Spec me a cheap Mini ITX HTPC for Bluray MKV files

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

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Cardiff-ish, Wales
Hi guys,

I've currently got an old HTPC built around a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, using the onboard graphics. It works perfectly and plays back 1080p Bluray rips across the network perfectly. The trouble with it is noise. Both the PSU fan and the CPU fan are incredibly noisy. The unit is in my bedroom, within a cabinet and can be heard when I watch something late at night when the little one is asleep, so the volume needs to be quite low. My options are to either replace the PSU and CPU fan or sell the whole thing on and put the money towards a mini-ITX solution.

I like the look of the Antec ISK110, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-002-AN

What would be the cheapest shopping list for the other bits? Bear in mind that I will only need a motherboard, CPU and RAM - I already have an SSD drive and it seems that this case comes with a brick (silent) PSU.

Cheers,

Jed.

EDIT: the Bluray rips are MKV files with no compression.
 
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Any cheaper CPU options? Bear in mind that it is purely for running XBMC and some surfing.

Low power solution is ideal, as the PSU in the case is 90w. I will be after HDMI and SPDIF output as well.
 
It looks like the CPU's range from 55 to 65W for the low power ones. That means that I will have 25-35W left if the PSU is 90W. What else will be using power and any idea of the draw? I'm guessing the only other thing would be the SSD drive as there won't be an optical drive. I'm assuming that this would draw less than 10W?
 
Personally, I see nothing wrong with your current set up apart from noise.

And if you are building a MiniITX rig you would have to consider noise when choosing your PSU and cooling options anyway. (Is anyone ever happy with off the shelve or bundles?)

Why not just purchase some quieter items?

How much are you thinking of spending?

What TDP is your current CPU?

My own HTPC was an E8500 dual core running stock with a passively cooled with a Silverstone NT01-E heatsink within a Silverstone GD02 case, Maximus II Gene, 4gb Dominator GT, Bluray drive, 1.5tb WD Green HDD, Passive cooled HD5750 and an HX450w Corsair modular PSU.

This was silent and usually left on for long periods. And also streamed music and movies to and fro, and also got used for games such as Minecraft, C&C titles, DoW, WoT etc with no issues.

A new silent PSU and silent CPU fan (there are a few with no fan rated for up to 96w TDP, would be my 1st attempt. And if that was not good enough then a MiniITX build in a compact case, Fractal Node or hifi component size are my preferred HTPC choices dependent on optic drive.
Regarding your case choice, I doubt that would be any quieter considering the size and venting. At least with a HiFi sized component you can run silent due to it having some room in case, plus use some form of soundproofing for HDD's etc.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Seasonic 460w FANLESS '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply £109.99
Total : £118.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

 
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Current CPU is an Athlon 4850E, looks like it draws 45W. There's nothing wrong with the performance, just the noise and TBH, I think I'd like a much smaller footprint. If I need to spend £100 on a quiet PSU, then I thought it might be an idea to put that money towards the ITX case with silent built in brick PSU. Although, as you point out, there may be a limited number of solutions for a quiet CPU fan for this case. I could then sell my current setup and put it towards the rest.

If I were to keep the current setup, what CPU heatsink would be a good option, bearing in mind that the ******** HTPC case I have is 9cm tall.

Also, is this sort of PSU a better solution for my needs?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-019-SR
 
What case do you have? Do you use optic bays?

Scythe Shuriken Big 2 Rev.B Low Profile CPU Cooler, SCBSK-2100 is around £35, the Zalman ZM450-GS Ultra Quiet 450W Power Supply is around £35. Both have very quiet fans.

Footprints I never get, sure a small PC is great, but in my view pointless if it sits in an audio rack or among equipment, or offers poorer cooling due to limited airflow equating to fans spinning faster and HDD's being in open mesh environments.
 
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It's a case from another supplier, Nova.... hence why it got starred out. I don't use an optical drive and the case can only take an mATX PSU.
 
Well whatever way you cut it, it will cost money to maybe get quieter.

The MSI motherboard listed above has no SPDIF out, the Gigabyte H61 one I listed is the cheapest with an optic and co-ax SPDIF output. I guess you don't do audio over HDMI?

To be honest, I do not think you need an i3 for media streaming, but if you want lower TDP, the Intel Core i3 3220T Dual Core Processor at £100 and Intel CPU Pentium G2100T Dual Core Processor at £60 are both Ivy Bridge and 35w TDP.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (Socket 1155/Intel Z77.DDR3/S-ATA 600/Mini ITX) £159.95
2 x Asus P8H77-I Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MiniITX Motherboard £83.99 (£167.98)
1 x Antec ISK110 MiniITX Vesa Mountable Case - Black/Silver with 90W Power Supply £74.99
1 x Gigabyte H61N-USB3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £29.99
Total : £512.89 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Shopping around the cheapest above set up would be £222 IF you can find any of those items in stock.

As for MicroATX PSU's, maybe a picture of yours would help?
be quiet! BN136 TFX Power 300W Power Supply £47
be quiet! 300W SFX uATX PSU power supply £43

Shame the OC website has a poor selection of such.
 
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Have you looked into a NUC or similar? If I was building an HTPC now I'd probably go for one of those to be honest. You can get an i3 Nuc, 64gb msata ssd and 4gb ram for around £330-40. Apparently the Celeron version will also work fine with 1080p stuff (you can get that for £220 with 4gb ram and a 32gb msata). Would probably wait for the haswell versions though.

Gigabyte Brix is a similar product
 
badcompany said:
Small hard drives are of putting with the nuc's
Click to expand...

64gb SSD is all you need for a media machine.

You shouldn't really be putting noisy mechanical hard drives into a media machine - that's what NAS boxes and old PCs acting as servers are for!

Keep the noisy storage away from the listening area!

The loudest thing in my living room is the mechanical hard drive in the Virgin+HD box!
 
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