ITX HTPC on a budget

yeah its pretty tidy.. im not liking the 60mm fan though, its way too loud.

might try and retro fit a spare 80mm ive got kicking around in my drawer.
 
Nice pix BTW...

The Fractal fan that is described as

• Multi-purpose cooling fan
• Supplied with rubber fan mounts
• 19.0 dB(A) / 3000 RPM / 16.0 CFM
• Great value for money

Was about to buy two of those for my main rig for a small space that needs airflow... noisy then even tho rated at 19db?
 
Nice pix BTW...

The Fractal fan that is described as

• Multi-purpose cooling fan
• Supplied with rubber fan mounts
• 19.0 dB(A) / 3000 RPM / 16.0 CFM
• Great value for money

Was about to buy two of those for my main rig for a small space that needs airflow... noisy then even tho rated at 19db?

studies show that computer fan specifications are complete lies 100% of the time. :p

As an aside, i'm considering an extremely similar build in the next few days, but with a E5500, 2GB of ram and i'll stick with the nVidia 9300 on the board.

just worried about the heatsink issue you've described. i also read on another forum that the intel stock heatsink doesn't fit because of the Caps on the board? i'm looking to make this quite a budget build so i'm hoping to be able to use the stock HSF

Oh, Neil, if you're looking for a nice quiet 60mm fan, you could do a lot worse than an Akasa Amber 60mm
 
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Whats the PSU noise like on that case? CIT tend to use crappy PSUs... so would be interested to know...

I purchased a CIT MTX-004B ITX Case, the first one arrirved and it was badly scratched, the supplier replaced it and the second, although not as bad still had scratches on it. The build quality was absolutely appalling and the PSU fan is one one the noisiest fans I have ever heard. On this particular case the fan blows through the bottom of the case when it is horizontal which amplifies the noise even more , it is also a 80mm * 10mm fan so it's difficult to replace.

I'd never buy a CIT case again, poor quality and poor design
 
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I purchased a CIT MTX-004B ITX Case, the first one arrirved and it was badly scratched, the supplier replaced it and the second, although not as bad still had scratches on it. The build quality was absolutely appalling and the PSU fan is one one the nosiest fans I have ever heard. On this particular case the fan blows through the bottom of the case when it is horizontal which amplifies the noise even more , it is also a 80mm * 10mm fan so it's difficult to replace.

I'd never buy a CIT case again, poor quality and poor design

as i mentioned previously concidering i normally go for good cases like lian li im pleasantly surprised by the quality of this case. with this PSU the fan draws air from next to the CPU and blow out of the rear of the case.

in this instance the 60mm fractal is definately louder than the PSU.

Aod said:
just worried about the heatsink issue you've described. i also read on another forum that the intel stock heatsink doesn't fit because of the Caps on the board? i'm looking to make this quite a budget build so i'm hoping to be able to use the stock HSF

Oh, Neil, if you're looking for a nice quiet 60mm fan, you could do a lot worse than an Akasa Amber 60mm

to be honest i HATE the standard intel HSF. i was going to (in the interest of budget) use it here but i found the stupid push pin setup was severely bending the board when trying to push the 3rd pin in. so it went in the bin.

i use the same board in my desktop, if you have a little more clearance above the CPU i used a HSF with heatpipe and overhead fins (see - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18096877 ). look out for items such as the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 which fouls the northbridge HS.

i'll check out that fan, thanks for the heads up :)
 
How is your custom HTPC running in comparison to the R3610?

How does it cope with the various video files with different frame rates etc.
 
tried to change the thread title but not sure it worked, not really a budget HTPC anymore..

just ordered:

Silverstone Milo ML03B
Silverstone ST50F-P 500W Strider Silent Modular
Alpenföhn Panorama 775 Cooler

Pics to follow once parts arrive.
 
RE fans... The Akasa Ambers are OK but I found them still quite loud, especially in 60mm form.

Best fans I've found by far are the 60mm Dust Proof AcoustiFans. I have 2 of them in my small file server/download box that sits ontop of my desk. They're set to about 30% in the bios and I can't hear them over the sound of the hard drives (WD greens). It's in a small metal home made case that doesnt have much airflow with 2 HDD's and a 1.6ghz pentium M, but they keep it all ticking over nicely with temps around 45-55 degrees usually. Only downside is that they cost £15 a piece! :(
 
the silverstone has fallen through, 20th April for stock.. :eek:

anyway ordered a lian li pc-c37b which hopefully should arrive tomorrow.
 
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