Hi there.

I am thinking of moving my setup from an Antec NSK2480 to something smaller.

Current hardware:

3-2105
mATX motherboard
2 x 4GB RAM
NSK2480
2 x SSDs (one for Windows, one for Linux)
Antec High Current Gamer 400W PSU

are there any really compact mATX cases that might accommodate all this?

Thank you Lodestar - you are an absolute star. I did a few calculations (just for fun). I have a current draw of 25w and, say 77% efficiency at that load, meaning my system needs 19.25w to run at idle. If I swap the PSU for one that has 70% efficiency, the draw would only increase to 27.5w - negligi...

Thanks Lodestar - completely agree that at 25w, those sorts of efficiencies are more than acceptable. I also agree that Gold is the way to go. Your comments have given me a bit of an idea - before I buy anything, I might considering swapping the PSU from desktop PC. It is an Antec 400w Hight Current...

Thank you both. i wouldnt recommend a fanless power supply. i'm sure there are power supplies out there that are very quiet and still cool effectively. Out of interest, what is it about completely fanless that means they should be avoided? Lodestar, those two recommendations look perfect. I have to ...

Hello, I am currently in the progress of trying to get my server as quiet as possible. Here is my current setup: MSI B85M-E45 G1840 12 GB RAM (2 x 4GB and 2 x 2GB) 2 x Samsung F4 2TB HDD 2 x WD Red 6TB HDD 64GB Crucial M4 Superflower Goldengreen HX 350W Xigmatek Midgard Tower 140mm intake and 120mm ...

Thank you Lodester - your reference to PST has really helped me. It seems that I bought the inferior non-PST fans instead (I bought F12 and F14 PWM Rev.2). What I really need are the PWM PST versions, along with the official cable splitter. Before I order some replacements, would it be possible just...

Hello, I would be really grateful for some quietening advice. I have put together a Linux server, that sits in my living room and it is a little too loud. The build is in a tower that has a 140mm intake fan and a 120mm exhaust fan, both fans are arctic PWMs (F12/F14). Both fans are connected to the ...

I am in the process of trying to quieten my headless Linux server at the moment and am considering an aftermarket cooler. The server is left on 24/7 and I can hear the stock fan ram up occasionally. Specs are not particularly hardcore: G1840 MSI B85M-E45 m-ATX 12GB DDR3 (2x4GB and 2x2GB) 1x64GB Cruc...

Hello, I am in the process of trying to quieten/streamline my headless Linux (Openmediavault) server and was wondering whether I really need both an intake and an exhaust fan. Here is my build spec: G1840 MSI B85M-E45 m-ATX 12GB DDR3 (2x4GB and 2x2GB) 1x64GB Crucial M4 SSD 2 x 2TB Samsung F4 HDD 1 x...

Hi there, I currently have a server/HTPC that although is fairly quiet, I would like to make it more so if possible. I have a 140mm fan on the front and a 120mm on the back, which in conjunction with the CPU and PSU fans, does add up. I have an MSI board which does not really provide automatic setti...

Sorry - I think I may have mis-read your post. When you say eject, do you mean physically eject the hard disk or just eject it from windows?

Btw what make and model is that enclosure that you have pictured?

Hello, What I am slightly worried about is how the BIOS reacts to hard drives starting up that were not detected at start up. With hot swapping, the BIOS realises that you are swapping an existing hard drive for another, but what I am hoping to do is to turn on a hard drive not detected before and h...

Hi there, I was thinking of adding a few extra hard drives into my HTPC/Server as I am running out of room. However, I already have three in there and I don't want things to get to hot an noisy. I know that I could have the hard drives spin down after a set amount of time but as the computer keeps g...

Hi, Thanks for your replies - seems that there is a lot of conflicting information on this one on the net generally. My problem is trying to get a CPU that is low powered to use as a server in say a years time but fast enough to act as a desktop for the next year - thus my choice of i3-2100/T So in ...

Hello, I am just about to build a new low spec sandy bridge build to replace my old desktop computer. I plan on eventually putting the proposed CPU/RAM/Motherboard in a server and buying a more powerful Ivy Bridge CPU and Motherboard to put in the desktop later next year (this is why I have chosen t...

Slight update to my plan. I am just going to use my current HTPC as my server with one difference - I shall swap the current motherboard for this: Asus AM3 M4A88TD-M E. I also want to add a small 2.5" hard drive to my NSK2480 but note that it only has two hard drive bays, would putting it in one of ...

Hello, I currently have an HTPC in my living room with the following specs: Athlon II X2 240e Asus M4A785TD-M Evo Antec NSK2480 - with the 380w PSU 4GB Corsair Ram 1.5TB AV-GP Hard Drive Windows 7 64-Bit Hauppauge HVR-2200 Haupauge Nova-S2 I am running mediaportal on it as both server and client and...

Advice on small quiet HTPC please posted on Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:58 pm Hi there, I built an HTPC for my living room last year with the following parts: Athlon II X2 240e M4A785TD-M Evo NSK2480 Case with PSU 4GB TW3X4G1333 C9A Corsair Ram (2x2GB) 1.5TB WD Green (AV-GP version) Windows 7 Hauppage HVR-22...

Thanks for that - maybe I should just stick with the 7,200 drive. Given the new generation Hard Drives like the 1TB F3 Samsung, do you think there is that much difference over the Caviar Greens in terms of noise/heat/power usage?

Fantastic, I shall give that a try. I note that you say that is one way of doing it.

What other ways could this be done?

Thanks very much for that - very interesting idea that I had not thought of. So you are saying that I should set up a file server (I have an old pentium 4 that I could use) with a large 7,200 rpm hard drive and then back up all my programmes to the server, so that any computer connected to the serve...

Hi everyone, I have finished putting together a media computer build that I hope is as cool and quiet as possible: Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H CPU: Athlon II x2 240 HDD: 1.5TB WD Eco Green, partitioned for OS OS: Windows 7 using MCE PSU: Corsair 450VX CPU Cooler (only if needed): Scythe Orochi T...

Hi there, Am building an HTPC and need a 1.5tb. I am going to have doing lots of simultaneous recording (will be getting a tuner card that has four inputs) and streaming live/recorded video to a media extender and another computer. The only two drives are the Samsung and WD, but based on this http:/...

Hello, Am building an HTPC with the following specs: Asus P5N7A-VM or Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H (can't decide) E7400 2x2gb corsair DDR2 800 1TB Caviar Green Antec Fusion Remote Max LG BluRay player Black Gold BGT3595 TV Tuner (PCI-E) I need a really quiet and efficient PSU that would be suitable (modul...

Thanks. I was going to use Windows7 and MCE, though would like the option of using a linux front end if it were better (I know there are quite a few of them out there). Based upon what you have said and this guide this article http://www.linuxtech.net/features/best_linux_htpc_motherboards.html do yo...

Thanks guys - I can see that I have come to the right place! Thanks for clearing up the Hard drive query - looks that I should just go with a 1TB WD10EADS Caviar Green then. My main problem now is going to be which motherboard to go with. I definitely want onboard graphics. I don't really have a pre...

Sorry, what do you mean by throughput requirements?

Hello. I am building an HTPC, which has got to be quiet and efficient. The problem is that I am a bit of a newbie with this sort of thing and there are hundreds of conflicting views on the net over the speeds of hard drives that should be used and whether intel run slightly cooler and more efficient...