Low power, low noise HD HTPC (hopefully low cost)

mimwdv · Post by **mimwdv** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:43 pm

Hey, congratulations! I never even turned on my stock PSU - the first thing I did when unpacking the case was remove it, LOL.

I bought my picopsu's from 2 different places - www.mini-box.com and www.short-circuit.com - both seem to ship to just about anywhere - but one of them had expensive shipping, can't remember which one.

The one thing I haven't been game to do is hack into my case - although I like the idea of putting a vent hole in the bottom - might try that one yet.

Mine's also running with its lid off - it's summer here so it just can't cope with the hot days

LBadvance · Post by **LBadvance** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:18 pm

Due to some setbacks (motherboard dying on me and had to wait half a month for a replacement) this project is back on track.

How much did the picopsu cost you in total (incl. shipping)?

mimwdv · Post by **mimwdv** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:41 am

Hard question. I found my receipt from Short-Circuit - I bought a pico 120 plus 80w brick for USD70, another 80W brick for $28 (for another project) and then $50 worth of small bits like internal cables. Total shipping to Sydney was $60.

I can't find the details from mini-box, but remember thinking at the time that it worked out to be about the same.

LBadvance · Post by **LBadvance** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:32 am

Wow that is a lot of money! Maybe I should keep the stock psu and do mods to it. Hmm decisions decisions.

I'm now waiting for the fans to be put it. I ordered some 120mm fans. I think i can two in it. I'll see.

Palindroman · Post by **Palindroman** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:11 am

What are the specs of your system, LBadvance? And do you have any power consumption figures?

LBadvance · Post by **LBadvance** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:25 pm

Case: Silverstone LC02 (Silver)
PSU: Stock (for now)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 BE 2350 2.1Ghz
Mobo: Asus M2A-VM HDMI uATX
Ram: aXeRAM DDR2-800 2GB
HDD: Seagate Momentus 5400.3 120Gb 2.5" SATA
Tuner: Hauppauge Nova S Plus

Sorry I don't have any means of measuring the power consumption.

From mimwdv.

"OK, the HTPC as configured in my sig draws about 40W at idle, 44W playing a DVD or SD content from the HD or across the network. HD (1080i) material draws about 50W. At boot it hits 60W for a few seconds. If I run Orthos it's 63W, Orthos and Rthdribl is 65W."

My system is similiar to him. However my CPU being 20W less. (45W vs 65W) However that is nullified by the fact I also have the tuner in it.

mimwdv · Post by **mimwdv** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:13 pm

Fayd · Post by **Fayd** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:06 pm

mimwdv wrote: Oh, and for the record I'm a her, not a him

everyone's a dude on the internet.

sorry, you dont have a choice or say in the matter.

LBadvance · Post by **LBadvance** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:11 pm

Its the internets, where girls are guys and guys are guys and old men are teenage girls.

I should recieve my 120mm Yate Loons this weekend, thinking of a negative pressue design.