[ruffhi]

Everyone needs a HTPC build log ... sooo - here we go.

I've already done a HTPC build log here using the Silverstonetek ML07B but that case never really grew on me and become redundent once I decided to move my Ceton InfiniTV 6 PCIe out of my main PC and into the HTPC (the ML07B is an mini-ITX case with only one PCIe slot ... so that had to be scrapped.

As my original HTPC log discusses, there were other cases that I was looking at ... and I ended up with the Silverstonetek GD09B which is a monster ATX case ...

440mm (W) x 170mm (H) x 358mm (D), 26.8 liters
17.32" (W) x 6.69" (H) x 14.09" (D), 26.8 liters

A thing of beauty ... it has been chugging away, doing great duty as the HTPC, recording TV and porting it off to the NAS as required.

However, the wife has never liked it. She is after something much smaller.

So ... I gave her three options ...

• Silverstone ML04B
  17.32" (W) x 4.13" (H) x 13.78" (D), 16.2 liters
• Antec - VSK2000-U3
  13.3" (W) x 4.0" (H) x 14.0" (D), 10.6 liters
• Inwin BL631
  13" (W) x 3.8" (H) x 14.4" (D), 10.2 liters

I could have thrown in the Fractal Design Node 202 (14.8 x 3.5 x 13.1) but that is another mini-ITX case.

She said ... sure, much better and selected the smallest one there (the in-win BL631) but she really left it with me. I ended up with the Antec case ... but 2 hrs after ordering it I had massive buyers remorse. It is the right size and all ... but ...

Note the small thing on top of the GD09 is a universal DVD player ... me being a world traveler and all ...

 

[ruffhi]

Why buyers remorse? My HTPC doesn't do much of much. It has a fan-less 2gb GPU and the TV-Card. Two 2.5" drives (SSD for the OS and a HDD for recording stuff). It doesn't do much trans-coding so the demands placed on it a pretty minimal. That said, the GD09 has some serious fan slots ... 2 x 120 on the left and 1 x 120 on the right. No worries about air flow in that case.

The Antec ... on the other hand ... has 1 internal 92mm fan that has a temp sensor on it. A fan with a temp sensor?
I kid you not ... from the specs page ... 92 mm temperature controlled fan included

See the Antec store for more pictures ... http://store.antec.com/value-solution/vsk2000-u3.html

Spoiler: For Antec Pics

If you look closely at these pictures, you should be able to find the two areas where this case allows air into the case.

 

[ruffhi]

Here is the parts list ...

CPU:	...	Intel - Core i5-4590S 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler:	...	CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard:	...	ASRock - H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory:	...	Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage:	...	Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card:	...	EVGA - GeForce GT 710 1GB Video Card
Case:	...	Antec - VSK2000-U3 HTPC Case
Power Supply:	...	SeaSonic - 300W 80+ Gold Certified TFX Power Supply
Total:	...	About $250

The green items are ones that I am moving over from the GD09B. The blue items are new. I ordered the motherboard and the case from Amazon (they are already here) and the cooler and the psu from newegg ... they will take a week to get here.

It is interesting to note that I now have 3 ASRock H97 motherboards, one miniITX, one ATX and now the microATX version.

 

[ruffhi]

We are also working on our basement. This involves new windows, a bathroom and a large-ish TV with surround sound speakers, etc, etc. This, of course, will need a HTPC added ... and since I have some parts left over from gutting my lovely GD09 ... as well as a couple of spare ASRock motherboards ... why not build another ...

CPU:	...Intel - Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor
CPU Cooler:	...CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard:	...ASRock - H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory:	...Corsair - Vengeance 8GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage:	...Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card:	...EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB FTW+ GAMING Video Card
Case:	...Fractal Design - Node 202 HTPC Case
Power Supply:	...Silverstone - 500W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply
Total:	...About $290

Again, the blue items are new and the green items are either from the GD09 or from an older computer (the RAM in particular). There is a story behind the 1060 GPU ... but I don't want to get into it. The case is a great match for the parts that I have lying around ... ITX motherboard ... and the case can take a full size GPU.

I will need a 1150 chip but the pickings are few and far between. PCPartspicker has 8 i3s ranging from $114 to $296. It has 4 i5s ranging from $204 to $335. i7s are too much grunt for a HTPC so I didn't even bother looking. I could go with a Pentium (2 for $80 or $111) but I like a little more grunt than that.

PCPartspicker showed the i5-4590S that I have ... but no price (ie not for sale anywhere).

Ebay? I'll try that.

I'll wait on the Cryorig until I have tried the one that is on its way for the Antec case. I might try another brand of low profile CPU cooler.

 

[ruffhi]

I gutted the case ... pulled out the 92mm temperature controlled fan. Pulled out the tool-less SSD, HHD and OOD, removed the USB and audio cables as well as the power switch cables. The case has self clinching rivets for the stand-offs ... and my motherboard is missing a single stand off. The auxiliary stuff with the case includes a nut style additional stand off that I am using.

The disk caddie rotates up so that you can insert the disks into it ... but I am not going to use it, so I prized that sucker out.

The case also comes with pre-installed cable management stick on holders. Why stick them on? Totally stupid idea as they are guessing where I want my cable management options to be. Sure ... include the cable management holders ... but let me stick them where I want them. Pulled too off and then had to spend 30mins getting rid of the goo

.

 

[ruffhi]

Small Update of items that came in the mail ...

• Noctua PWM 92mm slim fan
• Fractal Design Node 202 (early look is that this is a lovely looking case - yet to take it apart)
• old Dell PC ($40 off ebay) - I wanted it for the Windows 7 license
• Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive - boot drive for the Node 202
  I've already duplicated the HDD from the Dell onto the SSD and booted from the SSD
  It was very painful booting the Dell (old processor, HDD) ... had to wait ages

The biggest sticking point at the moment (apart from waiting for stuff from newegg to crawl across the country) is deciding on the CPU for the Node 202. The motherboard is a 1150 CPU socket and the range of CPUs for this is ever shrinking. Currently looking at 2nd hand via ebay.

 

[ruffhi]

The Cryorig C7 CPU cooler and the TFX 300W PSU finally got here from newegg ... I am really re-thinking my newegg purchasing future as the cheapest shipping takes 5-7 business days

.

I also won an auction on ebay so the i5 4440 CPU should be heading my way soon.

I also took apart the Node 202. Every review that I had read had talked about how difficult it was to remove the plastic housing on the bottom. Boy are they not kidding. And, for some unfathomable reason, Fractal Design set it up that you have to dismantle the whole case to clean the fan filters. Plus points for putting in fan filters. Minus double points for setting it up so that you have to destroy the case to clean them ... what sort of pickled fish had they been eating?

Anyway - those filters are not going back in the case where they were. I'll work something out to make my future house cleaning activities easier.

Pics of the new goodies ...

Cryorig C7 with tons of extras - thermal paste, nut driver, registration card (must go and register my new cooler) ...


PSU with 24-pin connector, 4-pin secondary motherboard power connector, molex (I hate molex connectors

) and 2 sata power connectors.



My preference would be to install it like this ...


... but a) the case doesn't have a fan intake slot there for the PSU and b) the screw holes for the PSU only allow it to be installed 'fan towards motherboard'.

So ...

• case has very minimal air in-take
• cooler is down blowing cooler (only!)
• PSU air in-take is right beside CPU cooler
• I'm sure there are other non-cooling things about this set up that I am (currently) missing

I'm going to set it all up as Mr Antec expects you to, run Prime95 and see how many eggs I can fry on the top of the case. Then I will add some cooling options.

 

[ruffhi]

My Ceton InfiniTV 6 PCIe has been driving me nuts. Or maybe it is verizon? Channel 510 (NBC) was getting choppy so I rang verizon to see what they could do. Answer - lose all TV channels from Sunday night to Tuesday night ... great. They trashed my cableCard and sent me a new one - this is the fourth one that I have had in as many months.

I am getting sick of this non reliable TV thing so I have decided to go back to a set-top-box

from verizon as the main source of TV in the house. However, no DVR, no multi-room options ... you want cable TV - you watch it in the family room.

Meanwhile, I have picked up a new HDHomeRun PRIME from SiliconDUST ... a company that is still in business (unlike Ceton). This unit is not a PCIe card ... rather it sits with your network stuff and plugs into your ethernet. That means any computer with the right software can get cable TV. This also means that my PCIe requirement drops from 2 to 1 (GPU) and that opens the ITX world up ... think Fractal Design Node 202.

I will be working on the HTPC front to get a system that is rock solid, has a single remote (harmony smart control - that, apparently Alexa can control) instead of the keyboard that currently controls the HTPC. Once that is all up and running, I will return the set-top-box and reintroduce the (all singing, all dancing) HTPC.

 

[The14thAssassin]

Can you fit the case in the drawer? If you just drilled some holes in the cabinet to get wires through, you wouldn't have to look at it.

It'd probably bake in there, but I'm not sure how stressed those components are recording things.

 

[ruffhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The14thAssassin

Can you fit the case in the drawer? If you just drilled some holes in the cabinet to get wires through, you wouldn't have to look at it.

It'd probably bake in there, but I'm not sure how stressed those components are recording things.

ooy ... a non-Ruff post!

Interesting suggestion. The GD09 is pretty deep so a draw is probably out. And the draws I have available are full of linen and stuff. The smaller cases (Antec, Node 202) would probably fit in a draw ... I would have to do something about the IR controller ... but that is doable. I'll file this for future consideration.

 

[ruffhi]

I ended up getting a i5 4440 CPU from e-bay. It arrived yesterday. I have installed it in my motherboard, added the cooler, attached a boot drive and plugged in the PSU.

I press the start button and the cooler and PSU fans cycle up and then turn off. Only to cycle up again ... then turn off (repeat).

Something is not happy. How do I debug this?

Edit1: I know it isn't the new ebay sourced CPU as I just swapped that into a unit that worked and it booted right up.
Edit2: I swapped out the PSU, used the old CPU from my GD09 HTPC and the parts listed above ... and it posted. Then booted into Windows.

 

[ruffhi]

We are also working on our basement. This involves new windows, a bathroom and a large-ish TV with surround sound speakers, etc, etc. This, of course, will need a HTPC added ... and since I have some parts left over from gutting my lovely GD09 ... as well as a couple of spare ASRock motherboards ... why not build another ...


CPU:...Intel - Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor
CPU Cooler:...CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard:...ASRock - H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory:...Corsair - Vengeance 8GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage:...Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card:...EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB FTW+ GAMING Video Card
Case:...Fractal Design - Node 202 HTPC Case
Power Supply:...Silverstone - 500W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply

Total:...About $290

Again, the blue items are new and the green items are either from the GD09 or from an older computer (the RAM in particular). There is a story behind the 1060 GPU ... but I don't want to get into it. The case is a great match for the parts that I have lying around ... ITX motherboard ... and the case can take a full size GPU.

I ended up finishing up the Node 202 first. It is now sitting where the GD09 was and is working very nicely thank you. The GD09 HTPC is still up and running ... and is carrying the can as the DVR. I've rebuilt my wooden 2x4 hub so that it has room for keyboard, monitor, server and the GD09.

The only issue with the Node 202 is that the power light is REALLY BRIGHT. And watch out when the computer goes to sleep and the power light starts to blink. The wife woke me up in the middle on the night and said 'something is flashing in the TV room'. I put a little bit of black tape over that light - no more problems.

Edit: change in forum software destroyed my parts list table. Stupid software. Had to insert the 'size' commands and put the crlf back in.

 

[ruffhi]

Anyway ... still working on the Antec. It will be very poor for ventelation ... so I decided to add a dedicated hole to the top for case. I wanted a Node 202 CPU fan filter from demcifilter ... so while I was at it, I ordered two. Now to cut a Node 202 CPU fan filter size hole in the Antec. It is steel ... and I am use to cutting aluminium. Steal is not at all forgiving the way aluminium is.

 

[ruffhi]

Pictures of the new CPU fan intake ... complete with protective grid ...

A bit of a ding in one corner ... but the dust filter covers that right up