1st HTPC Build

I was just wondering how silent is that Corsair PSU please? Just that I find the Silverstone one in my HTPC a touch to noisy.
 
Its very quiet, quieter than my Scythe BIG and thats around 28.89 dBA at full RPM.

Ok next problem, sometimes my HTPC when you try to turn it on the HDD/On LED's flash up for a second and then go off, you have to wait another 10 seconds and then try turning it on again, it usually starts after about the 4th or 5th time, ive turned off 'Halt on errors in the BIOS and replaced the Arctic silver 5 Paste between my Scythe and CPU. Stumped to what it can be!?
 
I was just looking for a htpc thead, and I find this; with all the parts I ordered, ha :D. will keep tabs on your progress so I know what to expect on tuesday when my parts arrive :p
 
Do you normally find this is on cold boot?
Have you got any USB devices in the back of it? Seen PCs do this with them inserted.
 
npfman said:
Its very quiet, quieter than my Scythe BIG and thats around 28.89 dBA at full RPM.

Ok next problem, sometimes my HTPC when you try to turn it on the HDD/On LED's flash up for a second and then go off, you have to wait another 10 seconds and then try turning it on again, it usually starts after about the 4th or 5th time, ive turned off 'Halt on errors in the BIOS and replaced the Arctic silver 5 Paste between my Scythe and CPU. Stumped to what it can be!?
Click to expand...

I used to have the same problem on my server with an old Samsung hard drive installed. Could only get it to boot after a number of attempts and sometimes had to pull cards to try and get it to reallocate IRQs etc. Pulled the Samsung drive and have never had the same issue again. Known issue with some of their older drives it seems from a bit of Googling.

Have you done the normal checks, reseat the RAM, check connections, take out and reinstall the motherboard (had a couple of installs where the board was shorting out on the case or pegs and reinstalling it fixed the problem).

Had a Google for conflicts between your parts and / or OS issues (Linux would not play nice with my Sandy bridge ASUS MB with my Intel NIC installed) ?.

No video, no beeps ?.

RB
 
not that I believe in bumping old threads, but OP how has your htpc been?

There is very little info on amd llano and xbmc at the moment and I was wondering how smooth has it been running?

I'm thinking of getting one myself, but want to be sure the extra £££ is spent appropriately.

Does it handle 1080p material well?
Does it handle large blu ray files (30gb+) well?
Have you tried any 3d on it?

Thanks.
 
Hi There,

I'm offshore at the moment, work a 2n2week rota so not at my HTPC!, back thursday, but from when ive used it it has been fantastic, 20odd degrees temps whilst watching 1080p mkv's, the biggest ones i have are around 20gb and it plays them effortlessly with DXVA2 on, cant believe how quiet it is, 10 times quieter than my TV let alone PS3 which i used to watch my films on.

Dont have any 3D stuff yet as dont have a TV, i have used handbrake to convert some MKV's to m4v for my ipad and usually it would take 2-2 and a hour hours ~ with my old core2duo, now it takes around 25 minutes with the quad core LLano, boots in about 10-15 seconds into XBMC with the SSD i have.


I will get some screenshots of temps etc when i get back if you like? Will also try and sort out the booting problem, no doubt a short somewhere

Cheers

Nick
 
Hi peeps,

Just wondered if i could get some help before i throw this out the window!.

I have removed my motherboard from the case and placed it on the antistatic bag that you get with the motherboard and i am still having the same problem (fans spin up for a second then go off) the system will eventually start but you have to keep switching the PSU on/off switch, wait 10 seconds and then try the on button on the case, numerous amounts of times, happens from cold and hot.

I have tried the PSU test (short green & black wire) and it spins up fine, reseated my CPU cooler many times and it still does it, i think im just going to leave it on all the time!.

Onto my 2nd question, I built a friend of mine the same system, i think the Motherboard is DOA though, i get the same thing, fans spin up for a second then go off, but it has never booted up, i have tried the Scythe Cooler and the standard AMD cooler, done the PSU test (green/black wire shorted) tried motherboard in the case and out, tried removing the CMOS/resetting it, i have had it where its just the PSU, Motherboard, CPU and cooler and still nothing, the thing is though, i tried the 2nd PSU on my system and it does the same thing!, with my PSU my system will eventually boot tho, ive tried the new PSU loads of times. Im going to RMA the motherboard and the PSU, unless anyone has any suggestions!

Cheers

Nick
 
It sounds like one of the capacitors on the motherboard can't hold its charge.
I think an RMA is probably needed. I can't think of any other reason anyway.
 
Could the PSU be conflicting too?, to get my one running I have to flick the I/O switch on the back then push the Power On button on the case, then repeat.


Im probably gonna run the warranty down on the other parts whilst im waiting for these to be RMA'd i go offshore next week for 2 weeks so more money down the drain.
 
Hi Peeps,

Sorry i had a bit of a meltdown before, dont know if im allowed to say this but i bought the CPU from OCUK and the rest from scan, their customer service is useless! takes them 3-4 days to reply to an email and then they completely ignore what you email, anyway i have sent all their stuff back and am going to have another go, overclockers has been top notch when i have RMA'd stuff before, only went with scan because i get free delivery.

Anyway i am building a very similar system for my friend and after a bit of research it looks like the PSU doesnt like this motherboard so just wondered if anyone could reccomend a decent similar power unit to the Corsair CX430, overclockers have stopped selling them it seems anyway!.

Here is the current PSU in my system that ill be replacing soon anyway - http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx430.html


And here is the system i am building for my mate.

CPU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-306-AM

Mobo - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-358-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2058

RAM - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Cooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-026-SY&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

and 3 of these drives - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-097-SA

He doesnt want an SSD for some reason!, shown him how quick mine is when it turns on!.

So im after a PSU to go with this setup, can anyone reccomend?

Cheers

Nick
 
Hi mate, thats reallt weird that it turned out to be the PSU - sorry i didn't reply to the other postss, haven't been on for a while.

What kind of budget does your friend have. OcUK don't stock this but I have got this PSU: Seasonic X-460FL 460w.
Its completely fanless therefore silent. But obviously quite pricey because it has to be super efficient so lower the amount of heat produced.

Otherwise have a look at the:
Antec TruePower New Modular 550W
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W
Lepa N-Series 600W

They may sound overpowered but they are very good brands with good reps behind them. Also it seems that OcUK have stopped stocking low power PSUs.
 
npfman said:
And here is the system i am building for my mate.

CPU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-306-AM

Mobo - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-358-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2058

RAM - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Cooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-026-SY&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

and 3 of these drives - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-097-SA

He doesnt want an SSD for some reason!, shown him how quick mine is when it turns on!.

So im after a PSU to go with this setup, can anyone reccomend?

Cheers

Nick
Click to expand...

Hi,

If the review here is to be believed, the base setup you are looking at tops out at around 144W on heavy load. Add a couple of extra hard disks (+15W*2) and you get 174W. If you changed to a i3 2100T you would be looking at around 99W + extra drives. Your build is just outside the PicoPSU range unless the user is not going to be trying to do heavy gaming on the machine. Note a 15W draw for hard drives is a serious over estimation. Most 3.5" do 10W+ but rarely up to 15W (well maybe Velociraptors). Your green drives should be 10W or less. 2.5" WD Blacks tend to do 1/3 the 3.5" versions do in power and are just as fast. A 2.5" boot drive may be another alternative to the SSD and the WD Scorpio Blue (7.2k) can now be found in 1TB sizes.

A PicoPSU is an external brick and internal connection which gives MB power and power for a number of devices. They are used in car computers and small NAS, disk packs, HTPC ITX builds. They are also generally very efficent. They top out at around 150W. If you dont like the idea of a brick then you could put it in the case and modify a PCI slot plate to take the cord for the 3 pin plug to the wall socket. Just make sure it has some ventilation.

You didn't mention what case you were looking at or the used the person is going to use the PC for (HTPC I think is a given but anything else ?).

I must admit, this is the first time I have heard of a PSU not working with a motherboard and neither being regarded as faulty. Surely one or the other is not matching the international specs for PC components.

RB
 
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Hiya,

Cheers for the detailed replys again as always!, The HTPC for my friend will just be for XBMC, no games or anything, he basically wants my system (speed and quietness) with 6TB but he's a bit tight as well so wont let me get an SSD!


I suggested a 2.5" drive but still no so it looks like i am partitioning one of the 2TB!, I wanted to keep it AMD as its what I know but he wants to keep the costs down so i'll probably go for the Antec 550w, its weird OCUK have stopped selling the Corsair CX430 as it was very reasonably priced!. I have seen those PicoPSU's before they do look good but he wants AMD so it will have to be a big one, are they good with like the Zacate systems?

I'll be ordering it next week so i will let you know how it goes, Take 2 haha
 
npfman said:
I suggested a 2.5" drive but still no so it looks like i am partitioning one of the 2TB!, I wanted to keep it AMD as its what I know but he wants to keep the costs down so i'll probably go for the Antec 550w, its weird OCUK have stopped selling the Corsair CX430 as it was very reasonably priced!. I have seen those PicoPSU's before they do look good but he wants AMD so it will have to be a big one, are they good with like the Zacate systems?
Click to expand...

I have the Singapore distributors price list for Antec and the 430 is not on it so they could have dropped it. Smallest I can get is the HCG520. Not sure what is available over where you are though.

If you want AMD then why not the model above or below the one you spec'd as they are both 65W rather than 100W.

I hear the PicoPSUs are very good for small machines if you don't mind the brick. I will probably be getting some for the systems I am building for retail but they will be used mainly for disk packs and I will probably test with an ITX based machine to try and get a bit more space in the case for a 3.5" hdd which the case with the 150W PSU cannot accommodate.

RB
 
I will give the Antec TruePower New Modular 550W a go 1st because its the cheapest!, if it was upto me i would go for something a bit more expensive, but does anyone know how quiet these are? the Corsair CX430 i have is very quiet!

The TruePower New Modular 550W still retails at £54, i got the CX430 before for £29.99, i found this 400w PSU would this suffice as well?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-146-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1088


Also ive been trying to talk him around about a 2.5" drive for the operating system.
This is the cheapest on Overclockers how do you think this will fair in the above system?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-137-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896

Thanks again

Nick
 
RimBlock said:
I have the Singapore distributors price list for Antec and the 430 is not on it so they could have dropped it. Smallest I can get is the HCG520. Not sure what is available over where you are though.

If you want AMD then why not the model above or below the one you spec'd as they are both 65W rather than 100W.

I hear the PicoPSUs are very good for small machines if you don't mind the brick. I will probably be getting some for the systems I am building for retail but they will be used mainly for disk packs and I will probably test with an ITX based machine to try and get a bit more space in the case for a 3.5" hdd which the case with the 150W PSU cannot accommodate.

RB
Click to expand...

Which model above the A8-3850? I already have a A6-3650 i bought before and overclockers wont let me return it!
 
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