Silverstone LaScala LC-04 woe

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slavicVII
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:47 am

Silverstone LaScala LC-04 woe

Post by slavicVII » Sat Jun 25, 2005 12:46 pm

Just RMA'd my Shuttle ST62K after the FAN1 header died, probably as a result of the locked to 166 FSB problem overclocking my Celeron 2.4 by 25% (see http://forums.sudhian.com/messageview.a ... TMP=Linear for the full horror story)

So I've got my £202 refund and the following bits, thankfully saved before they melted:

P4 2.6 GHz Celeron
512MB DDR 400 RAM
NEC ND-2510A DVD+/-RW
160GB Samsung SP1614N Spinpoint
Nebula Electronics DigiTV card

For future peace of mind I thought I'd go for something more conventional than the Shuttle for my HTPC, something more full sized with better cooling. As the title of my post suggests, I'm considering the following options to accompany the bits above:

Silverstone LaScala LC-11
EQS M45P8-MLF
Zalman AlCu 7000

or

Silverstone LaScala LC-04
EQS M45P8-MLF
(Perhaps there is a better/cheaper/big name (reliable) motherboard option to take advantage of the size of this case, with on board vga with TV out, 5.1 audio, s/p dif? I'd be interested to hear your recommendations :) )
Zalman AlCu 7000

I'm stuck trying to decide which case would run cooler. Also, I'm not sure which would be quieter. Having read the reviews on SPCR it would seem that the PSU is quieter in the LC-04, but then the LC-11 would offer the opportunity to suspend the Spinpoint. Also, there would be two fans running in the LC-04, and 4 running in the LC-11.

I'd be most grateful for your advice.
Last edited by slavicVII on Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ralf Hutter
SPCR Reviewer
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Location: Sunny SoCal

Post by Ralf Hutter » Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:00 am

As the writer of both LaScala reviews, I'd probably go with the LC-11 mostly because:

1) It's airflow design is a bit better.

2) AGP/PCI riser design offers more options for cards. (This can be pretty important because the riser design of the LC-04 seriously limits your choice of motherboards)

3) HDD drive can be suspended in unused 5.25" bay.

Mr_Smartepants
Posts: 539
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:35 am
Location: Cambridgeshire, England

Post by Mr_Smartepants » Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:16 am

Ditto!

When Ralf speaks, people listen.

Plus the LC11 can use PCI-Express video cards with the RC-01 adapter (replaces the AGP riser).

slavicVII
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:47 am

Post by slavicVII » Wed Jun 29, 2005 12:10 pm

:D thanks for the tip guys

slavicVII
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:47 am

Post by slavicVII » Sat Jul 02, 2005 3:49 am

Alas my parents, whom I was building the HTPC for, vetoed the LC-11 black case as they didn't like the wood panel on the black version (their TV is black). Reasoning with them didn't work, so I went with the LC-04 :?

And...

I assembled all the components, and fired up the system. All good, until about 5 minutes in when I was installing drivers and the thing just suddenly powered down. I unplugged, checked for anything obvious wrong, waited until it had cooled, plugging in again and tried to power up. Nothing. I press the power switch and it's just dead. I've since cleared the CMOS but no joy. No LEDs light up, no fans run - completely dead.

My hunch is that the PSU has died. Or perhaps the motherboard? But honestly I'm at a loss as to how to test these hypotheses, so I'm not sure what to RMA. Any pointers you experienced system builders out there could give me will be most gratefully received.

slavicVII
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:47 am

Update ...

Post by slavicVII » Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:07 am

I followed the instructions here http://www.duxcw.com/faq/ps/ps4.htm to test the PSU and the PSU fan began to spin.

So I'm wondering whether that indicates a faulty mobo, a faulty power switch, or just another type of fault with the PSU ...

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