ECO-1: HTPC/Home Server build log [Minuet 350]

This has got to be the most indepth log I've ever seen, do you spend more time buiding or taking photos and writing? :p The tie fighter pic did get a grin from me though!

As for the "vertically challenged" heat sink problem, if you've got the space for them to spread out a bit then I suggest looking at the Zalman coolers, they seem to be popular with the Sugo crowd and thats got a similar height issue. On the passive side there's also the Silverstone NT-01 lite, but that rely depends on your airflow.

Have you thought about doing the good old fasioned bungie mod to solve your drive mounting problem?

PK!
 
wow! that's a pretty good clock on that chip! i mean lowest volts and yet boosted it by pretty much 500MHz :) good going, what temps with that? and love the star wars pic :D hehe
 
Shame you haven't got much height in your case as the Thermaltake TMG cooler I am using gives slightly better temps than the Intel stock cooler but runs incredibly slow under PWM controls.

Just for basic usage it spins at around 300rpm and goes all the way up to 2000rpm. For my prime sessions though (basically the hottest it will ever get) it peaked at just over 1000rpm.

Shame that its just over 100mm high -

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Cooler/TMG/CL-P0372/cl-p0372.asp
 
multidrivestation8fo7.jpg


I dunno, that Multi-Drive Station has kept me amused for hours, hold it a certain angle and it looks like a Tie-Fighter launch pad, look at it from another direction and its a Jawa Dune Crawler! :D

It's something I been looking at for the past day or two to try and figure a way to attach this laptop disk which along with another couple of gotchas has brought my build to a complete halt! I know quite a few people would have just shoved it somwhere and cracked on but stuff like that bugs the heck out of me so I been trying to source various 3.5" to 2.5" converters to see if any of them are compatible. I have considered different Ghetto methods including suspension but its very tricky as this case is designed for things to be in a certain place, once you try to change the natural Minuet order of things you run into trouble (things colliding where previously they would have missed by 2mm etc).

I'm also in the process of RMA'ing the Minuet 350 for a direct replacement because the fan in the power supply is giving off an audible *buzz* which I can hear from about 10foot away, easily the loudest sound coming from the machine atm so thats not good. In some respects I want to get huffy and annoyed but actually I'm fine, just have to be patient when things don't go to plan and normally it all comes good in the end! Of course I am expecting the replacement to work just fine, if that start buzzing then I may have to reconsider my plans. To be fair I am giving Antec the benefit of the doubt, some hardware just doesn't work proper no matter who its made by, the odd clanger somehow seems to sneak through qualty checking (i've run out of fingers to count how many DOA hardware items I received in the past!).

I can see lots of flaws in my planning and the way I have executed my build, I would have been happier if I had first installed the motherboard in a full atx tower and got to take it for a spin and sus ut out, as it stands I've had about 10-15mins in the P5K-VM's BIOS and I'm still unfamilar with it. I also didn't actually decide what O/S I am gonna install yet? Looks like it will probably be MCE2005 as I've used it before but I am in the process of using nLite to make me a new installation disk containing AHCI drivers as I don't have a floppy installed etc. Lots of little things which I didn't even think about, ah well you live and learn!

Anyway despite a few setbacks I am keen to get this build complete and I've got plenty of other projects to play with over the weekend so thats kinda groovy (hopefully they go smoothly!).

I just thought I would include some more pictures that show how to mount two regular 3.5" hard disks into the Minuet 350 as some of you may actually pick one up for your own SFF build. With 1TB disks slowly dropping in price it will soon be possible to own a pair of them and slap both into a uATX chassis like the minuet 350. The thought of cramming approx 2000GB of data storage into this chassis is surely gonna appeal to one of you for use as a media server or suchlike?

multidrivestationko7.jpg


Anyway as you can see there is space for one 3.5" disk beneath the Optical drive (which I've covered already) and the second 3.5" fits into the external 3.5" bay (obviously this means you cant use the bay for a 3.5" external devices like a floppy disk or card reader etc). If you do install both disks then you must install the upper one first as one of the screwholes to secure it will be covered by the lower drive.

I will take a picture tommorrow showing how you remove the multidrive station as I haven't already but its a neat design that just pulls back then tips up to a right angle and lift . . .its out. This has to be done anytime you want to adjust/add/change a drive which is a tiny pain but nothing to bad, just means you have to unlpug the data and power cables to all the drives.

Once the Multidrive is out you just slide the first 3.5" disk into the upper slot (from inside or out) and secure it using screw holes underneath the drive. I tried a 3.5" drive at different positions (slightly more forward or backward) and the most screws you can attach from underneath is two. even with just two screws the drive was held very firmly in place so no worries there.

It's probably worth nothing that the screw holes underneath are the only one provided for securing any external 3.5" devices. If you have plans to fix something into this upper drive bay and it requires screws installed from the side then your stuffed!

multidrivestation1dx5.jpg


multidrivestation2qt6.jpg


Ok so thats the upper 3.5" drive installed then you can install the lower one as I have explained previously. I managed to get my camera to focus correctly so you can see the two prongs that hold one side of the lower drive, just insert the drive at a slight angle so that the two prong go nto the two holes on the side of the disk, then squeeze the disk downwards and use two screws on the other side to hold it securely in place. Upon closer inspection I found a third screwhole on the same side as the two prongs, I don't think you really need this but if you want extra peace of mind then it won't do any harm to use the third screw.

Lastly I'm not sure if I covered optical drive installation but it pretty simple as it just slides in from the front of the multidrive station and is secured in place using two screws. Make sure you install the Optical drive before the lower hard drive otherwise you wont have access to one of the screw holes you need to keep the Optical secured.

multidrivestation3sv1.jpg


multidrivestation4jn5.jpg


multidrivestation5nk3.jpg


multidrivestation6md5.jpg


multidrivestation7jr3.jpg
 
gt_junkie said:
Wonder if something like a thermalright SI-128 could cool it passively? There might be room for something like that.

gt
Click to expand...

Would be interesting to know, my first guess would be that it would probably cope around 1.6-1.8GHz at 1.1vcore but anything over 2GHz may be pushing it.

I did try a while back priming my E2160 at 1.8GHz/1.1vcore with a Freezer7 without the fan plugged in, in my opinion that was probably the top limit of the heatsink's passive abilities.

I am not sure how a SI-128 compares to a Freezer7?

Also you have to factor in that I was testing in the middle of December, when the summer comes (if we get any in the UK lol) then that will add to the temps too.

I guess it all comes down too how good the temps are in the case and what airflow you have blowing over the components.
 
WRT mounting the 2.5" drive, could you bungee mount it but do it in an X shape (rather than parallel) to take into account the smaller size of the drive?
 
Looks interesting this - I'd like to hear your opinions on the aesthetics, noise levels aznd power requirements when you have finished :)

Have you chosen your software and operating system yet?
 
If you still struggling to mount the two 2.5" drives wouldnt one of these work? "Dual 2.5" to 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Mounting Plate" (google it) would only take up one of the 3.5" bays that way.
 
thanks for the reply Big.Wayne, seems a nice digital camera

when you have the system all up and running it would be nice to know how much wattage
the system uses. i just got my self a eco power meter plug that tells you what wattage
is being used. you can find them pretty cheap on the bay.

my old media pc uses

idle = 80w
load - 110w to 115w

im guessing my new media build will be around 60w to 80w but who knows until ive got it up n running
 
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thanks a lot for the interest in the project, obviously quite a few of you have had ideas for low powered builds yourself so it's a pleasure to share my findings with you!

Just revving up the engine to make a push on this project, the new RMA'd Minuet is back so I guess I'd better make a plan . . .


  • Volume One
  • Unbox Minuet 350 and test PSU (listen for noise)
  • Rebuild ECO-1 (don't fuss to much over cabling at this stage)
  • Use nLite to slipstream AHCI drivers for MCE2005
  • Install O/S and then backup, followed by driver installation
  • Take and Publish Photos
  • Measure the idle/load powerdraw of the system
  • Evaluate Stock INTEL cooler and Identify Low-Profile Replacement if needed.
  • Introduce Discreet GPU (photos and details for forum post)
  • Test GPU with Video Playback and Gaming (also Thermal/Powerdraw report)
  • Introduce Dual-Channel DVB-T Card (photos and details for forum post)
  • Test DVB-T card (also Thermal/Powerdraw report)
  • Introduce Removable eSata Storage (photos and details for forum post)
  • Test SATA2/AHCI *Hot-Swap*
  • Tidy Cables and tweak Chassis as and where it is needed
  • Powerdraw Analysis
  • Thermal Analysis
  • Sound Analysis
  • Conclusion Volume One

Special Mention: armed_gorilla: That "Dual 2.5" to 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Mounting Plate" is exactly what I have been after, many thanks for the heads up . . . . ordered! :cool:
 
Absolutly great! What a build log this is. Definatly one of my favs. 10 stars.

Glad your been patient with the build and looking into hardware before buying.
More More More!
 
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