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This mainly is a just for fun build moving old pc parts into a htpc case. While the parts are old, they are still useful and can serve a purpose, just not high end gaming anymore. Forgive any poor images, i'm no photographer 
The case chosen is the Silverstone Milo ML03b case. Its low profile and fairly cheap and internal layout suits the parts im putting in better. Id have liked the case to have had a built in vfd in front of the hd cage, but I guess that's asking abit much. So my plan is to use the drive bay for a media bar as I don't need another dvd/blu ray player. It will be streaming content mainly from the network but will still have internal storage for whatever.
Parts going in are:-
Motherboard: Asrock 939a790gmh.
CPU: AMD S939 Opteron 180 (2400mhz x2).
Memory: 4x 1024 Corsair 3500LL PRO (Approx ddr 438)(2-3-2-6 2T).
Heatsink: Zalman 7000cu. (for its 92mm fan)
Cooling: 4x 80mm Zalman ZMF1 Plus fans.
Storage: 1 60gb Mushkin Chronos SSD, 1 1TB WD Green HD.
PSU: 600watt OCZ Stealth XStream (overkill but allows expansion later).
GFX: Onboard HD3300 (His 7750 Lowprofile card planned later).
Extra: Compro T200 DTV card.
5.25 Drive bay: Silverstone MFP51 media bar+remote. (iMON)
OS: Windows 8 64bit. Running Latest XBMC Frodo 12 (DSPlayer version with iMon support).
Finding the right cpu heatsink was a difficult part. It had to cool well, and I wanted some overclocking headroom. It had to fit under the metal bar, and most importantly, not collide with the memory slots. I wanted the scythe Shuriken cooler, but it would have collided with the first 2 slots as the memory is quite tall. Also, it had to be compatible with S939 retention bracket. The Zalman 7000Cu fits this description and just fits with maybe less then 1mm clearance.
As for the 4 cooling fans, I have fitted these as 4 exhaust and all are running on 7v to be less noisy. I didn't really want to use any fans at all, but its a cramped case and is going to need some air movement. I don't have to connect them all to power however. Ill likely just run 2 and the others are there if I need them. I tried as intakes, but the sound was horrific. They just didn't like sucking in through the case grille at all.
Fitting the PSU was as fiddly as expected. All those long cables, but I managed to hide most of the cables under the media bar and inside that mostly empty shell the media bar sits in. The humming of the psu fan is the noisiest part of this build.
Thankfully everything fitted nice and all that remains is for me to add a hd at some point at the front. There is still 4mm clearance between the cpu fan and the support bar. The TV Card has no low profile bracket so ill have to try and fashion one of out one of the case blank brackets.
Unfortunately, the media bar is Silver as I just could not track down a black one. It was a bargain price however, and I guess it doesn't look bad really. I just would have preferred matching black model. It also uses white leds as a backlight which looks fine if you look right at it, it will still appear blue, but from above or the sides the white leaks through and is quite bright.
The memory has activity leds which looks nice in my previous windowed case, but now unfortunately wont be viewable once the lid is on, so here is a shot of them before that happens.
Until I get a low profile gfx card, the onboard will have to do. The system is plenty fast enough to effortlessly stream 1080p media as it is, but I plan to use the 'His 7750' after some price drops to make it game capable. Ill get a finished picture of the case closed here at some point. All that remains is to comment on the included large fan filter. Its magnetic and idealy id like it inside the case above the cpu cooler, but it conflicts with the metal support bar, so its a case of one or the other. As long as not standing anything on top of the case, I think it will be ok to do without the bar.
The case chosen is the Silverstone Milo ML03b case. Its low profile and fairly cheap and internal layout suits the parts im putting in better. Id have liked the case to have had a built in vfd in front of the hd cage, but I guess that's asking abit much. So my plan is to use the drive bay for a media bar as I don't need another dvd/blu ray player. It will be streaming content mainly from the network but will still have internal storage for whatever.
Parts going in are:-
Motherboard: Asrock 939a790gmh.
CPU: AMD S939 Opteron 180 (2400mhz x2).
Memory: 4x 1024 Corsair 3500LL PRO (Approx ddr 438)(2-3-2-6 2T).
Heatsink: Zalman 7000cu. (for its 92mm fan)
Cooling: 4x 80mm Zalman ZMF1 Plus fans.
Storage: 1 60gb Mushkin Chronos SSD, 1 1TB WD Green HD.
PSU: 600watt OCZ Stealth XStream (overkill but allows expansion later).
GFX: Onboard HD3300 (His 7750 Lowprofile card planned later).
Extra: Compro T200 DTV card.
5.25 Drive bay: Silverstone MFP51 media bar+remote. (iMON)
OS: Windows 8 64bit. Running Latest XBMC Frodo 12 (DSPlayer version with iMon support).
Finding the right cpu heatsink was a difficult part. It had to cool well, and I wanted some overclocking headroom. It had to fit under the metal bar, and most importantly, not collide with the memory slots. I wanted the scythe Shuriken cooler, but it would have collided with the first 2 slots as the memory is quite tall. Also, it had to be compatible with S939 retention bracket. The Zalman 7000Cu fits this description and just fits with maybe less then 1mm clearance.
As for the 4 cooling fans, I have fitted these as 4 exhaust and all are running on 7v to be less noisy. I didn't really want to use any fans at all, but its a cramped case and is going to need some air movement. I don't have to connect them all to power however. Ill likely just run 2 and the others are there if I need them. I tried as intakes, but the sound was horrific. They just didn't like sucking in through the case grille at all.
Fitting the PSU was as fiddly as expected. All those long cables, but I managed to hide most of the cables under the media bar and inside that mostly empty shell the media bar sits in. The humming of the psu fan is the noisiest part of this build.
Thankfully everything fitted nice and all that remains is for me to add a hd at some point at the front. There is still 4mm clearance between the cpu fan and the support bar. The TV Card has no low profile bracket so ill have to try and fashion one of out one of the case blank brackets.
Unfortunately, the media bar is Silver as I just could not track down a black one. It was a bargain price however, and I guess it doesn't look bad really. I just would have preferred matching black model. It also uses white leds as a backlight which looks fine if you look right at it, it will still appear blue, but from above or the sides the white leaks through and is quite bright.
The memory has activity leds which looks nice in my previous windowed case, but now unfortunately wont be viewable once the lid is on, so here is a shot of them before that happens.
Until I get a low profile gfx card, the onboard will have to do. The system is plenty fast enough to effortlessly stream 1080p media as it is, but I plan to use the 'His 7750' after some price drops to make it game capable. Ill get a finished picture of the case closed here at some point. All that remains is to comment on the included large fan filter. Its magnetic and idealy id like it inside the case above the cpu cooler, but it conflicts with the metal support bar, so its a case of one or the other. As long as not standing anything on top of the case, I think it will be ok to do without the bar.
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