Search found 33 matches

by suzyj
Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:09 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Intel D510M0 Motherboard: Atom 2.0
Replies: 74
Views: 49530

A couple of the netbook manufacturers (notably the HP mini) have used a Broadcom crystalHD decoder board in a mini-PCIE socket to allow low performance Atom + 945GSE machines to decode HD video. There's currently a fair bit of development underway to get myth and XBMC to use this hardware decoder, m...
by suzyj
Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:24 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: 24/7 media server with minimal HTPC capabilities?
Replies: 7
Views: 3960

I can vouch for an atom/ion solution. My myth htpc is a Zotac ion mini itx board, with 1.5TB of disk (a 500MB 2.5" drive plus a 1TB 3.5" WD green power drive for video) and a slim slot-load DVD drive. I use a pair of Asus USB DVB sticks to capture content, and power the whole thing from a PicoPSU. P...
by suzyj
Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:06 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Zotac GeForce 9300 micro ATX motherboard
Replies: 4
Views: 3639

The SPI220LE is about as efficient as you'll get without going to a picoPSU. at the 40W point, according to the review, it's 80.5% efficient, compared to 83.6% for the picoPSU, so I'd expect only a watt or two drop at idle by changing to the picoPSU. A similar drop could be had by swapping to a 2.5"...
by suzyj
Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:59 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Zotac GeForce 9300 micro ATX motherboard
Replies: 4
Views: 3639

Well I ended up using this motherboard, so here's my results: Power supply: Sparkle Power SPI220LE ( http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44868 ) Motherboard: Zotac Geforce 9300 micro ATX CPU: Core 2 Duo E7500, at standard voltage and 2.93GHz. Hard drive: WD Greenpower 1TB 3.5" Memor...
by suzyj
Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:40 pm
Forum: CPU Cooling
Topic: Ideal CPU cooler for Zotac 9300
Replies: 7
Views: 4780

I've got this board, and use it with an E7500 processor (2.9GHz). I used a Noctua NH-U9B cooler on the CPU. This is a relatively small vertical tower that comes with a 92mm fan. I replaced the chipset cooler as well, with a Noctua NC-U6. I arranged it so that the fan is between the CPU cooler and ch...
by suzyj
Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:26 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Zotac IONITX-A: An ION / dual-core Atom Mini-ITX Board
Replies: 46
Views: 40654

I got the chipset sensor working under ubuntu, and was shocked to find it was running at 75 degrees. At first I simply increased the fan voltage to 8V, reducing the temperature to 60 degrees, but found that the air movement became audible during quiet passages. I pulled the machine apart, with the i...
by suzyj
Sat Sep 19, 2009 2:56 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: New HTPC Machine (preferable for Linux)
Replies: 11
Views: 5203

My Myth box runs on a Zotac IONITX board, with dual core atom CPU and GF9300 chipset. It's able to decode and scale 1080i video easily. I can heartily recommend the GF9300 based boards - I'm running a Zotac GF9300 core duo board in my desktop as well under Linux (ubuntu). Really good chipset, with g...
by suzyj
Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:10 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Zotac GeForce 9300 micro ATX motherboard
Replies: 4
Views: 3639

Zotac GeForce 9300 micro ATX motherboard

I know all the buzz is about the Zotac mini ITX boards, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with it's micro ATX big brother? It's reviewed at http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2008/10/15/zotac-geforce-9300-mcp7a-motherboard/1 I need a few SATA ports (main hard drive, second hard d...
by suzyj
Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:49 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Zotac IONITX-A: An ION / dual-core Atom Mini-ITX Board
Replies: 46
Views: 40654

My build: I chose the D-E flavour, which has the dual-core Atom CPU and wireless, but uses normal ATX power, as I already have a Pico PSU, which is plenty efficient. The system is comprised of: Zotac IONITX-D-E motherboard, 2GB Corsair DDR2 stick, 1TB WD Greenpower 3.5" hard drive for video, 500GB H...
by suzyj
Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:10 pm
Forum: Networking
Topic: What do I buy for the current most power saving NAS system?
Replies: 60
Views: 67482

My Via EN15000G mobo uses heaps less than 30W. I run it with a pair of 2.5" HDDs (one 160GB, the other 500GB), and a Hauppauge Nova-T-500, and get 27W idle at the wall. The Hauppauge card is responsible for around 3-4W, so the mobo + 2 HDDs is about 24W idle. Even if you use WD GP drives, I think yo...
by suzyj
Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:11 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Media Centre PC - 2.5â€
Replies: 10
Views: 5804

Hi suzyj, what model 500Gb 2.5" drive did you go for, and are you pleased with the performance? I have a Hitachi 5K500. It's a bit thicker than most modern 2.5" drives, at 12.7mm. It's very low power, and quieter than any 3.5" drive I've heard, though it's got a noisier seek than most 2.5" drives t...
by suzyj
Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:25 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Media Centre PC - 2.5â€
Replies: 10
Views: 5804

I went with a 500GB 2.5" drive for my HTPC. It's really quiet, compared to all the 3.5" drives I've used, and uses about 1/4 the power. They're slower, sure, but you don't need a terribly fast drive for video. The only reason I can see for using 3.5" drives is cost. They're about half the cost for a...
by suzyj
Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:07 am
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Case choices for CAS (computer-as-source)
Replies: 6
Views: 3895

Why not use a mini-ITX board? Something like a Via C3 or C7 board is oodles for playing audio, or you could even try the cool new Intel D945GCLF Atom motherboard. Naf-all power consumption, so no heat generated. Then for power, you could use a PicoPSU, or the little Sparkle Power SPI220LE. It'd all ...
by suzyj
Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:06 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Seeking advice: Building a Photoshop/Recording PC
Replies: 9
Views: 4685

This is what I use my main machine for. Generic cheapy mATX case with lots of sound deadening added Asus P5B-VM motherboard Corsair XMS2-6400 RAM (2x 512mb sticks) Core 2 Duo E6600 CPU (2.4GHz) Ultra-120 extreme CPU cooler, without fan. 400Gb Seagate Barracuda ES 7200RPM 3.5" HDD M-Audio Delta-44 PC...
by suzyj
Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:44 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: stand alone 12v supplies
Replies: 2
Views: 2699

I was thinking of doing this for my desktop machine, but eventually settled on a Sparkle SPI220LE. The power supply I was looking at was the EMA212PS12 from XP Power. It does 212W, has >0.9 power factor, and has 88% efficiency (80% at 20% load). They come in a pretty tiny package, too, in a standard...
by suzyj
Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:56 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Sparkle Power SPI220LE 80 Plus FlexATX PSU
Replies: 26
Views: 23261

Oh well, I guess this counts as my PSU modding entry. Ingredients: One SPI220LE 220W power supply. One Antec Basiq 350W ATX power supply. One Nexus 8cm fan Fan mounting hardware Copious quantities of heatshrink Some random bits of wire. Remove the cover from the SPI220. Discard cover. Cut the fan fr...
by suzyj
Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:34 pm
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Post your power consumption
Replies: 109
Views: 91940

I've been going a little nuts measuring stuff this weekend. I originally used an Australian copy of the Kill-o-watt (from Jaycar ), but have found that it does a dreadful job of measuring standby, as it simply reports the apparent power, without accounting for power factor. So I threw hardware at th...
by suzyj
Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:09 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: How can I cut down the power automatically when PC is in S5?
Replies: 14
Views: 11379

I've verified that my Australian kill-o-watt is very inaccurate when measuring standby power. It appears that it doesn't work properly when the power factor is lots less than 1. I took voltage and current waveforms from my SPI220LE power supply, and manually summed the instantaneous power, giving me...
by suzyj
Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:49 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Sparkle Power SPI220LE 80 Plus FlexATX PSU
Replies: 26
Views: 23261

It would appear that the SPI220LE shutdown power consumption is a lot lower than my original measurement of 15W. I had a look at the voltage and current waveforms using an oscilloscope, and the power factor is extremely low - perhaps 0.1-0.2. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2637197368_e36a4f02c6...
by suzyj
Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:33 am
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: How can I cut down the power automatically when PC is in S5?
Replies: 14
Views: 11379

That design to accomplish this looks interesting suzyj... ! Just curious: why the two invertors after each other to T7? Also, this design introduces a (small) risk of sending 230v to my mainboard.. I don't think that I trust my electronics skills enough to build it :wink: I was concerned that when ...
by suzyj
Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:31 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Laptop HDD vs SSD?
Replies: 3
Views: 2225

Tom is full of shit as always.. http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48918 The testing methodology is clearly broken, but even so, a couple of these SSDs appear to have really revolting idle power use of up to 2W. That's going to result in dreadful battery use, even if you're not us...
by suzyj
Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:15 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: How can I cut down the power automatically when PC is in S5?
Replies: 14
Views: 11379

I'm starting to doubt the accuracy of my kill-o-watt too. The current draw from a switch-mode power supply isn't constant. From what I've read, the better ones go into a discontinuous mode of operation when they've got a light (or no) load, where they switch on for a few cycles to charge the caps, t...
by suzyj
Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:26 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: A minimalist Myth box
Replies: 10
Views: 7528

The case is home-made. I folded it from 1.6mm aluminium sheet. I guess you could adapt a rack mount case to house stuff, but by the time you've cut all that metal, you really might as well start with a clean sheet. The advantage with doing it from scratch is that all the holes can be easily punched ...
by suzyj
Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:37 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: How can I cut down the power automatically when PC is in S5?
Replies: 14
Views: 11379

Here's something I've been putting together that will accomplish this. It went on hold while I bought a Sparkle Power SPI220LE to power the PC, but I've found that it's standby power consumption is actually worse than my old power supply, so this is back on the boil: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3...
by suzyj
Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:09 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: How can I cut down the power automatically when PC is in S5?
Replies: 14
Views: 11379

Something is wrong here. There is no way your PC should be using 30W when off. Anything higher than 5W is extremely abnormal. Did you measure this with all peripherals disconnected? Most of the PC's I've measured are in the 10-20W range in shutdown. Even really efficient ones. But then we have 240V...
by suzyj
Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:04 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: A minimalist Myth box
Replies: 10
Views: 7528

Some more photos. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2628909361_f6eaed8bca.jpg The overall layout. I swapped the 80mm Nexus for a Noctua case fan. The hard drive under the tuner card is a 160GB 2.5" SATA, which holds the OS and my FLACs. The other hard drive is a 500GB 2.5" SATA, which is just for ...
by suzyj
Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:29 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Sparkle Power SPI220LE 80 Plus FlexATX PSU
Replies: 26
Views: 23261

That's a fizzer. My SPI220LE arrived today, so with much enthusiasm, I connected it up and powered things up. It happily powers my system, but it's no more efficient than my original supply (which is actually a Corsair HX520, not a Zalman ZM-460 as I originally thought). My PC is a generic Core2 mac...
by suzyj
Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:45 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: A minimalist Myth box
Replies: 10
Views: 7528

I've been unable to get the openchrome drivers to work, so all the decoding's done by the CPU. It can keep up fine with MPEG2 SD. I don't transcode SD content - just dump it to disk as MPEG2. The Nova card uses practically no CPU resources, so I can capture two HD streams easily. The issue with HD i...
by suzyj
Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:44 pm
Forum: General Gallery
Topic: A minimalist Myth box
Replies: 10
Views: 7528

A minimalist Myth box

Here's the first photo of the mythtv machine I'm putting together: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2594037128_a75fe26972.jpg It's based on a Via EN15000G motherboard, with fan removed. I'm using a Hitachi 500GB 2.5" SATA drive for storage, and a Hauppauge Nova-T-500 dual DVB tuner card, on a ris...
by suzyj
Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:03 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Sparkle Power SPI220LE 80 Plus FlexATX PSU
Replies: 26
Views: 23261

The thing is just smaller on the inside, nothing else. But why bother installing the guts in a larger ATX case? Works fine as is. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/Bluefront/Maximum%20DuctingII/Sparkle2.jpg That one is running fan-less, in a positive pressure case. All the exhaust goes out, aro...