Zotac H55-ITX WIFI / Origen AE M10 HTPC Build

Athan · 4 Apr 2010 at 19:56

Thanks for answering, mremulator! You're right, it's the motherboard; Intel works just fine with M10's PSU.

mremulator said:
Yea, can't wake from sleep either and I know what you mean regarding the fan noise.

Do you mean that your Zotac even without a PCI-E TV tuner cannot wake from S3? According to their technical support this only happens when using a non-graphics PCI-E card. If this problem still exists when using a pcie graphics card that proves one thing, they say nonsense. :confused:

RobEves · 4 Apr 2010 at 20:23

That case is snazzy.

Bane · 4 Apr 2010 at 22:51

I do love the looks of the HTPC cases, and that Origen is a fine example. Looks well dinky with smooth lines.

I would never a HTPC though (not in to media), but browsing and occasional modern games. So unless it would support a 5770 I'm still restricted to Sugo 05/06 sized category. Which you have dismissed already.

Bane · 4 Apr 2010 at 23:00

mremulator said:
.....
I had previously built a water-cooled/overclocked E7600 custom build, which even featured a powder coated custom Silverstone SG05. However, the build was too bulky (even for Mini-ITX) and a little on the noisy side. The case LED’s were also dazzling. Therefore, I wanted something that would not look out of place under my TV.....

Did you have some pictures of this other than this thread? As would have liked to have seen that.

mikejasonsmith · 5 Apr 2010 at 00:06

This is exactly what ive been looking for...that case is awesome and your build is just what i want x2...want one in the living room and bedroom...would be interested to know the details of your build as im a newbie and may have to build this myself. Thankyou for posting this as you have built my ideal HTPC...

Its a shame this site doesnt have PM as I would like to know how you built it..

mikejasonsmith · 5 Apr 2010 at 00:32

how much the the build cost?

Kanifee · 5 Apr 2010 at 13:48

Well the case even though itx is aroun £300+ well wortht he money though.

mikejasonsmith · 5 Apr 2010 at 14:26

whats the largets graphics card you can fit in this thing?

mremulator · 5 Apr 2010 at 15:41

Athan said:
Do you mean that your Zotac even without a PCI-E TV tuner cannot wake from S3? According to their technical support this only happens when using a non-graphics PCI-E card. If this problem still exists when using a pcie graphics card that proves one thing, they say nonsense.

I'm afraid so. Thing is it's not such a deal breaker for me, as the iMON obviously allows the rig to be switched on/off using the MC remote. Also the SSD boots in to windows in less than 30 secs from a cold boot.

mikejasonsmith said:
whats the largets graphics card you can fit in this thing?

Radeon HD 5450 / HD 5570 only AFAIK. Card has to be low profile plus can't draw much current either due to the 150W PSU. The good thing about the 5*** cards though is the ability to create profiles for popular resolutions/refresh rates and obviously the HD audio bitstreaming. I have 1080p 23Hz, 24Hz, 50Hz, 59Hz & 60Hz all set up with hotkeys (ALT+2) for example.

Bane said:
Did you have some pictures of this other than this thread? As would have liked to have seen that.

That was basically it Bane, however, I made some improvements/alterations. I'm going to have another go at a similar watercooled Mini-ITX rig over the next few weeks. This time I'll be using a Sugo SG06 instead of the 05, as it looks much nicer from the front. I'll also be looking at integrating an iMON somehow (not sure if this is even going to be possible)?

mikejasonsmith · 5 Apr 2010 at 18:42

mremulator - what small rig would you recommend for a server setup? basically i have sold everything i own to finance 1 gaming rig ( light gaming ) 1 media center for bedroom, 1 rig for , gaming rig and one for my gfriend to do office work on ie project visio and surf the net and a server to feed it all...i was going to go with the sugo 05 case until you mentioned the 06 which does look better ( for the media center gaming rig and home office computer ) then a small form factor server case...

Decisions, decisions....it driving me nuts...

mikejasonsmith · 5 Apr 2010 at 18:43

sorry that doesnt read right - it should read 1htpc, 1 gaming rig and one home office rig plus a server...

Athan · 6 Apr 2010 at 07:44

mremulator said:
I'm afraid so. Thing is it's not such a deal breaker for me, as the iMON obviously allows the rig to be switched on/off using the MC remote.

True but still cannot wake on a schedule, something necessary for timed live TV recordings.

mremulator · 6 Apr 2010 at 20:08

mikejasonsmith said:
mremulator - what small rig would you recommend for a server setup? basically i have sold everything i own to finance 1 gaming rig ( light gaming ) 1 media center for bedroom, 1 rig for , gaming rig and one for my gfriend to do office work on ie project visio and surf the net and a server to feed it all...i was going to go with the sugo 05 case until you mentioned the 06 which does look better ( for the media center gaming rig and home office computer ) then a small form factor server case...

Decisions, decisions....it driving me nuts...

For a server I personally use a QNAP TS-439 Pro; best piece of kit I have purchased in a couple of years and something that gets used every day (faster than external USB 2 HDD). What people tend to forget about when building NAS boxes or buying cheap solutions are transfer speeds, reliability and power consumption. I can copy a 10GB file to my NAS in less than a minute (Gigabit LAN) plus stream movies etc when my PC's are off (great for HTPC & Popcorn Hour). Take into account the RAID funtionality, Wake-on-LAN, low power usage, web/email/twonky/ftp servers etc... need I say more. Good software and support too.

Anyway, if you are building a HTPC go for the SG06 and the Zotac; there are no issues with the 300W PSU supplied (Sparkle/FSP) with the Zotac. Oh yea a Radeon HD5770 is also fine in terms of power and physical size.

Athan said:
True but still cannot wake on a schedule, something necessary for timed live TV recordings.

Very true, but personally I only use SKY+ for recording TV shows.

mikejasonsmith · 6 Apr 2010 at 21:37

Thanks for that Mremulator. Just looked at the qnap and it does look good but i think i may need more than 8tb ie the 4x2tb that this affords....any suggestions??

mremulator · 6 Apr 2010 at 22:25

mikejasonsmith said:
Thanks for that Mremulator. Just looked at the qnap and it does look good but i think i may need more than 8tb ie the 4x2tb that this affords....any suggestions??

What's your budget?

mikejasonsmith · 6 Apr 2010 at 22:43

well i need a server plus 2 rig so have around 1,350 all in...

SimonR · 7 Apr 2010 at 17:59

mremulator said:
Regarding the cost of the case... you get a Panasonic slot-loading combi drive (£55), VF310 vfd/ir module (£69) and WMC remote (£9). This means that not only are you are getting one of the best quality cases I have ever seen, plus power supply etc, but are basically only paying £145 for the case & PSU. Personally, I don't think it's expensive for what you get at all!

mremulator can you email me as I would like to know where you purchased the case from that bundled the combi drive with it at that price. My email is rafferty.simon(at)gmail.com

Many thanks

mremulator · 7 Apr 2010 at 18:17

mikejasonsmith said:
well i need a server plus 2 rig so have around 1,350 all in...

You are really going to struggle I'm afraid. A decent NAS with the kind of storage you are looking for won't come cheap. I spent something like £800 on my NAS with 4x Seagate 1.5TB HDD's. Ideally, you'll want to think about RAID5, as you'd probably kick yourself if one of the 4x drives failed if in RAID0. Also you are looking at £400 plus VAT just for 4x 2TB HDD's for the NAS/server.

mikejasonsmith · 7 Apr 2010 at 18:28

I guess you are right...Ive just bought a Fractal Design Array case which should be here in a few days and im going to put a zotac in it..cant decide between 9300 or H55.

After that I will just have to buy a couple of 2tb drives for now - it has 6 drive bays.

What kind of processing power would i need to ensure my 1080p streaming etc doesnt struggle?

mremulator · 7 Apr 2010 at 19:30

mikejasonsmith said:
I guess you are right...Ive just bought a Fractal Design Array case which should be here in a few days and im going to put a zotac in it..cant decide between 9300 or H55.

After that I will just have to buy a couple of 2tb drives for now - it has 6 drive bays.

What kind of processing power would i need to ensure my 1080p streaming etc doesnt struggle?

i3 530 matey without even breaking a sweat.