Check my specs for a quiet HTPC...

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Thu May 12, 2005 12:28 pm

Hi all, I'm another long-time-reader-first-time-poster.

Basically I've been given the green light from the misses to assemble a HTPC. Key requirements are quietness and looks(!), but I would also require some power, as I plan to run ffdshow, occasionally convert audio/video etc. At first I thought about the Kloss I915a, but I've decided to go for a full ATX size - I want to be able to throw an extra TV-tuner in later! So here is my initial plan for a setup:

Motherboard:
Asus A8V-E Deluxe - since it is 939 socket, but K8T890 (less heat than nF4?!), wifi-g (practical for initial installment issues), decent sound spec, listed as undervoltable and has an instant music feature (can play from cd without turning the entire pc on - a feature I know my wife would like). I have already a Zalman ZM-NB47J northbridge cooler in stock...

CPU:
Athlon 64, 3200+, socket 939, Winchester (edit: no, Venice it is!) 90nm with the Thermalright XP-120 and a nexus fan. This should hopefully be powerful enough, yet quiet enough for our ears...

Memory:
Some (edit: meaning Kingston 184Pin DIMM PC3200 DDR RAM Non-Parity CL3) 512 MB RAM.

Harddrive
Maxtor Diamond Plus 10, 200 GB harddrive. Probably try to make a DIY elastic suspension.

Graphics:
Gigabyte GeForce 6200TC 64MB TurboCache PCI-E DVI-I or a GeForce 6600GT 128MB PCI-E VIVO (edit: both are fanless). Haven't fully decided yet if it will be used for occasionally gaming and/or the former is good enough for ffdshow/VRM9 etc...
A Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 is already in stock...

Drive:
Probably BenQ DW1620 dual layer DVD burner - gets a good recommendation here on this site and a best buy on PC World.

Power supply:
Seasonic S12-430 (SS-430HB Active PFC) - excellent in recent review.

Case:
Thought initially about the Silverstone LC14M mainly because it has buttons like a cd player - excellent for wife/HTPC use. However, I have doubts about the usability of them, and the fact that it has 3 fans installed - two of them are 60 mm - isn't exactly a selling point! Other options are either the Uneed DIGN HV7sq or the DIGN x11. Both fit a normal ATX power supply, the former has room for two external 5.25" drives, the latter has one drive but a card reader (perfect for my digital camera). At the moment I favour the x11, since it has only one rear fan at 80 mm. The HV7sq comes with two 60 mm...!

Specific questions
General comments on my planned setup are of course appreciated greatly, but the more specific questions would be:

1) Selection of motherboard - is it appropiate, will the Zalman NB sink fit, any better mobos for silent HTPC use?
2) Graphics card - is a 6200TC good enough for normal HTPC use or should I step up to a 6600GT (or wrong forum maybe

)?
3) Case - other posibilities; would a 80 mm be too loud even if exchanged with a nexus? Is it possible to run a HTPC in a Silverstone LC14M without using the two rear 60 mm fans?

Thanks x1000.

teknerd · Post by **teknerd** » Thu May 12, 2005 12:47 pm

If you dont need heavy 3d performance i'd recommend picking up one of the Fanless Gigabyte Video Cards.

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Thu May 12, 2005 9:38 pm

I forgot to mention that both Gigabyte graphic cards are fanless - so no noise from either choice!

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Thu May 12, 2005 10:21 pm

i have a similar setup you are planning with a silverstone lc-03 case. it has the exact same layout as the silverstone you are looking at. Here are my specs:
silverstone lc-03
msi k8n neo (sideways cpu bracket allows ducting through the 60mm fan holes)
sempron 2600+ socket 754
geforce 5200 fanless
hauppauge pvr 150
coolermaster 350w power supply with panaflo L1A
aerocool tower heatsink

i run this system in the lc-03 with only two panaflo fans at 5 volts and it idles at 36 cpu, 43 motherboard, 34 hd. However i had to cut off the top support on the case because it got in the way of my aerocool tower heatsink. I then ducted the aerocool tower out the back and removed all the fans in the system(except cpu and powersupply), mounted my hd on bubble wrap sitting on the dvd drive (temporary solution that may turn into permanent) and booted it up. frankly i was suprised at how cool everthing was in the case. however, the silverstone case is nice for 80 bucks but not 140 and required a siginicant mod plus more if you want an intake fan because the intake is poorly vented. However, now this thing is quiet!. my noise floor is low in my house but i can still hardly hear the computer when i am next to it and it is silent on the couch. The sempron is plenty fast and can overclock to 2.5 if you need more power while still running pretty cool. your 3200+ should be about the same and it allows cool and quiet though i never need it as cool as this thing runs. i would be happy with 55C. anyways, looks good, you are on the right track. good luck with the software...it sucks to get working right...i'm a hardware nut and hate this software hassle. why can't all my programs get along!

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Fri May 13, 2005 12:15 am

Thanks for the info/reply autoboy - although I'm struggling to figure out how your hptc actually looks like (post pic!

) and how you are able to fit the aerocool tower heat sink into the case - that sucker is pretty large, isn't it?

How is your tv-out working on the geforce 5200? Do you get a decent picture? And do you use it for PVR as well?
Questions, questions....

Btw, I plan to use Meedio as front-end software - I can recommend it!

egghat · Post by **egghat** » Fri May 13, 2005 5:09 am

Remember the depth of the Silverstone (and DIGN) cases: 42 cm is rather large and many racks won't give you that much depth.

I chose a Silverstone LC 04 for exactly that reason. This case takes a full size motherboard, but it will get very crowded inside. And you'll get only one AGP and one PCI (or two PCI) slots via riser cards. Sorry, no PCI-E. And sorry a No to all graphic cards with a heatpipe. The fastest card I have found is the Sapphire Radeon 9600 AGP.

My setup has Mobile Sempron Low Power 2600 @25 watts in a DFI Lanparty UT nF3 250 GB in it. Cooled by a Zalman CNPS 7000B Cu. The nice thing about the motherboard is, that it can control fanspeed (better than Speedfan in software, cause the board allows two thresholds for both the CPU fan and one case fan) so, that it even switches the fan off under say 35 degrees Celsius and that the BIOS is able to lock in the Mobile CPU just fine. If you need more power, there's a low power Mobile Athlon @ 35 watts, which uses a bit more power, but should be coolable rather good as well. My harddisk is a WD Scorpio (2.5" notebook drive), which is very cool and very quiet.

But it is a compromise, cause no PCI-E, not more than two cards, and no real damping possibilities when you plan to use a big 3.5 " drive. There's a test of this case somewhere here on this site. But the WAF (wife acceptance factor) of this case is unbeatable

Bye egghat.

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Fri May 13, 2005 7:49 am

egghat wrote:Remember the depth of the Silverstone (and DIGN) cases: 42 cm is rather large and many racks won't give you that much depth.

That's right - I haven't measured the space up yet! First thing when I get home...

Thanks.

elec999 · Post by **elec999** » Fri May 13, 2005 8:46 am

For the cpu I hear venice cores, are better with cool and quiet, and also use less power, since they run at 1.4volts. You could replace the 60mm fans, with 60mm silenx fans, or even turn them of, or just leave one. Also couldnt you install a memory card reader in the second cdrom bay. For the hard drive, I hear good things about the new Samsung drives, the 200gig drive would be perfect in your case. I would also replace the chipset cooler for a passive one, Zalman makes one.
Thanks

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Fri May 13, 2005 1:08 pm

Hmm - my old ugly rack doesn't fit a >40 cm deep case. But I'm not comprising with the full ATX form and PCI expandability, so it has to be a rather big case like the ones listed above.... - I have to find a new rack to fit it on!

elec999 wrote:For the cpu I hear venice cores, are better with cool and quiet, and also use less power, since they run at 1.4volts.

Venice it is - also approximate same price, but lower power and better features (as discussed in this thread).

Concerning harddrives, I think I'll stick with the Maxtor Diammond Plus 10, 200 GB (dual platter I think), although a single platter would probably be more quiet - according to the very recent review. If it is too noisy, I have a Samsung Spinpoint P160 that can be swapped, but frankly I'm not too impressed with it (I can hear seeking noices even in my not so quiet P4 desktop...!)....

Concerning the card reader, I could indeed have a memory card reader either internally in a spare bay or externally - so that's not a vital point anyway. But it's just looks nice, how they have incorporated into the DIGN x11 case....

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Fri May 13, 2005 1:28 pm

i am at work so i can't post any pictures. here is a pic of the case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811163033
It is acutally the LC-10 but is the same layout as the better know LC-03. If you knowtice the support that extends from the 5.25 drive rack to the back of the case...I cut that out to allow the areocool tower to fit. it left the 5.25 drive bays with a little less support but they are still very secure. It also prevents me from using a CRT monitor on top of the case...but who cares in a HTPC. the MSI k8n cpu bracket is oriented differently from standard motherboards because the ram is above the cpu and not beside it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 813130470R
this allowed me to duct the cpu exhast directly out the back through the 60mm holes. I was going to cut out the grills but i'm lazy. It works great without it cut out anyways. Still, i am not really that happy with the silverstone case because it was so expensive. I hope my description helps more than the last one.

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Tue May 17, 2005 12:24 am

After some thinking, I've decided not to use the asus motherboard. The main reason for selecting it was the 'instant music' feature and at best it's gimmicky! After all, the whole idea with a HTPC is to play mp3's and not CD's.....

Instead the Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9 nForce 4 ultra seems a perfect choice, since it's undervoltable, it has the hardware semi-firewall and a very nice board layout (all SATA, firewire, USB risers are put close together, so wiring will be localised and airflow will possibly be better). It also performs very well and is on the PC Pro A list. Hopefully, it doesn't get too warm...

I'm also considering the BenQ DW1625 since it's the DW1620 with Lightscribe technology. The only con against it is that it's only a 2.4x DL writer at the moment, but as with DW1620 they might upgrade the firmware to make it faster. Has anyone tried it? Is it quiet as the DW1620???

Btw, thanks autoboy for your detailed description - I have a better picture of your HTPC now....

Paul D · Post by **Paul D** » Wed May 18, 2005 5:32 am

Maybe you spotted this already, but...

Note that the Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9 has a chipset fan on it. There's a similar mobo from Gigabyte, also nForce4 Ultra, that doesn't have the chipset fan: GA-K8N Ultra-9.
The only differences I could see are that the 'XP' version you referred to has the additional features of Dual Power System and wireless adapter. (Maybe there are other differences?) Naturally, you could put your Zalman northbridge heatsink in place of the supplied chipset heatsink and fan.

I've no need for the extra features so I'm going for the non-XP version (saves a few pennies). I'll be putting a Venice 3200 in there and one or two of those Samsung SpinPoint P120 hard drives too. (I haven't tried the SpinPoints yet, so I'll probably start with just one.)

Good luck with your system.

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Wed May 18, 2005 6:48 am

You're absolutely right - there's no chipset fan! And I hadn't spotted it, so I'll definitely go for the non-XP (I can also only see the DPS and wireless adapter as differences, which I don't really need).

Thanks a lot, you just saved me 30 £ (~55 $)!!!!

Btw, I can recommend the Samsung spinpoint harddrives. I have a 'spare' P160 myself in my 'old' desktop, which I'm going to add as a second drive in my HTPC for recordings. It is indeed very quiet, however, I can hear it when I read/write - and that's in a not so silent PC. I think I read somewhere on this site, that some Samsung drives may be of bad quality? But then again, I haven't installed it in an elastic suspension or similar....

Good luck with your system, too.

Paul D · Post by **Paul D** » Wed May 18, 2005 9:29 am

re. the Samsung SpinPoints: I read on another forum that Samsung were using two types of motors, Nydec and JVC, with the Nydec based drives being the quietest. This was for the P80 series drives when they were only SATA 150. How to identify which motor a particular drive has I have no idea (maybe some website or other has the info).

Anyway, I'm going to take a gamble on the new SATA 300 drives in the P120 series (a 200GB) - maybe these will have the quieter motors.

Just Dude · Post by **Just Dude** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:06 am

Paul D wrote:re. the Samsung SpinPoints: I read on another forum that Samsung were using two types of motors, Nydec and JVC, with the Nydec based drives being the quietest.

Have you seen this thread? I guess you can have noise problems even with Nydec based drives. I think any 3.5" drive will be noisy (maximum quietness is only obtained with 2.5" drives), but that sticking to Samsung Spinpoint and placing them on foam (as they mention in the thread) or in an elastic suspension will give the best performance and be the quietest solution (diy methods etc.).

How you're going to identify the motor types, I don't know - have you tried to google it or asking in the silent storage forum?

Check my specs for a quiet HTPC...

Check my specs for a quiet HTPC...

Change of specs!!