HTPC Build =)

Bezzaboy1234 · 9 May 2012 at 22:18

Hello everyone!,

So after a few motherboard issues (P67 1st gen died) that sidetracked me from my HTPC, I have had some time to put some ideas down and start a quick build!.

Parts:
Motherboard: AMD AM3 M4N68T-M - Collected from old builds
CPU: AMD Athlon™ II X3 460 3.4GHZ - Collected from old builds
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling 64 GT - £5
RAM: 2x2GB G.skill Ripjaw 1600MHZ - Collected from old builds
PSU: 300W BeQueit 300W SFX PSU - Matt black - £38
Case: CiT S010BA Media Slim M-ATX case - £40

Total cost: £83 BARGAIN

UPDATE:
HDD's Have been updated,
Sharkoon 6 bay: 6 x 1TB Samsung drives 5400RPM
3.5" bay: Hitatchi Desktar 6GB/s 4TB 7200RPM

Bezzaboy1234 · 10 May 2012 at 11:29

Okay, so firstly I had to remove the PSU built into the case I managed to get, As it was one of those unbranded PSU's which was about 110w

Now as the ATX PSU doesn't fit, I have to find somewhere else to relocate it, as it wont fit led down in place of the old M-ATX PSU, Or standing up clearly!

Bezzaboy1234 · 10 May 2012 at 11:37

Got the board, Ram, and HDD installed in a matter of minutes, (the 2.5" hitatchi is mounted on an OCZ 3.5-2.5 SSD bracket I kept when my SSD broke)

Bezzaboy1234 · 10 May 2012 at 11:39

Now that its all installed, I had the PSU sliding about so mounted it on the side and bottom with Velcro,

The problem I face is that I cannot get the case lid on as the PSU connector is on the side =/

Bezzaboy1234 · 10 May 2012 at 11:41

Will be putting in my 750GB samsung drive in their shortly to test XMBC over the LAN, Now that I have WHS 2011 I really don't see the point in using it and might go back to W7 or linux perhaps, However I do like the neat dashboard setup and the website access is very handy!

cokecan · 10 May 2012 at 12:59

That case looks very much like an old P2 system I aquired many years ago from a school that were chucking them out. It made a very good shell to house a triple rad and some other bits of watercooling/overclocking

will you be upgrading the case at any point?

WHS is probably more suited to sitting on a headless machine serving up files rather than being the main OS for playback of files. I would highly recommend XBMC (it will probably install in WHS actually)

Bezzaboy1234 · 10 May 2012 at 13:56

Yeah it was from my old school, It says in the description up top that I am looking to move it into a Vision media centre PC case by a competitor, Just unsure of the PSU if 250Watt's will suffice, Any ideas on a decent M-ATX case are more than welcome.

Yeaht thats what I was thinking, XMBC was the first thing that I was going to install, Seems to work on WHS from what I can tell, but i'll find out later on =P

cokecan · 10 May 2012 at 17:23

I've got a Pico PSU in my current HTPC (Streacom FC8, mini-ITX case). I'd recommend them to anyone who is after a low power/silent PSU. I guess for the Vision media centre PC case I'd be looking at something with a 80+ rating to make sure it's reasonably low power/efficient. I'm afraid I can't really recommend any to you that might fit though

Bezzaboy1234 · 10 May 2012 at 20:04

Most people say get a be quiet 300/400w, But they are fairly expensive for what they are, the 300w is about £50, Which is a fair chunk seeing as the Vision case comes with the 250w built in, Hopefully it will be enough, I'm dead set on it now, Unless I can find something similar with a larger psu or something better looking =)

Bezzaboy1234 · 12 May 2012 at 11:59

Another update, After actually thinking where I could possibly fit the Vision media case, It turns out there really isn't any room for it, So the case would be on the floor a good few months maybe even a year or so, so may have to re-think that, Have been looking at this;

CiT S010BA, Some mixed reviews more bad than good, Too me it looks perfect for what I need, I'd take the speakers built in out and the PSU would be adequate till I could get a new one,

Bezzaboy1234 · 20 May 2012 at 19:34

Just found another 450w corsair PSU lying around in my loft with a 9800GT, Sold em off so will be getting the cash for them sometime this week, just forked out 80 quid for a H100 but will be getting the CiT S010BA case from a competitor (OCUK cases of the slim M-ATX style are damned expensive + all the HTPC cases bar the the OCUK media case) As soon as I can

I will do a really thorough look at it for anyone interested

, hopefully it will be as good as it looks from pc_monkey's review

Bezzaboy1234 · 24 May 2012 at 19:32

Anyone out there reckon I can get at least £130 for The Athlon II X3 + HSF and the M4N68T-M V2

If not possibly those two and a Low profile Saphire 5770 as well?

If I can then i'll chuck it on the fleebay and hopefully pre-order one of these:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18406992

along with this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-499-AS&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2230

Surely the built in graphics on that E-450 can power XMBC at 1080p on MKV's and possibly some light mine craft and other small games?

If not then hopefully I might mod the BitFenix to fit the M-ATX board, Wish they'd have done a M-ATX and ITX set of cases

Ta

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 13:24

Yay update time

,

So I managed to grab a new case finally, and I have to say I am surprised no-one else is using it!

Aside from the SFX PSU, this thing is great! Pictures will follow shortly

Case model: CiT S010BA Slim Micro ATX case.

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 13:56

Box

Overall I have to say for the price it really does a smashing job, I have spent a fair amount of time looking for something this slim and there really is nothing that fits M-ATX form factor as well as this, Lian Li do a great job with ITX, but I needed more power than the E450/350 chip and a 1155 ITX board/chip combo is fairly expensive so I'm sticking to M-ATX.

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 13:58

The front of the case has a nice flap which houses the headphone/mic USB and card reader which is a nice touch. It also apparently has built in speakers which I don't think I would ever use but might be useful to someone, It also has a nice LED light in it which looks pretty neat

.

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 14:04

Cracking on with the build:

Inside the case

From above

Removable HDD/CD Drive tray

Now as you can see in the above view shot the PSU has some sort of extension lead which allows you to mount the PSU at the top in that position which is handy, I would have preffered to be able to use an ATX PSU as this one is awfully noisy! It has to be replaced. I'm debating whether it would be better to simply remove the Fan and replace it with another small fan and have it controlled by the motherboard perhaps, or strip the wires into a 2-pin connector.

extension lead

Where the lead comes out in the case, and a 80mm pretty quiet PC fan is included.

Included PSU.

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 14:11

Below is the front panel removed, at the top with the Green PC is the SD card reader, two USB and headphone/mic connections and a tiny button that I believe is the reset button, Just below it is the sort of blue flame LED light. to the far right is the On/Off switch and the HDD LED activity lights are below. Under the black plastic pieces are the speakers they include which I have not tested.

Front of the case sideways.

Moherboard and CPU/RAM installed with the fantastic Arctic cooling Alpine GT 64 cooler, £5 this costs and it is dead silent. almost completely inaudible even when this PC is under load which is very rare. (All the parts are listed in the original post up top

)

Difficult to cable manage all of these cables, I may remove the SD card connection as I will barely ever put it to good use.

The molex connection is I believe for the LED light and possibly the speakers.

as you can see there is ample room to put cables underneath the provided HDD cage, I have carefully slotted a 3.5" WD that fits fine under there with all the cables, However I am still moving files about on both the WD drives so they aren't going in just yet, I will however put them in the 3.5" /5.25" bay where I have velcroed the 2.5" in for the time being shown below.

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 14:12

Old fugly case!

Nice new build complete

Bezzaboy1234 · 19 Jun 2012 at 14:21

Another thing about the case you might be wondering is how the PSU stays up there, It is screwed in as you might make out from the picture at the top by removing these small cllip pieces on the grill at the top, also the big hole at the top of the picture is actually a small carrying handle which is nice

Case shots with the build complete:

Also as you may see in other photo's there is an included stand that helps it stand upright.
It also includes nice motherboard standoffs and screws to fit everything, as well as screws to screw in the stand if you so wish.

My final conclusion:

Pros:
- Small
- Light weight
- Good design
- Good airflow with grills either side/at the top and front
- Cheap
- Good styling
- Discrete CD/DVD drive
- Room for at least 2 3.5" and 2 2.5" drives (with some slight modification)
-
- Lots of handy features/perks

Cons:
- Cheapo power supply (what can you expect for this price?)
- Matt finish would have been nicer, but again the shiny gloss finish isn't noticeable if you shove it in a drawer or on a shelf
- PSU form factor is M-ATX (I don't like, Not enough manufacturers making good affordable replacements)

My own personal minor niggles:

- really don't like the power on button, Not to my taste
- Material its made of, that cheap aluminium stuff that most small form factor cases are made from, It does make it light weight but it won't take much of a beating.
- PSU included is just too noisy. Wasn't expecting much out of it to begin with

Bluntwrapped · 20 Jun 2012 at 11:54

Nice build

With the exception of the case (it looks horrific IMO - sorry!) could always put it in a cabinet I suppose