Quiet and Small Silverstone SFF HTPC Build

scemracing · Post by **scemracing** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:20 pm

I am building a new HTPC using components I aready have. I will be updating this thread as I build it today!

ASUS M2A-VM mATX Motherboard

AMD Black Edition 5000+

2GB OCZ 800Mhz Ram

HIS 2600PRO ATI Graphics card (soon to be passively cooled)

320GB Hitachi Hard Drive

Avermedia PCIe X1 TV Tuner card

This will be hooked up to a Windows Home Server Soon (next project)

Corsair HX520 Power Supply (with Noctua Fan installed)

One Noctua Case fan

CPU cooler is a polishied Thermaltake with a Silenx 80mm fan installed.

Here are some pics to get started with!

Look she is Naked!!!!

SilentShoe · Post by **SilentShoe** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:43 pm

love the case!
good thing your getting modular! otherwise cables will be a mess!!
if u can wait a bit, see if u can get some of the new hd36x0 series instead. they are relatively the same price,
but should run cooler and draw less power. (55nm based) and perform better too

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:20 pm

very interested in this case.

i can see a hdd suspended in there, but i'm not too sure how quiet it will be since the front is entirely open.

anyways, looking forward to the updates

scemracing · Post by **scemracing** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:52 pm

I actually already own all of the parts. Everything I have works well for what I need I actually changed a couple of things along the way.

I am using my 500GB SATA II HD instead of the 320 PATA and I did not change the power supply fan either I still might.

You can mount the power supply either direction so it pulls in cold fresh air or in reverse so that it suck air from the CPU area.

I was thinking about having a fan in the front blow onto the CPU and the power supply will suck the heated air out and removing the fan on CPU? I would buy a better CPU heat sink maybe a Thermalright it has to be kinda low profile.

Any advice is helpful

Moogles · Post by **Moogles** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:51 am

Are you pleased with the SG03's build quality? Not too flimsy? I like the look of the case but am a bit worried about the quality.

Also, why don't you just invert the PSU and use Silverstone's NT06 for "passive" CPU cooling? The whole case was designed around that setup.

scemracing · Post by **scemracing** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:20 am

I actually bought a NT06 at FRY's but it had no mounting option for a AM2 but i must have got really old one because it did not come with brackets for the AM2 and did not even mention it in the directions so I returned it.

I may see about buying one of those.

actually it is pretty quiet I need to get a passive heat sink for the graphics card because that fan is very tiny and louder than the rest.

Also I need to look at DVD drives mine is crazy loud at least I will be playing my movies from my server (once it is built next week)

When you have it all striped down it does feel a little flimsey but once everything is in there and you install that lower brace/bracket it is very sturdy.

eddd · Post by **eddd** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:41 pm

I have this with an NT06 and a nice E8400 I just bought, effectively silent and looks great. The SG03 is one the prettiest and well-designed I've ever had. Surprisingly roomy inside, haven't bothered with cable management because ehhh effort.

On reflection I wish I'd bought a modular power supply but as it happens there's a handy little void between the PSU and the back of the optical drive where all the unused cables sit.

It does become audible (though still quiet) with the case fan on, but without it I get chassis temperatures around 35 degrees (up to 40 under load) not sure if this is healthy or not. Advice on this would be appreciative.