Mini-ITX Board Choice...

loaky

loaky

loaky

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6 Feb 2010
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138
I've currently got a Commel LV-679 with a T7500 intel mobile chip on it, along with 4GB of ram. It's sitting inside a Nexus Psile.

Anyway i've had nothing but trouble with it overheating, i've ran RMClock for ages changing settings all the time trying to get something that's stable, and runs cool, but enough is enough! The cooler on the processor came with it, and because it's an odd fitment (a mobile chip in a desktop(ish) board), getting aftermarket coolers is a non-starter.

So i'm looking for a replacement board, I've seen the Atom based boards and they seem great from a low power point of view, like my current one. But i'm unsure how they'd perform. The main task it'll have is being a server for music videos and everything else I chuck at it, and maybe would like HDMI out so I can do away with PS3 MediaServer and using the PS3 too. So I suppose the most processor intensive part would be playing quite large 1080p MKV files, some are upto 20GB so the bitrate is quite high.

Only things i'll say is low-power, at least 3x Sata ports, got enough umpf to chew through large MKV + maybe blu-ray (if I decide to get a BR drive for it, though with the PS3 at the moment maybe that's a way off). Also preferable SODIMM memory as i've got 2x2GB of 800Mhz in the current machine, and going by the price of memory these days i'd like to keep it if possible.

Although i'm kinda set on getting a new board/chip, any ideas of what to do about the current setup are welcome, heatsink wise.

Chuck a few ideas in people! :)
 
I currently use a Zotac Ion-ITX FE motherboard in my Media Centre and whatever I throw at it, it plays, flawlesslyl. But it uses DDR2 800. Brilliant board
Mushii
 
Cheers fella, that does look quite good. I clocked the Asrock A330ION a while ago too which looks good, i'll do some more delving.
 
There is one aftermarket cooler option you might want to try. I've got a Silverstone ML-02 case which is aimed at MoDT although I'm using it with a S775 CPU/board. Silverstone make the MT07 which is a low profile cooler to fit in the case which is available in a S479 mobile version as well as S775. It keeps my E1600 cool enough with no other fans in the case and the HTPC sat in a cabinet with glass doors together with a Sky+HD and an AV Receiver so not the lowest ambient temps.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=nt07&area=
 
I'd never heard of MoDT kit so thumbs up for that, or seen that cooler, how is it 'mounted' as it doesn't look like it has any mounts, or is that something to do with the case?

EDIT: Looking into it, the installation guide is telling me the board must have the 'socket mount as pictured' which mine don't got. :(
As mine has only got the 4 screw holes the original cooler mounts on, which are too close together to fit any other cooler, some of the xeon coolers look the closest in size from what i've seen.
 
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Looking into it further I just don't think the 330 dual core is going to be upto transcoding quite big 1080p MKV's. I guess the only really option is to bodge a cooler on somehow! As anything else is going to cost a lot more, zap a lot more power, and run quite hot too i'd imagine.
 
loaky said:
I'd never heard of MoDT kit so thumbs up for that, or seen that cooler, how is it 'mounted' as it doesn't look like it has any mounts, or is that something to do with the case?

EDIT: Looking into it, the installation guide is telling me the board must have the 'socket mount as pictured' which mine don't got. :(
As mine has only got the 4 screw holes the original cooler mounts on, which are too close together to fit any other cooler, some of the xeon coolers look the closest in size from what i've seen.
Click to expand...

Mine just uses the standard four holes in the motherboard but then it's a 775 version.
 
If you want to send me a file, I am happy to see if it will run only Ion. Remember the Ion was built specifically with things like mkv's and H264's. Once you load up something like Shark's 007 codecs you are good for most file formats and bit rates
Mushii
 
Definately decided to sort out the temp issues rather then skipping this lot and starting afresh. Ordered one of these. Was suggested by a guy on SilentPCReview Forums, yet to see if I can 'bodge' it to fit, should be here tomorrow so we'll see!

stock.jpg
 
SimonR said:
If you want to send me a file, I am happy to see if it will run only Ion. Remember the Ion was built specifically with things like mkv's and H264's. Once you load up something like Shark's 007 codecs you are good for most file formats and bit rates
Mushii
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer though that's very kind chap.
 
If you do go down the "build a new system" route in the end here's my 2 pence worth :)

Don't forget it's not the atom thats decoding the video it's the Ion chipset doing the work. Blu-ray movies played using it might see 30%-40% cpu utilization and that is actually just the copyright decryption, the video itself is purely being decoded by hardware. An unencrypted h264 file for example only uses 10-15% cpu


I have a Zotac ION-ITX-A N330 which runs nice and cool and is very quiet. With it being a dual core 330 it has a small 60mm fan but I just connected a speed controller and turned it down and It's completely silent now. The other nice thing is this particular board comes with an external laptop style power supply so it's possible to use a tiny case.

This board has 2 slots for DDR2 ram, I'm using 4gb in mine. Also 3x SATA 3Gbps, eSATA; 10x USB 2.0 (inc 4 internal) HDMI output and DVI as well as VGA (a lot of boards only have VGA) and wireless N.

The board complete with PSU was around £160
 
Hi Loaky, I've got a T2600 running on a Commell LV677DC and have had similar problems though I am far more constricted by height.

I've got a Zalman ZM-NB47J NB heatsink sitting on mine which is fine with a Coolink 801 pulling the air out the back.
I've spent a lot of time looking around - the Thermalrights are lovely, but massive, you might want to look at something like the

  • Nexus NHP-2200
  • Swiftech MCX159
  • Zalman ZM-NBF47
  • Zalwood dual tower

Best of luck
 
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Recieved the heatsink today and proceeded to put it on, it fouled the ATX power connector though luckily the side without cables in so managed to hack the end off it to fit. Anyway long story short turned it on and just went into BIOS to measure idle temps (which I think must be pretty much the readings Coretemp gives). Anyway it just gradually climbed after about 2 minutes it was at 90ish, this is with the case off in a cool room. Maybe it wasn't sitting perfectly I don't know, I did reseat it a few times to no avail, did briefly try a 80mm fan on it, still the same.

I'm just amazed that people can run T7500's off passive coolers, that don't look that big in many cases. Only thing I can think is my chip is duff in some way, though i'd of thought a CPU was something that either worked or didn't work!
 
R5GTT said:
If you do go down the "build a new system" route in the end here's my 2 pence worth :)

Don't forget it's not the atom thats decoding the video it's the Ion chipset doing the work. Blu-ray movies played using it might see 30%-40% cpu utilization and that is actually just the copyright decryption, the video itself is purely being decoded by hardware. An unencrypted h264 file for example only uses 10-15% cpu


I have a Zotac ION-ITX-A N330 which runs nice and cool and is very quiet. With it being a dual core 330 it has a small 60mm fan but I just connected a speed controller and turned it down and It's completely silent now. The other nice thing is this particular board comes with an external laptop style power supply so it's possible to use a tiny case.

This board has 2 slots for DDR2 ram, I'm using 4gb in mine. Also 3x SATA 3Gbps, eSATA; 10x USB 2.0 (inc 4 internal) HDMI output and DVI as well as VGA (a lot of boards only have VGA) and wireless N.

The board complete with PSU was around £160
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed post, it's the transcoding that hits the CPU and i'm sure it would on most CPU's, I don't doubt I could decode / play them on the computer to output by HDMI.

What is yours housed in? How hot does it run idle? temp when working? Just checking as I don't want to get another machine that tries to cook itself! :(
 
loaky said:
Recieved the heatsink today and proceeded to put it on, it fouled the ATX power connector though luckily the side without cables in so managed to hack the end off it to fit.
Click to expand...


Do you mean you cut the tops of the heat pipes off? iIf you did then you've succesfully made you self a paper weight
 
frozennova said:
Do you mean you cut the tops of the heat pipes off? iIf you did then you've succesfully made you self a paper weight
Click to expand...

Nope, the end of the connector. The ATX power connector that plugs into the board only has about half the pins connected the other half of the connector is unused/unconnected.
 
Just checking I did actually trim heatpipes to make a cooler fit, not until a while later did I find out how they work, as far as bad cooling I'm guessing bad contact, does the heatsink get at all hot?
 
Only way of keeping it from frying i've discovered is in RMClock to select multipliers 6x, 7x, and 8x and leave the rest unchecked, those multipliers with the lowest stable voltages (6x 0.8500v, 7x 0.8625v, 8x 0.08750v) seem to not fry it, it gets to about 82-84 and seems to stop there. Running Orthos for 30 minutes that is..

It's being majorly throttled down not allowing 9x 10x and 11x, though i'm bored of pulling my hair out.

BTW That's with the stock cooler/fan.
 
Whats airflow like in the case, That cant be right as far as temps. I know my freezer 7 in the rig in sig gets fairly hot to touch after a few hours at full load
 
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