New HTPC Build (or HTPC RAGE!!!)

Venares · 10 Aug 2011 at 20:25

Well after almost 2 years with my Revo r3610 I decided it was time to move up in the world and get somthing with a liitle more omph.
I also wanted to move the Revo to another room for HTPC duties so it gave me a nice excuse

So the original plan was thus:

CPU: Intel Pentium G620T
Motherboard: Asus P8H61-I
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3
GPU: Palit GT 430 Low Profile
HDD: Spare 80GB Intel X25-M SSD left over from my old system
Optical: Sony BC-5640H-01 Slot Blu-ray Combo
Case: Jou Jye NU-568i-B Mini-ITX Chassis 220W

And heres where the fun started, hoho.
Sooo, the Palit GT 430 didnt quite work out as intended as it turned out to be a slot and a half so got returned.
Decided to then go for an Ino3D which according to there website would be perfect.
But oh no, we cant let me have any fun this month can we, oh no.
So long story short the new card turned up and would you belive it, it was a FULL size card, DOH.
So back that went.
To cut a long story short I ended up late on a Saturday afternoon in the place with the people with purple shirts (I know, I know) and made some poor guy open about 5 GPU boxes before I found the GPU I wanted.

So with my new shiny single slot, low profile PNY GT430 in hand I proceded to install into my tiny htpc box.
Excelent, its fits.
Only 10 minutes later the devil himself consipred to ruin my plans again when the fan in the PSU that was in the case reved up to the point that I thought a jet was taking off :rolleyes:

So phase 2 of "I will build a quiet super powered HTPC damnit" project kicked off.
Phase 2: FIND A NEW CASE.

So after a bit of searching I basicly came back my original choise, albeit at almost 2x the cost.
So I am now the happy owner of a Wesena ITX7 + 150w PICO PSU

So after 5 days of HTPC rage it's finaly built and is super awsome.

Final Spec:

CPU: Intel Pentium G620T
Motherboard: Asus P8H61-I
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3
GPU: PNY GT 430 Low Profile
HDD: Spare 80GB Intel X25-M SSD left over from my old system
Optical: Sony BC-5640H-01 Slot Blu-ray Combo
Case: Wesena ITX7-2 Black
PSU: 150w PICO PSU + Power Brick

timciren · 10 Aug 2011 at 22:14

gotta love those cases
very tempted to get one if the temps are ok.
It looks a bit of a squash in there !
I have been waiting for a decent half height card

Deep · 12 Aug 2011 at 16:14

Very nice mate!
Can you take a few pictures showing the Pico PSU please, I want to see how they operate

Thanks

Venares · 12 Aug 2011 at 17:03

There pretty stright froward tbh.
The PSU part just plugs into the motherboard where you would normal plug in your 24pin atx connector from a standard psu.
The nice thing about these things is there something like 90%+ efficient, so my total power draw while playing a Bluray is around 45w.

I'd take some actual pics if it didnt mean taking half my system apart

You can just about make out the PICO in pic 4 above.

funnyfuka · 15 Aug 2011 at 13:27

nice setup m8, i love the look of the itx7, im thinking about building something similar, might use a i3 2100t and Blackgold BTG3600 tv card instead of graphics card, hopefully the intel graphics will be enough. i probably wont install an optical drive as i will be streaming from server

Deep · 15 Aug 2011 at 14:47

Venares said:
There pretty stright froward tbh.
The PSU part just plugs into the motherboard where you would normal plug in your 24pin atx connector from a standard psu.
The nice thing about these things is there something like 90%+ efficient, so my total power draw while playing a Bluray is around 45w.

I'd take some actual pics if it didnt mean taking half my system apart
You can just about make out the PICO in pic 4 above.

Thanks for posting that picture, it makes sense now!

Enjoy the build!

Participant · 15 Aug 2011 at 14:49

Very nice build, and complete with slot loading Blu-ray player! Those cases look great.

Venares · 16 Aug 2011 at 19:30

Now with added awsomeness.
Internal RC6 IR Receiver.

Subliminal Aura · 2 Sep 2011 at 13:32

Venares said:
Now with added awsomeness.
Internal RC6 IR Receiver.

Interesting... Where did you get that and for how much ?

There's a Wesena one with a nasty ugly looking remote which can be had for the unsavoury price of 30 quid

Participant · 4 Sep 2011 at 10:24

Subliminal Aura said:
Interesting... Where did you get that and for how much ?

There's a Wesena one with a nasty ugly looking remote which can be had for the unsavoury price of 30 quid

Ditto all of that ^.

What's the model please Venares?

Also: does it wake the PC from S3 sleep successfully? I presume so, being RC6 protocol.

Venares · 4 Sep 2011 at 14:58

It's an mCubed HFX 600.
Comes with an external ir reciver that you can dismantle and mount internaly.
Also comes with a pretty decent RC6 remote.
Cost about £30 which I think is pretty reasonable.

Oh and yes it most certernly does wake from S3

Trox · 7 Sep 2011 at 18:19

That looks pretty stunning mate, after reviewing my HTPC build im considering something alone these lines! Just 3 questions for ya...

How quiet is the system? I need something whisper quiet for the living room (quieter than a PS3 is possible)

What are the temps like for every day use?

Not knowing much about the case / PicoPSU, how does the power cabling enter the case?

Thanks

Venares · 8 Sep 2011 at 15:29

Noise, whats noise

To even tell its switched on I have to stick my head next to it.

Temps get upto around 50c in normal use which I find to be perfectly acceptable for how small and quiet the box is.

Power is supplied by an external power brick similar to a laptop.
The one have is 150 watt FSP and is fanless