Mighty Mini-ITX HTPC Build

[Total-Game]

Just finished my latest build using the BM648 and Zotac 9300 ITX Motherboard that have recently been added to OCUK. It replaces a Dell Inspiron 530s that is now going to my brother at university. I made sure to snap some pictures of the build as I am confident that this combo will become very popular.

Complete Spec:
In-Win BM648 Case with 120W Power Supply
Intel E5200
Zotac 9300-ITX WiFi
4GB 800MHz OCZ RAM
1TB WD Green Power Drive
LG Blu-Ray \ HD-DVD Drive
WinFast PxDVR3200H TV Card
Vista Home Premium 32 Bit

A shot of all the components for the build; plus a few Blu-Ray movies to get my collection started.

Contents of the Zotac motherboard box.

Closeup of the board with the CPU and optional WiFi board installed.

I took it apart again today because the temps were slightly worrying; I found out why when I took off the Zotac heatsink. Far too much paste.

Cleaned that all off and applied a thin layer of MX-2, brought the load temperatures down to an acceptable level.

All of the motherboard components installed. I highly recommend plugging in the SATA cables before installing the PCI card, its a bit difficult to get your fingers in afterward. For importantly, make sure that the front panel audio is hooked up as well, the connector is squeezed between the WiFi and PCI card.

Here is the BM648 case. I have installed the 3.5 hard disk at the bottom of the case in the detachable hard disk cage. Makes installing it very easy. I also took the liberty of replacing the top fan as well.

Here is the complete build installed into the case. I have tried to tidy up the cables as best I can; a little difficult with the limited space. The TV card just about fits.

Here is the BM648 next to the Dell 530s (slimline mATX) and an Akasa Eclipse.

Side comparison between the BM648 and Dell 530s (did not want to pull the Akasa out )

Final shot of it's new home; my desk.

Things to note:

• The case is very well thought out, most of the panels are detachable and there are a number of small aspects which greatly assist installation. For example, over the PCI brackets there is a little hinged section which gives you a few centimetres of room when installing the cards. Without this, there would have been absolutely no way that the TV card would have gone in.
• The case does take a full 5.25" optical drive, but it severely limits the headroom for the CPU cooler. The stock low profile Intel cooler that shipped with E5200 fits perfectly, but the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Low Profile that I tried was too tall.
• Despite the PSU having a small 40mm fan, it is barely audible compared to the stock Intel CPU cooler. I had heard that the stock 80mm case fan was noisy, which I why I replaced it during the build.

Final Stats:

Temperatures:

• Stock Paste
  With stock paste on the CPU and GPU, both topped out at just over 70 degrees. The CPU idled at about 40 degrees and the GPU at roughly 55 degrees
• MX-2 Paste and Cable Tidy
  With my reapplication of MX-2 to both the CPU and GPU, the CPU still idles at around 40 degrees, but the GPU has decreased to 50 degrees. More importantly, the load temperatures have improved dramatically. I struggle to get either to push past the 60 degree mark.
• Hard Disk
  The hard disk temperature is fairly constant at around 35 - 40 degrees.

CPU Usage:
When using Media Center or playing a Blu-Ray, the CPU rarely goes above 20% utilisation.

Power Usage:
~50W idle, ~60W when playing a Blu-Ray and tops out at ~80W when first booting up.

Noise
The Intel cooler does start to spin up when watching a Blu-Ray and it can become noticeable, but it is nowhere near as bad as the Dell 530s.

If you have any questions, just ask.

 

[Total-Game]

Thanks for all the comments. I am really pleased with the build.

How does the onboard graphics compare to a dedicated card such as a low profile version of a ATi 3450?

I did find some benchmarks using 3DMark05/06 which put the 9300 IGP slightly above the discrete 3450 256MB. In terms of actual usage, the 9300 IGP has absolutely no trouble with Blu-ray and other high-def video. I have not tried out any games on it yet, but I should imagine that it will fair very well for an IGP.

If a dedicated graphics card is a better solution is there enough power to run one from the 120watt PSU included with the case?

I think that most low profile graphics card are not going to give much of an improvement (if any) over the IGP.

is it a better solution to use the onboard graphics and upgrade the RAM from 2GB - 4GB even though Vista x86 can only use 3.5GB max.

I put 4GB in my build just to future proof it a little. By default, the 9300 IGP uses 256MB of memory, but I think it can be increased to 512MB in the BIOS.

is it possible to get a mini-ninja scythe cpu fan in there?

No chance. The whole case is only 110mm wide and the mini-ninja is 115mm tall. If you are making use of the 5.25" drive bay, then the only CPU coolers that will fit seem to be the stock low profile Intel cooler and the Silverstone NT07-775. If you removed the 5.25" drive bay harness completely, you might be able to install a cooler which was about 80mm high.

EDIT: second Q. If you didnt install a DVD writer could you have 2x 3.5" HDD (one in the dvd bay) and 1 x 2.5" HDD?

Yup. You can have either of:

1 x Full Size 5.25" Drive
1 x 3.5" Drive
1 x 2.5" Drive

-OR-

1 x Slim 5.25" Drive
2 x 3.5" Drive (One Internal, One External)
1 x 2.5" Drive

The blanking plates and harness for both of these are included in the box. Unfortunately the box does not include a full drive bay cover, so if you are not using a 5.25" drive, you will have to live with a hole in the front.

 

[Total-Game]

I'm not sure but the Scythe SHURIKEN may well be small enough. Well at least I hope it will

The bad news is it will not fit if you want to use a full size 5.25" drive.

I tried the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Low Profile, which is 53mm tall (Shuriken is 63mm). It would not fit with the 5.25" drive which I why I resorted to using the stock Intel cooler. I do not know exactly how tall that is, but I would guess in the region of 45mm. I am going to be having a look for a different cooler, the stock Intel isn't exactly the quietest thing in the world.

Just curious why you went with 32bit Vista opposed to 64bit when you have 4Gb of RAM?

Mainly because of the TV card. I tried a number of different TV cards in my 64bit machine, but most still have underlying driver problems. I thought I would save myself some hassle by sticking with 32bit for the time being.

That and the extra memory is probably beneficial in getting the most out of the IGP.

Nice, how much did this set you back?

I think the total was in the region of £530 (without including the TV card, which was left over from a previous build).

 

[Total-Game]

Did you ever consider this motherboard? That would mean going AMD.

http://www.jwele.com/motherboard_detail.php?419

I didn't realise it was AMD cpu yesterday lol, its cheaper, found it at £95 but that would mean I would need to buy a new cpu, so i guess the zotac is the only option really?

I did consider it; along with the Intel DG45FC and Zotac 8200 WiFi. I wanted to minimise power usage and temperatures; but was looking for a board which could play Blu-Ray with a native HDMI port and at least a PCIe x1 slot (for the TV card). Although AMD have a range of energy efficient processors specifically designed for HTPC builds, they still use more operational power than the likes of an E5200. As such, I was really wanted a board for Intel processors.

AMD Processors

MINIX 780G-SP128MB
It is a very nice motherboard and well featured. However, the chipset is relatively power hungry and the heatsink is not quite up to the task. Newer boards ship with an additional fan attachement to keep the temperatures reasonable in cases with poor airflow (virtually every ITX case there is). It is also stuck with using SODIMM memory to save board space.

Zotac 8200
The Zotac 8200 is pretty good, very close to the 780G in terms of performance. Unfortunately, the board does not have a native HDMI port and I could not find anywhere that had stock of this board.

Intel Processors

Intel DG45FC
The Intel 'Flycreek' is a very nice board, had a hard time choosing between this and the 9300. It scores very well in image quality tests, but the CPU utilisation is relatively high when playing back Blu-Ray (although it should still be able to play movies without any stuttering or slowdown).

Zotac 9300
The Zotac 9300 has everything going for it; the combination of the Intel processor and new chipset is very power efficient. Although the power usage is usually a few watts more than the Intel board, due to the significanly lower CPU utilisation during Blu-Ray playback, you can expect lower tempertures and power usage while watching. It is slightly more expensive than the Intel board, but only by roughly £20.

looks very nice Total-Game, out of interest, what applications have you got running on it? Is the machine mainly for playing media? will you be running anything like media portal on it?

The machine is mainly for playing media, particularly Blu-Ray movies. It also acts as my PVR box, which I why I was so intent to minimising power usage and temperatures; it will be on 24/7. It is currently just running Vista Media Centre, with all the media stored in the shared public directory to enable access from any PC on the network.

Total, is it the drive depth or length that is the issue as I have a stubby DVD writer spare.

Both as it were. The depth of the drive only gives around 50mm of space above the motherboard, the bottom of the drive is not far above the motherboard backplate. Although the LG drive is longer than a normal DVD drive, it completely covers the CPU cooler. Even the shortest of DVD drives is going to cover about half.

 

[Total-Game]

Have you connected this up via HDMI to a LCD tv? I'd be interested to know if the 2 handshake properly and you get a picture from it every time?

I have it hooked up to a 24" monitor, a BenQ FP241W. No problems so far.

Would it be possible to use a Q8200 with this case; considering the cooling and noise with Intel's stock cooler?

Also if I were to use a slimline laptop optical drive what good CPU cooler for Q8200 would fit?

The Q8200 is a pretty nice chip. I have seen a build in this case using E8x00 dual cores, which are not any different in terms of power or heat. As gt says, there should be no problems.

The Intel stock cooler is fairly decent, it only gets noisy in my build when the temperatures start to climb during prolonged viewing. It is worth trying out the stock cooler first, especially if you are using a full size 5.25" drive.

If you do use a slimline optical drive, then I should imagine that the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Low Profile that I tried would fit. It was a tight fit on my motherboard and too tall for the full size 5.25" drive bay by a good few millimetres.

Biggest impact to temps i've seem relate to incoming cool air. Initially i tried the side fan as an exhaust but temps were uncontrollable. Keeping it as an intake sorted it but make sure to use a filter of some kind or the case will fill with dust.

Really? I currently have the fan as an exhaust. If I try it the other way round, maybe I can reduce the noise from the cooler during prolonged load.

Great looking build

Thanks!

 

[Total-Game]

Check this case out, you get 120w power supply and better looking in my opinion.
I wonder if there is enough space for a low profile after market cooler.

That's a competitor link, I suggest that you remove it.

The Compucase 8K01 is alright, but it has no option for a full size 5.25" drive, no PCI expansion slots and does not offer any extra headroom for the CPU cooler. It does not really compare with the BM648, which manages to offer a much greater level of flexibility in a package which is only slightly larger.

That said, the choice is entirely dependant on what you want to achieve. For my build, I needed a low profile PCI slot for a TV card. Plus the fact that a full size 5.25" Blu-Ray drive is about £100 cheaper than a similar slim version.

 

[Total-Game]

Sorry for the delay, been busy getting a final year dissertation together for the deadline this week.

Am I right in saying the Zotac wouldn't take a pci card such as a X-Fi Gamer soundcard?

Correct. The Zotac has a PCI-Express x16 slot, so it would only be able to take sound cards like the Asus Xonar DX and the Auzentech X-Fi Forte.

If you already have a PCI sound card then you may want to look elsewhere. The Intel DG45FC has a PCI-Express x1, so you would not be able to use that either. If you are willing to use an AMD processor, then I believe Jetway make some boards using the 780G and 8200 chipsets that have a normal PCI slot. If you do not need hi-def decoding, then the Atom boards are always an option.

Also how would a build like this compare to a 780G+4850e in terms of power consumption and across the board performance?

The power comsuption of the 4850e / 780G is going to be a fair bit higher than that of the E5200 / 9300, mainly due to the AMD processor being more power hungry than the Intel under actual use. Performance of both is fairly similar, although the 9300 scores much better in image quality and media benchmarks. I think the 780G still offers better all round performance (general tasks, gaming and meda) and is still a sound choice.

As my main usage is going to be media and I wanted to minimise power usage; the E5200 / 9300 was the choice for me.

comapring the dimensions of mine and your artic cooler that didn't fit, it would seem that my zalmans 20mm extra in heigt is going to be a showstopper? Is that right? Would it fit if I didn't run a DVD drive?

I am afraid that it will not fit. The only coolers that I have seen that will fit are the low profile stock Intel, the Silverstone NT07-775 and the Akasa that you have found. There are also a few 1U coolers designed for servers, although most of these do not look like they would fit on my motherboard. If you find anymore, let us know. Be good to have a list of all the possible heatsinks that people can use.

In the blurb it says something about only supporting cpu's upto 65W, my e6300 at stock will run ok?

I believe that the TDP for the E6300 is 65W, so it should be fine.

 

[Total-Game]

hyper 80mm fan - this is the one you used isn't it? I had to guess from the picture as you didn't list it

Oops, that was something I missed. Apologies. It was a clear 'HiperFlow' 80mm by Hiper. Model number was HFF-1N08N.

Total-Game - do you mind if I make a post with pics of my build in your thread? I'm just thinking that it won't deserve its own thread, and will add info for people, mainly on the E6300 with the Akasa cooler.

Don't mind at all, go right ahead.

So leaving out the optical drive would allow for a bigger cooler...

I personally dont see the need to have an optical drive in my htpc.. I can either hook one up for OS install, or use my external usb dvd...and content I have on dvd, I can rip them and use lan conneciton to stream/copy from another pc... I hardly use optical drives these days...

I have seen smaller cases without optical drive bay, but the bigges issue for me is getting a decnet cooler and good airflow, especially in a living room environment which always tends tobe warm and cosy...

If completely remove the optical drive bay harness, then there should be more room to work with. However, the harness does add quite a bit of strength to the case, so you may have to be a little careful when moving it about.

Bear in mind that the case is only 110mm wide externally, so you are still limited to coolers that are no more than approximately 90mm tall.

 

[Total-Game]

oh and I should mention now!!!!! that the case doesn't have a proper 5.25" blanker, theres a hole the same size as a slim optical drive, the picture on OCUK website & in-win's site is wrong!!!

Thanks for the reminder Oxy. This is something that should be emphasised for anyone who does not want to make use of the 5.25" drive bay. No idea why In-Win do not bother to include one.

Total-Game one final question I promise hehe

Did you get any raiser pin things with your case? There seems to be large mounds in the case where I put the motherboard on to. I'm just thinking without those gold raiser thingys will it short out?

No worries. It's nice to be useful for a change.

I did not get any motherboard standoffs. The mound design should not be a problem; I believe that all boards have to observe a certain keepout zone around the mounting holes, so there should not be anything exposed to cause a short. I certainly have not had any problems with the Zotac.

 

[Total-Game]

Ahoy, some quick questions - how did you manage to install the TV card? From the pictures of it, it looks like it'd take up a full size card slot, whereas the case only takes low profile cards. Did you just snip off the extra metal or is there some other method that I'm totally missing? :S

Yeah; if you squint at the box in the picture in the first post, it looks like it would take up a full size slot. However, due to the design of the card, it also ships with a low-profile bracket. Just a case of swapping it over and away you go.

Most low profile TV cards will ship with the extra bracket; I certainly know that this is the case with Leadtek, Hauppauge and Compro cards that I have had.

Also, about the case fan - is it totally silent now that you've replaced it or is there still some noise from the PSU fans?

The case and PSU fans are very quiet; the only noticeable noise source is the CPU cooler which starts to spin up when the box is in use for an extended period. I have yet to swap over the top fan from an exhaust to an intake to see what effect that will have on the temps.

 

[Total-Game]

Apologies for the wait, been a while since I read this thread.

How far would you realistically be able to Overclock an E6300 on this build? What's the BIOS like for that sort of thing?

I have no idea how far you would get, but the BIOS does provide a limited range of overclocking options. I have not delved into the BIOS too deeply as I wanted to keep power to a minimum.

Also! How would it be at running MAME?

It should be more than capable of running the vast majority of MAME ROMs, although I have not tried it personally.

What fan did you fit to replace the std one? Was it also a super slim one or std 25mm?

I fitted a clear 'HiperFlow' 80mm by Hiper. Model number was HFF-1N08N. It is a super slim one, just 15mm thick. I do not believe that a normal 25mm one would fit in the space (the motherboard / CPU cooler sit very close to the fan).

Have you tried COD 5 at low settings

I have not tried any real games on it, not really what I bought it for. However, you should be able to play COD 5 with a ~30FPS on the lowest settings with 800x600 resolution according to a number of reviews that I have seen.

Would the build be good as a main PC?

It depends what you want out of your main PC. For common desktop tasks, this is more than enough. It has been able to soak up all of the media and Bluray movies I care to throw at it and it should even be capable of some light gaming.

If you want to do some more serious gaming, but want to keep the small form factor; then there is always the option of building a machine using the Silverstone SG05 and a separate graphics card.

 

[Total-Game]

Thanks, they do other colours in same thickness. Can you advise if its possible to change the PSU fan (it looks to be mounted externally to the PSU) as I suspect that might be a remaining noise source ??

The fan is mounted externally to the PSU and can be replaced. I believe it to be a standard 40 x 40 mm fan.

I don't know whether it's just luck, but I have not had a problem with the PSU fan noise. It cannot be heard over the CPU cooler that I have in there at the moment (stock Intel low profile).

 

[Total-Game]

You might be able to shoehorn a larger fan into the space above the PSU, but it would require some case mods to prevent unnecessary vibration noise.