10cm or under HTPC

HecFam

HecFam

HecFam

Soldato
Joined
18 Nov 2011
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Hi Guys,

Might be a bit of a tricky one, im looking for a HTPC to fit under my TV, the height between the stand and the TV bottom is 10cm. I have found a case which is 11cm, but seems that the top of the disk tray is under 10cm so it should be able to eject ok. I don't mind it behind my pc, but as long as i can eject the disk drive and press the power button im happy.

I have done a rough spec. I've got for an I3 3220, a rather plain set of 2x4GB 1333 DDR3, an Asus P8H61-MX M-Atx mobo, an AMD 6450 and a low profile Akasa CPU cooler. I do plan to add a Blu ray drive, but for now its not that important. I have a couple of hard drives knocking about already.

At the moment, the Price for this is around the £300 mark. But i could stretch a bit if it was worth it.

Can anyone suggest a nice case, or a tasty spec for a HTPC? I went for an I3 because i thought it might hold up a bit better in the future. But open to ideas. Its mainly going to be used for playing 1080p video over HDMI. Gigabit Lan would be a bonus.

Can anyone better my plans?

ta.
 
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Loads here from 5Cm http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?catid=2279&groupid=2362&sortby=priceAsc#prodlist

Or if that's your budget you could get an i3 Intel NUC with a Msata SSD, 8Gb SODimm, Wifi Module and windows 8 standard for a little more. Tiny but no BR Drive but does have USB3 so you can get an external one.

One of my systems is based on a old Hiper Media Chassis and that is VERY Slim at about 7CM so really nice. And I also have a fantastic Arctic Cooling MC-001 but for some reason they have stopped making it :(

I would also remove the competitor name from your posts.. 3057posts you should know that ;)
 
They have been mentioned before in this section, they don't supply components or other cases like ocuk do, just ones made by themselves. It would be fine if i mentioned corsair or antec right? if it is a problem then by all means i'll remove it.

Not too sure on the NUCs, i have read things about them, but not too sure on the onboard graphics.

The Lian Li cases look nice, but not 100% sure on thin Itx, nor do i understand the cooler involved.
 
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NUC would probably be the best bet. i5 models come with HD5000 which be more than enough for your needs.

The i3's HD4400 would probably be fine as well. Although as mentioned, an external BD drive would be needed.
 
not sure about the I3 version, says it had HD4000, and at £456 with 8GB of Ram, seems a bit too pricey i would say. Nothing i could upgrade particularly if anything asked for it.
 
HecFam said:
not sure about the I3 version, says it had HD4000, and at £456 with 8GB of Ram, seems a bit too pricey i would say. Nothing i could upgrade particularly if anything asked for it.
Click to expand...

Thats probably the Ivybridge model. The Haswell version uses the HD4400 and HD5000 (although not sure if they are out yet).

Yea they can be pricey, but thats the problem with wanting power in something so small!
 
I suppose so, i suppose a case could be large than 10cm, just as long as the dvd drive and all the power buttons are below the bottom 10cm so that i could press them without the tv getting in the way.

Not sure if there is anything like that about, but i shall venture.
 
Hummm... I would ask for clarification from mods as they do sell components and cases into the same market as OCUK. They don't just sell what they make they rebrand chassis from cheapo manufacturers as their own. They do also sell cases that OCUK Sell such as Corsair, NZXT, Zalman etc etc...

The graphics on the newer NUCs are perfect for Media Center playback at 1080p. I have a sample on the way of the highest spec one in a couple of weeks so will let you know. Although if I was to build a new system that wanted a bit more I would go AMD APU as they are great for Media Center playback and a bit of gaming...
 
Removed the names just be on the safe side... I'll take a butchers at the new Haswell versions of the NUCs, but i assume they will be more dosh.

I'll have a look at the APUs, are the M-ITX/M-ATX for FM2 any good. I assume i can go without a GPU in that case.

Edit, not a huge selection of M-ATX but im sure even the £40 ones would do the job, do you think an A6-6400k would do the job?
 
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Removed the names just be on the safe side... I'll take a butchers at the new Haswell versions of the NUCs, but i assume they will be more dosh.
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No worries, I wasn't having a go just didn't want ya getting a holiday ;)

Yeah the Top daddy NUC at the mo is the D54250WYK but its not that cheap at £309 plus the parts. You could also look at the Gigabyte Brix but not sure if the Haswell versions are available yet.

I'll have a look at the APUs, are the M-ITX/M-ATX for FM2 any good. I assume i can go without a GPU in that case.
Click to expand...

Yeah the APUs are great in those formats.

Edit, not a huge selection of M-ATX but im sure even the £40 ones would do the job, do you think an A6-6400k would do the job?
Click to expand...

Yes deffo a friend of mine built as system with 5400K, 2Gb and using a cheapo SSD drive with XBMCbuntu and it worked fantastic. He also tried it in windows and there was no problems with dropping frames even on 1080p footage. He didn't however try it with something like J-River with the Red October plugin but I have heard that it works well with another friends i5-3570K and the lowest APU from AMD is miles ahead of the HD4000 you get on the older i5.

I would also add that using an SSD, even a cheapo one, on a XBMC with Aeon Nox is worthwhile as it takes away loads of the stutterness if you have the artwork/posters/covers/flashy goodies on.
 
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low-end Richland APU (something like a A6-6400K), Mini ITX A85X board (Asrock and Gigabyte do nice ones), some fast RAM with a Noctua NH-L9a cooler stuffed into a Streacom F1C WC Evo. You'll need a Pico PSU too, but the Streacom 150W one is probably overkill for a dual-core Richland.

If you want to keep with an optical drive you'll have to swap the Noctua cooler for a Zalman CNPS 2X, and will need a slim-line slot load.
 
Now, i was thinking going down the A6 route, you guys have swayed me, seems to save a fair bit compared to i3.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A6-6400K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD640KOKHLBOX) £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x MSI A55M-E33 AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
Total : £166.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Now, the mobo says it Supports two unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1866/2133*(OC) DRAM, 32GB Max

Would i still be able to run the 2400mhz Ram and just drop the speed to 2133? since this ram is cheaper than the same stuff in 1600Mhz. Seems silly not to get it.
 
AMD's APUs benefit from faster RAM to give the graphics system plenty of bandwidth, so the faster the RAM you can get in, the better the graphics will perform.

If you're sticking with Micro-ATX, for an extra couple quid I'd go up to A88X chipset though for the SATA 6gb and USB 3 - Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2 is only £6 more. Plus as it's FM2+ you can drop a Kaveri APU into it later on 9and also benefit from pairing up with a discreet graphics card in Hybrid Crossfire later on too).

Just be mindful of the size of the case if you're going Micro-ATX if you want to stick with 10cm tall.
 
I am just debating this now.

I think i might have to stick with M-atx. Thanks for the suggestions LePhuronn, glad you suggested the chipset.

I like the look of itx, but the Chipset of the Mobo in ITX was a75 i think. Also with the Streacom ST-F1CB which is lovely. The PSU is more than the case, i can see it racking up to a fair amount.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Streacom ST-F1CB EVO HTPC Aluminium Case - Black £69.95
1 x AMD A6-6400K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD640KOKHLBOX) £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Zalman CNPS2X Heatsink and Fan CPU Cooler £23.99
Total : £289.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).


Now this looks lovely, but i've still got to account for the Nano PSU...

And im really not too sure what blu ray drive would fit in here?
 
Slot-loaded laptop Blu-Ray. I picked up one for £20 on fleabay and is fine, but new can get a bit pricey. Search "slot blu-ray" on fleabay right now and you should find a New Other listing for a LiteOn drive for £35.

I'm not sure you'd need the full 150W Pico PSU Streacom have on here. You might be OK with a 80W. Google Fu required since we're not linking to competitors.

Yes, cost is going up past your budget, but that's the price for going this small.
 
Looks like a decent case, would most likely fit my needs. Did the mATX mobo not fit then?

And where does the disc drive pop out?

What ITX motherboard was that?
 
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You will need to measure the mobo, mine was 5mm too much for the psu.

I'm not using an optical drive, but it would be installed in the drive cage I removed.

Gigabyte F2A88XN wifi.
 
Out of stock currently but comes in a 105mm in height. Could be a good option as good for a tighter budget.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone Milo ML03 HTPC Case - Black (SST-ML03B) £55.99
Total : £65.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



If money isn't too much of an issue and you want something that is going to look great next to you TV you have got this that comes in at just 68mm in height.
But does require a slim optical drive and comes with a built in 120watt power supply.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone LaScala LC19R Slimline HTPC Case - Black (SST-LC19B-R) £139.99
Total : £149.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Just eyed up the antec isk 300-150. Comes in at 96mm. Looks propa tasty. I'll have to stick in an itx board. Possible the gigabyte wifi one. I think that will be the starting point. Love the look of that case.
 
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