[markp1989]

edit: the pc I was hosting the pics on packed up I will take some more and update soon

build was finished on 28th of march, just not got round to posting it here:


this is the build that inspired this one http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...ic.php?t=57944 my case is the same style as his , but its a couple of inches taller.

the main use for this is as a torrent slave and a htpc, server duties come in 2nd

i chose the Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX-I-E socket 775 over the atom ion board because i already had socket 775 cpu, and its nice to have abit more grunt when its needed such as encoding videos etc, aslo the idle power of this board + e5200 isnt much more then a similar atom/ion build

Software:
ubuntu 9.10
xbmc
rtorrent
flexget: for auto download of tv shows from rss feeds
nfs server: for my laptop,desktop and my older sisters ubuntu nettop (acer revo)
ssh server: used for remote admin, and socks proxy.
samba server: for my little sisters mac, and windows desktop
ushare server : for streaming to the xbox360, rarley used, but its nice to have
daap server: for itunes, rarley used, but also nice to have.

Parts:
Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX-I-E (i never installed the wifi board)
Intel E5200*
mini ninja heat sink*
4gb ddr2 800*
2*samsung 1.5tb f2 3.5" drives*
Pico PSU 150xt* + dell Da2 220w power block*
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174463 case
ipazzport hand held keyboard and track pad*
2*Artic cooling 8025 pwm fans both as exaust*

*things i already had from the original server, so its just a new motherboard and case really :P

Cost (when i brought the parts):
motherboard: £100
CPU: £50
RAM: £40
HDD: £70 each
Case: £35
Heat sink: £25
Pico PSU: £30 + £20 for the block
Remote: £30

Total: £470 ... ouch , i didnt relize i had spent that much lol, i wish parts here were the same price as in the usa, you lucky people


Power Usage:
Idle sittign at openbox desktop: 33-35w
running xbmc but not playing anything: 40w
playing 1080p video xbmc : 40-41w
playing 1080p video xbmc and running mprime: 72-75w

the 200w power block is abit over kill, but i already had it

all power usage measuerd from plug

i could of saved power if i didnt have 2 full sized drives in there, but they dont make laptop hard drives big enough.

has any one else noticed xbmc increasing power usage, even when just sitting at its home page, it cant take 5w of power for it to display an rss feed can it? any one knows a way to get the 5w less then it will be cool, as the pc is on 24h torrenting and unless im playin somthing then i have xbmc running for fast access.

noise:
idle: both fans spinning slow, inaudable
playing 1080p video in xbmc: both fans spinning slow inaudable
playing 1080p video in xbmc and mprime: fans spin at 50-60% speed, are quiet, but can be heard 1m away, if you listen for them.

i did try running the system fanless, playing a 1080p video and running mprime, the cpu was ok running at 50C but the chip set temp hit 99C and the pc powerd it self off, i think if you fitted a bigger hear sink on the chipset/igpu then fanless operation would probably be possible

the 3.5" hard drives are screwed in the a cadge from an old case, and mounted on polystyrine (spelling?) at the front of the case so i cannot hear them unless there starting up.


the thick black wire goin in the right side at the back is the power cable from the da2 block, it just fitted thru 1 of the holes alredy on the case, i have put a cabel tie to stop the cabel frm getting pulled out.

Pics:










temps:

i have ran mprime over night so see what temps i will get...so far is been 15 hours

core0 :53C
core1 :53C
chipset: 79C
SDA: 23C
SDB: 23C


i was impressed with the case, for the price and size, the case was roomey inside, and very easy to work with, it practacly swallowed the mini ninja heat sink, and would probably take a full sized ninja if you wasnt going to have a optical drive or had one that wasnt as deep as the place holder im using now

thanks for reading my first write up, any feed back or questions feel free to reply


since i took these pics, I have replaced the fan at the back with a 120mm version, and i have changed the way the hdds are mounted, now i could fit 3 or 4 drives easily, if any one wants to see pics of the new hdd mounts then let me know

[mrgettmann]

Plan on sticking an SSD in there for the OS?

[markp1989]

Originally Posted by mrgettmann

Plan on sticking an SSD in there for the OS?

right now the os is on a 20gb partition at the begining of the 1st drive, right now i cant hear the drives atal, so i dont really need to spend the money on an ssd.

[Devourment]

U really dont need to run Prime that long... No one need... if you pass 2 hrs even 1 hour, ur gtg.

[Jolly-Swagman]

Nice neat build for your HTPC, was looking at that Mobo myself, but they are still very pricey here Downunder

[cyberkost]

Nice, the 1st picture link is not working though

[markp1989]

Originally Posted by Devourment

U really dont need to run Prime that long... No one need... if you pass 2 hrs even 1 hour, ur gtg.

i know it wasnt nessesary to run it that long, i was gone run it for a few hours to simulate encoding a long video, and i fell aslep.

Originally Posted by Jolly-Swagman

Nice neat build for your HTPC, was looking at that Mobo myself, but they are still very pricey here Downunder

thanks, im really pleased with the motherboard, i was so close to getting an atom ion build, but this is alot better for my needs.

Originally Posted by cyberkost

Nice, the 1st picture link is not working though

thanks, link removed.

[Awptex]

looking good