the moment.

Part One - Unboxing.

Case arrives from German distribution hub.


Contents (without packing foam sheets)


DC-ATX 250W PSU Box


AC-DC 160W PSU Box


GPU Passive Cooler Box (Future Option)


Main Case Box : Printed Manual - Front Panel - Parts Tray - Case Parts


Main Parts Tray


Front Panel Parts Tray


Closer look - Main Parts Tray


Case Bottom Panel - Inner side


Top Panel


Sides and Rear Panel


Case Boxed weighs 8Kg


Glossy Instructions


Solid Copper CPU Heatsink


Heatpipes


CPU Cooler Plate and side panel heat-pipe plates


GPU Cooler


Solid Copper


Front Panel Illuminated Touch Switch parts tray


Next - The Build . . .

: )

[Abula]

Welcome to SPCR!!!!

Nice begging you have there with HDPLex H5, hope to see more photos of the build, and i would also love to see load temps.

[petrev]

Hi,

The Build - Part One !

Start at the bottom . . .

In order to get even more into the case I decided to move the DC-ATX PSU to a position on the Left Front (View from rear) and mount the AC-DC PSU above it on a custom aluminium mounting platform based on the standard HDD mounting trays.

Drill and tap 2 new mounting holes (could have used through screws and nuts (I have added 10x M3x10mm Stainless Steel cup head Philips screws to the parts list for my mods - There are plenty of M3 Self-Locking SS Nuts provided)

New mounting position uses frontward 2 of the existing mounting holes.


Test mount the DC-ATX PSU - I reverse it later (rotate 180) for better wiring position.


16 Gauge aluminium platform for AC-DC PSU mounted on the provided standard 40mm brass posts


Test fit the AC-DC PSU - Looks OK, but platform is too big so I will cut it down to size and re-paint a bit later.


Motherboard mounting posts (5mm socket)


Underside with the feet added (Aluminium blocks with rubber inserts - Nice)
SS Ny-lock nuts on the posts.
Attach the Left Case Side - Very solid, cast and machined, aluminium heatsink.
Lots of lovely air holes and heat pipe locking plate holes.


As per instructions add the Front Panel hinge mount to the Left Side of the case.
Pretty - Heatpipe grooves machined into side panel.

Mount the Asus Z97A-USB3.1 Motherboard
(What ?? That is not the Motherboard listed above ?)
This is not my final board as I am shortly about to discover an issue with the Asus board !


Assume all good with Asus and i5-5675C . . . Full steam ahead.
Pop in CPU and mount Heatsink and Heatpipes.
Looks so pretty


Mount up the DC-ATX PSU board and cable in


Connect and then mount up AC-DC PSU over DC-ATX unit.
Note the platform(s) have been re-sized.
Right-hand platform fitted on 30mm posts as a test


Move to TV and attach HDMI and Power leads. Attach old keyboard via PS2 socket.
Attach Mouse via USB.
Power ON . . .
Boots (apparently) but no output to TV ?
Error LED on GPU PCIe x16 Slot 1 ??
Strange and annoying ???
No HDMI, DVI or VGA output from onboard graphics.

Contact SCAN (UK MB supplier) - They suggest adding GPU card to test and also suggest I may have bent the pins on the MB when fitting CPU, and that this is the problem as there should definitely be HDMI/VGA/DVI output.
SCAN - Only had 3 returns for DOA Asus Z87-A/USB3.1 from ~200 sales - 2x Bent CPU Pins, 1x faulty.
Add one to the Faulty List.

Add old 8800GTX card and boots fine.
Try a few times resetting CMOS and stting BIOS to Onboard Graphics . . .
BIOS always resets to PCIe Graphics on Re-Boot.
Google search finds 3 other people with similarly misbehaving Asus Z97-A motherboards.
No resolution is posted.

While I have the computer working, albeit with an unwanted graphics card fitted, I try out the Samsung 950 SSD mounted in the Asus Ultra M.2 PCIe x4 add-on card.
BIOS fails to detect HDD. Windows 8.1 install fails to find HDD as expected.
Try all settings found online to make Asus MB detect M.2 card but to no avail.
Apparently Win 8.1 requires install from UEFI USB.
Create UEFI USB version of 8.1
Fails to find M.2 HDD - Apparently system must be entirely UEFI (No legacy) and the trusty old (working) 8800GTX is definitely not UEFI.
Ultra M.2 board going back to OC UK !
This Asus board probably wont do what I want even if I get it working.

Contact SCAN - Solution - Have to send back for repair or replacement.
Ill ask for a refund.
(Motherboard did test faulty and I have now got a refund from Scan)

Remove everything needed in order to extricate the Motherboard . . .

Look - No bent pins !


Pack up the motherboard and off it goes to SCAN.


It arrives back at SCAN pretty quickly.
Expect refund soon as SCAN have always been very good in all my previous dealings.

In the meantime I ordered an ASRock Z97 Extreme6/3.1 from Amazon-UK (last place available at reasonable price and not from mainland EU).

The ASRock board arrived before the Asus had landed back with SCAN.

My HD-Plex H5 Silent Case build will continue after the break

. . .

[petrev]

HD-Plex H5 Gen2 Silent Case build - Part 2

Motherboard change to ASRock.

ASRock Z97 Extreme6/3.1 arrives
Nice box


Nice top layer


Nice packing - Foam ring


And under-board protection


Mount it up


Check the pins !!!
Looking good.


£4.99 CPU Cooler just for test purposes
Install the PSU bits


Install the memory again
Install the M.2 Samsung 950 Pro and . . .
Boots first time - HDMI Works (as does VGA and DVI)


. . . 8 minutes later
Windows 8.1


Back to the build

Remove the MB and fit the retaining part underneath and then fit the copper Heatsink
on the top.


Have a look back a bit for pictures of fitting the 8 heatpipes and the Left side case member all over again . . .

Jumping ahead it will look like this



Build : part 3 follows after the break

...

[petrev]

HD-Plex H5 Gen2 Silent Case - Build : Part 3

Right hand side of the case (View from Rear) has the main storage area in my build.

I'm fitting a custom platform, again based on the supplied HDD mounting trays.
Four countersunk holes for an underslung 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD


Mount it on 30mm posts and add 12mm posts on top to give room for the Ultraslim ODD(DVD)
The 12mm posts are actually 10mm posts plus a slim nut as a spacer

Hang the Ultraslim ODD from the underside of the 5.25" Drive Bay adapter (KingWin 2.5+3.5)
I removed the green parallelogram shaped piece of sticky foam tape as it got in the way when finally assembled.
Two black strips down the side hold the ODD nicely.
Other green pieces not really needed - just in case of rattles !


Mounted ODD under 2x HDD 5.25" bay
Mounting brackets are provided with HD-Plex case to mount 5.25 drive


2.5" HDD mounted under the platform (left)
10mm posts before I added the 2mm nut spacers . . .


All the drives mounted up and cabled as we go for testing
This is when I find I really need 12mm to allow the Ultra Slim ODD to breathe.
I have also plugged in two 18" extension cables (bottom) to run to the front panel.
They carry +5V from a USB header and the Power Switch signal to the FP header.
I added these to get my preferred cable route from the Front Panel Touch Switch.
The one with green tape is for the switch.
In the background you can see a spare SATA cable, just in case . . .


Exploded view of the SATA and Power cables.
Right side case panel with the USB3 / USB2 / Power Out 12V / Reset Button Board installed and connected


Back panel next :
I want to mount the AC input socket from the outside so that I can change it more easily later if I want to . . .
But
The socket is slightly too big to mount backwards


The mounting plate opening


So a bit of filing of the plastic with a Leatherman and then it fits nicely.
This is not the standard mounting arrangement for the AC socket - Not an approved method.
Correct Standard-Mounting method - Image insert.


Slightly less alternative mounting method.
No filing needed - Still removable from rear.


Mount the USB 3.1 card in the horizontal card slot and fit the Right side and the Back panel.
Still waiting for the PCIe x4 flexible riser cable to arrive from China.


Make the Front Panel up by installing the Touch Switch.
First the mounting posts (see the lovely milling swirls in the high quality anodised inner surface)


The posts are a tight tolerance with the circuit and LEDs on the driver board


Orientate the posts so that they have a face parallel to the line of LEDs


Attach the circuit board to the back of the panel.
Mount switch press plate from the front with the little threaded posts, springs and brass caps holding it all to the circuit board.
(Ive added a sticker to remind me where the jumper goes to choose the White/Blue LEDs)
The other jumper is to choose always-on or 15-second-on LEDs



Run the cables from the Touch Button under some vinyl tape to the Front Panel hinge and then into the case to meet the extension cables.


All done bar the Lid
The Front Panel swings open to allow the insertion/removal of HDDs and DVDs


Most of the tools I used.
The 2 Allen keys (Key plus Hex driver next to it) are provided and the only other tool actually needed, if you just follow the standard build instructions, is a Philips screwdriver.
The 5mm and 5.5mm sockets are nice to have but dont use them vigorously !

I also used - Drill, 3.5mm drill bit, 2.5mm bit, counter sinker, 3mm tap, black spray paint, black sandpaper, earth strap and ???


...

[petrev]

@ abula

Internal HD-Plex 160W AC-DC Adapter
Motherboard Temp 32 C

System Idle ~ 2% CPU

PSU : 0.23A - 28W - PF53
CPU : 34 C

System 8% CPU - MKV Video Playback VLC

PSU : 0.19A - 39W - PF86
CPU : 34 C

System 113% @ 3.5GHz - Torture Stress Test Prime95 after 6min (Steady Temp)

PSU : 0.50A - 116W - PF97
CPU : 76 C

[petrev]

Glamour Shots (?)

and a couple more mods !

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Looking Lovely


In Situ (Note the LEDs are a bit too visible for me - More in a moment)


Fit in a standard Slim DVD/ODD Drive
+ Kingston USB3.0 Multi Card Reader (Nice)
Bit more spacing needed for ODD so I had to use some Hex Pillars with longer threads from another project.
Added a few (3) washers to each spacer nut.


The Power LEDs are lovely, but I would like them to be a bit "smoother" in appearance !
So - Fitted a filter


How ? You ask !
View from the Rear


Two sheets thick, cut from a Polyethylene bag - Slightly frosty.
+ Appropriate holes


Mount to Posts


From the Front with switch attached.


Ahh - Smooth Glow !!!


Pete

[chrispomeroy]

Wow, amazing.

Is the front faceplate switch a single switch or does it have multiple functions? I ask because it seems strange to have multiple buttons on the back?

[petrev]

Wow, amazing.

Is the front faceplate switch a single switch or does it have multiple functions? I ask because it seems strange to have multiple buttons on the back?

Hi,

The buttons are all (5) one and the same ON/OFF Power switch.
They are linked and provide a cushion so you can press the square Aluminium Power Button anywhere and it will work nicely.

The metal button is linked electronically through it's mounting pillars and provides a "Soft Touch" illumination function ! that can be set to always-on (once you touch the button) or dimming after 15 seconds from a touch.

Pete

[Rhynri]

*Slow clap*.

Very nice build. I feel for the "DOA or near it motherboard" troubles you had. Seems like I have one nearly every build. It's nice that the fins are on the sides so you can still use it in the stack like you are. I imagine you are using the optical out to the big unit you have underneath it in the last picture?

[petrev]

*Slow clap*.

Very nice build. I feel for the "DOA or near it motherboard" troubles you had. Seems like I have one nearly every build. It's nice that the fins are on the sides so you can still use it in the stack like you are. I imagine you are using the optical out to the big unit you have underneath it in the last picture?

Hi,

Yes - Optical out to AV amp. Get 5.1 from VLC and Win 10 Media Player with suitable source files.

Pete