Zotac Ion-F-E / OrigenAE M10 MCE

[SimonR]

Well I guess I have espoused the virtues of my Ion based MCE so I figure that I ought to post my build blog. My machine was built out of necessity more than anything else. I do a lot of photography and I like to view my images as RAWs rather than convert them to JPGs. I have a macbookpro, which I do my workflow on, but I really like to view my images on my 42" Panny plasma. But none of the media streamers that I have had so far could let me view raw images, so after much thought I decided to give MCE another shot. My only problem was the wife, finding a case that she liked would be crucial, when I saw the OrigenAE M10, I knew she would like it (and she did).

Anyway to the build. My MCE is Built on a Zotax Ion F-E motherboard, 4 Gb of Corsair XMS2 RAM, a spare 120Gb 2.5" Fujitsu HD (MBP Upgrade) and an OrigenAE M10 Case (complete with MCE Remote, panasonic slot load DVD combo and 150W PSU)

The build was pretty straight forward, first the motherboard

as I said the motherboard is an Ion ITX by Zotac

I particularly wanted this board as it has a 16x Pci-e slot, allowing for the use of a modern tuner card.

As you can see it is a nicely laid out board with 2 DDR2 slots and the pci-e expansion slot. There is also a heatsink fan included in the package

Rear View of the motherboard.

As you can see from left to right, PS2 port, 2 USB ports, HDMI 1.3 port, digital audio out (coax and optical), VGA, DVI, 2 USB, e-sata, 10, 100, 1000 Network port, 2 USB, 3 audio ports and wifi aerial connector.
Most connections are covered for a media centre.

Next the Case

Mushii

 

[SimonR]

Zotac Ion-F-E / OrigenAE M10 MCE Part 2

OrigenAE M10 (Black)
I ordered this case directly from OrigenAE in Korea, saving around £100 an the UK retail price.

Case dimensions

As I said the case shipped with a remote, DVD ROM and PSU

Accessories - note the inclusion of the DVD SATA/Power cable

FSP 150W PSU

Panasonic DVD ROM

MCE Remote

What is crazy is that OrigenAE go to the effort of including the DVD sata/power cable, but provide no drivers for the VFD! I went over to Soundgraph (imon) website to download the drivers for the VFD310 as the Origenae ones were slow (over an hour) to download.

Some photos of the case itself

Case Front

Case Rear

LHS Vents

Case Base

Inside of case, with DVD mounting tray in place (case rear down)

Inside of case, with DVD mounting tray removed (case rear down)

Detail of the power circuits

HD mounting

Close-up of power connector

Rear of the VFD PCB

Motherboard mounting tray area

Case with motherboard installed, but no CPU fan

CPU fan installed

Cabling installed, HD mounted

View to the rear of case.

One problem I have found with the case, is the side fan runs at full speed, causing a little whistling through the vents. The installation of a Zalman Fan Mate sorted that out.

I haven't posted any pictures of it installed yet, as my AV amp has blown up and I am awaiting an insurance replacement, hence my AV cabinet looks a mess. Once it gets replaced I will post some pictures of it installed.

Mushii

 

[SimonR]

Zotac Ion-F-E / OrigenAE M10 MCE Part 3

Reserved for update

 

[Mr Kingston]

Very nice build m8, love the case shame its so damn expensive, was the dvd-rw included with the case then?

 

[SimonR]

Very nice build m8, love the case shame its so damn expensive, was the dvd-rw included with the case then?

Yes, the case, including import duty was £230. The case included DVD RW, 150W PSU, IMON VFD and Remote. I have to say the build quality is very good. I have just turned down the fanmate and it is pretty much silent now.

Mushii

 

[Omar]

Unfortunately Origen don't sell directly to customers in the UK anymore, I emailed them last week and the reply was that they have in the recent past but cannot do so now because they have authorised retailers.

Most of the UK retailers don't list the DVD-RW drive as being included (and when queried by email confirmed that it isn't), but I did find one that does include the drive and it comes out to around £310 including postage.

 

[HighlandeR]

Such a shame cos in the uk its 300 quid + and totaly not worth it, perhaps £100-150 yeah....

Still if u want to build the best htpc possible with speed/performance too match then why not

 

[mremulator]

Such a shame cos in the uk its 300 quid + and totaly not worth it, perhaps £100-150 yeah....

Still if u want to build the best htpc possible with speed/performance too match then why not

The Soundgraph VFD alone is worth £90, plus it comes with a decent slot loading Panasonic DVD Combo drive. Not to mention the PSU, remote & sheer build quality. £300 is abour right IMHO (retail). However, £220 is obviously better.

 

[jkulas]

I'm about to build one of these myself but I would like to get two 3.5" drives in mine (looking at the 2TB WD Greens) and was wondering whether the little 150W pico power supply would be able to handle that?

Since there isn't space in the M10 for the hdds, I am considering putting the zotac in it's bigger brother, the microATX S10V. I have read that miniITX will mount in an ATX case, please correct me if I'm wrong as this will change everything.

It's possible to buy the little pico psu's separately, so I could fit one of those instead of an atx psu, and save myself a lot of noise and space. I would also like the option of adding a tuner card at a later stage.

So basically my main question is, is there enough headroom in your build to power two 3.5" hdds and a tv tuner, or do I need to start looking at actively cooled power supplies?

Hopefully someone can clarify for me

 

[Deleted member 77746]

How much for the case, damn expensive for something so little. I sent them an email telling them what a rip off their price is for the case, lol not that it will do much of a difference but 100-150 yes, not 300+ for a case that small no chance.

 

[whipitrnd]

looks awesome. good build mate

 

[hourami]

..

 

[hourami]

I found that the case has a 24 pin connector and the mobo is 20 pin?

How do I get around it?

SOLVED: It seems the 24 pin power connector in the case can be used as 20 pin by sliding the 'extra' 4 pins off.

I have a major problem though as the display is not coming on and the remote is not responding to anything and I am not sure if it is connected to the correct ports on the motherboard so any help would be greatly appreciated.

HELP PLEASE!!

 

[Omar]

hourami, have you installed the iMonHD VFD software? My screen did not turn on until I installed the software and drivers.

 

[hourami]

hourami, have you installed the iMonHD VFD software? My screen did not turn on until I installed the software and drivers.

I downloaded and installed it from the OrigenAE site and Soundgraph and neither of them work. On the remote only the power button works. Very strange. I think it may be connected wrong on the mobo but it looks right. The switch on the card is set on Soundgraph as opposed to Philips.

 

[K@rl]

great looking case, how will the machine deal with HD playback? Tempted with something similar.

 

[Omar]

The next thing to try will be the settings within the iMon tray app. There's a tickbox somewhere to turn on the display when the software starts. Sorry I'm not near the machine so can't be more specific.

 

[hourami]

The next thing to try will be the settings within the iMon tray app. There's a tickbox somewhere to turn on the display when the software starts. Sorry I'm not near the machine so can't be more specific.

I've looked at this and I have ticked the option for always on and nothing happens, then when software starts and nothing happens. Keeps saying that imon is disconnected

UPDATE: I sat down, disconnected it all and then reconnected it again and lo and behold it did the trick and started up.

 

[Deep]

Have you got any update on this mate?

 

[deusexlumina]

My only problem was the wife