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Build: SG6ITX - ZOTAC GF9300 / E5300 / Corsair H50 / OCZ SSD / SilverStone SG06B mITX

8177 Views 20 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  ComputerGeek485, 
vortech
Our current ATX HTPC is powered by an Athlon 64 X2 OC'd to 2.7GHz and a Radeon HD 4550 512MB w/HDMI out. It's a little noisy and too large but even it has trouble with HULU desktop in full screen. I'd prefer an AMD powered HTPC to utilize Hybrid Crossfire with my current 4550 but I cannot find a suitable mITX board. Besides that we've got Intel price drops coming up in January.. Plus there is a new ZOTAC GF9300 coming, the I-E.. We plan on running XBMC, MCE 7, Boxee, Hulu Desktop, DirecTV2PC, using our HDHRUN as a tuner, and utilizing our WHS as a media server.

SG6ITX
by: nekon


I've been using an old PC as an HTPC in our living room for some time now. We have it hooked up to a Samsung HL-S5087W 1080P DLP. I recently did a round of driver updates that have stopped me from being able to use a single display. Long story short I've been reading good things about the Dual-Core Atm 330s and I think it's time to make a dedicated box. This will not be the central media center as our bedroom sports a 7.1 surround system, Pioneer Elite 110, and PS3 among other things. The living room is simply where we entertain and relax with guests.
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E
If you live near a Fry's you might be able to get the SSD for $60+tax after MIR. Have you found any source which indicates which controller it will be using?
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vortech
2
Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilGenius007 View Post
If you live near a Fry's you might be able to get the SSD for $60+tax after MIR. Have you found any source which indicates which controller it will be using?
Sadly there isn't a Fry's in my whole state.. A deeper google search has uncovered the answers.. jitter results pending.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SERVETHEHOME
Toshiba flash, Hynix DRAM that is the cache, and a chip that says Phison


From what I read Phison makes entry level controllers found in ASUS eeepc and some intel classmate hardware. Phison advertises this series up to 240/200 R/W and says it has provisions for firmware updates.. Sounds promising but I'll wate for jitter results before I make a decision. At any rate it should be a good choice for an ION HTPC.

Source(s): http://www.servethehome.com/?p=206 | http://www.phison.com/English/Produc...D=125&SortID=3
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vortech
I just updated the OP. I love Black Friday, I just picked up a 30GB Vertex for $99 after MIR!


http://www.overclock.net/online-deal...ml#post7756485
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B
Can't wait to see it all put together. The ION is a little underpowered thanks to the atom, but the GPU works incredibly well and is perfect for watching movies.
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vortech
OP updated with an optional build. My budget is set now that the holidays have passed. I'm ready to complete this build but I just cannot decide on a direction. I really like the idea of Mini-ITX + Atom but I just keep reading all the issues others are having with players and codecs. While improvements are being made I'm not looking to re-invent the wheel for this HTPC. I've seen nice results with the SG06-B and a Corsair H50.. Tell me what you guys think.. SG6ITX or 330ITX?
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Well the Atom 330 will still not do full screen Hulu cleanly. I still have my atom board, and still don't really know what to do with it, but if I had a HDD I could probably use it as a low powered internet and music box for my workshop.

My HTPC, in my sig, uses the GF9300 G-E and it is great. GPU does get crazy hot though, and I have run into issues with my big shuriken not leaving me enough space to put a 40mm fan on the GPU sink, but overall it works very well.
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J
You'll need flash player 10.1 to do Hulu at full screen. It's not a PC power issue, it's just a crap version of flash that hulu uses (abc, NBC, CBS, Fox.coms have a different flash player that doesn't stutter with flash 10 at full screen). 10.1 makes fullscreen so much better.
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vortech
3
Tomorrow the case should be here and the real work will begin. I've already got the H50 so I'll begin on the paint. The holidays are going to stretch this build out but I'll do my best to update the thread. The memory and sleeving supplies won't be here until early next week. The CPU is on the way but I still haven't purchased a motherboard yet. I can't decide if it's time to pull the trigger on a G-E or continue waiting for the new I-E revision. Anyhow here's what I have so far:




Quote:

Originally Posted by jlchavis0844 View Post
You'll need flash player 10.1 to do Hulu at full screen. It's not a PC power issue, it's just a crap version of flash that hulu uses (abc, NBC, CBS, Fox.coms have a different flash player that doesn't stutter with flash 10 at full screen). 10.1 makes fullscreen so much better.
I appreciate that, I've got 10.1 beta 1 running on our current AMD powered HTPC but it still hogs resources. It's not a big deal now anyhow as we've decided to go 775.. Now I just can't wait to get started on this ITX Build.
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vortech
6
I was excited all day.. I thought more things would arrive but now I've got something to look forward to tomorrow.


Then I stripped it down


I'm not real happy with the finish from SilverStone.. kinda surprised the reviews didn't say anything about how poor it is. I'll live as this is an HTPC build, but I thought others should know.


I'm looking forward to paiting and sleeving this little beast


I wrapped up my night testing how I want to apply the Plastidip.. Normally I don't scuff the surface but I may do it this time. I also started test fitting the H50.


more to come in the following days
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vortech


We've got a media blasting station at work so I'll be stripping the surface today. I haven't decided if I'm going to invest in some hobby powder coating hardware or pay a local to get it done.. I figure some powder, a gun under $400, and a used oven off craigslist and I'm good to go. From what I read a single layer can easily be done with the Harbor Freight gun.. I've even see good results from the self contained Craftsman Gun and there happens to be one on sale in my area.
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vortech
3
Saturday I got a nice surprise at the door, the CPU, and RAM arrived. I purchased the RAM from OCN used bleached in the for sale section. I was very pleased with the communication, prompt shipping, and great packaging. The other items in the photo came care of Performance-PCs.com. I always choose them for their fast shipping and fair prices when buying small things.






The OCN For Sale / Wanted forum is always a first stop when I look for components.
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M
Looks awesome, subbed
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C
Looks like an interesting build
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C
Will the H50 radiator fit? If you remove the tray for the 3.5" HDD will you have enough room for a push-pull setup?
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J
Not being able to run hulu in full screen has nothing to do with hardware. It's the crappy flash player hulu uses. If you update your flas to 10.1, it should run just fine. Mine does on a much lesser machine.
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Liighthead
subed

looks like a nice build
sff ftw hehehe
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ever going to post pics of the final build.....
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vortech
6
Quote:

Originally Posted by ComputerGeek485 View Post
ever going to post pics of the final build.....
Actually I am
I ran into every issue under the sun.. The first problem was the amount of time the powder coater took to complete the job. Long story short they didn't mention there would be a wait as they normally do industrial sized jobs. I had to wait for them to get a job spraying the same finish
. While that was going on my first GF9300-G-E came damaged (I'll post pics).. The second one took FOR-E-VER to arrive. Then when I finally had everything together the power supply shorted out..

I ordered a new ST45SF to replace it and when that arrived I realized my dog ate the power button
. Lucky for me Silverstone is a great company and they decided to send me a replacement FREE without mention. I simply e-mailed them asking if it was something I could buy and they stepped up without hesitation
.

So to answer your question, yes. As soon as it arrives I'll post pictures of everything. FYI, it turned out GREAT
!
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C
Wow that really blows, seems like everything that could have possibly gone wrong did. Looking forward to the final pics and whatnot
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