HTPC pics

[KEW]

Here's my new HTPC for use as a music server.

My thanks to Bandphan, who pretty much told me everything to get and saved me days (if not weeks) of analysis paralysis - and no way would I have ended up with such a good (quiet, reliable, and quick) system on my own!

Components are:
-Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
-GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
-AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor
-OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound
-CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
-G.Skill 2GB (2 X 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 this was cannibalized from my old PC
-Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for bootup and applications
-Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive for data storage
-LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Writer

Everything went together and worked without a hitch except the DVD player - it makes a quick noise at power up and every time the drawer closes. It is like the sound of power up of an inkjet printer, but not nearly so loud. My older Lite-on makes no noise whatsoever (unless I get close and listen for it). So far it has operated properly, but I'll swap it out before NewEgg's 30 day return policy is up.

It seems like today's hardware is plenty fast, so my favorite component is the case. It is very quiet (credit also goes to the PS fan, Graphics chip sans fan, and quiet HDD), and I really like how the interior has a false "floor" under the motherboard that allows cables to be run under the motherboard instead of across the top. It is great to be able to see everything so easily! With the graphics chip built into the motherboard, things are wide open, and air flow is unobstructed.
I do still need to plug in a wireless card, but it is low profile.
2 external and 3 internal bays open for future expansion!

After the case, my second favorite component is the SSD. It is just a delight to boot so quickly!

Cheers,
Kurt

 

[krzywica]

Nice choice of components.....looks like a pasta factory in there though....do some cable management man!

 

[KEW]

Nice choice of components.....looks like a pasta factory in there though....do some cable management man!

LOL! What can I say? I just don't know no better!

Can you link to an image of "cable routing done right"?

Thanks!

 

[krzywica]

LOL! What can I say? I just don't know no better!

Can you link to an image of "cable routing done right"?

Thanks!

Well I guess its somewhat of a "gift of the anal".

Take a look at this....

You want to start with the motherboard case headers that connected the power and LED indicators......twist the whole group of cables so that they stay together....

Then work on the SATA cables....there is usually holes around the motherboard that you can route the cables on the back portion of the case.....take the other side of the case off and stuff all the cables back there....

Then for the power cables.......route everything through that hole that leads to the back of the case and then only pull the wires you need.

Its more than aesthetic purposes that you want to have a clean case......it will help with air flow and make periodic maintenance easier.

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck!

Aaron


[EDIT] Also check the jumpers on your optical drive.....it may be set to a certain setting by default that doesn't jive with your SATA controller.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

All Lite-On drives are super loud. If you want one quieter seek for pioneer/asus drives

 

[Shock]

I do love threads with pics in them.

However I question the choice of a SSD. Although I am a huge WD black fanboy it seems to me a good old 1 TB black drive, partitioned for your OS would have been a much better value. In the HWC review of the 1 TB Caviar black, the Intel X-25M 80gb SSD only booted to a usable desktop 8 seconds faster than the black drive. It also only loaded Photoshop CS3 3 seconds faster. Sure if you want bleeding edge performance they're obviously the fastest. But at 2.7X times the price, and 12.5X less storage it just doesn't seem like a good value.

Right now I feel that SSD's are just too poor of a value to purchase, and I LOVE buying ridiculous stuff for my computer.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I do love threads with pics in them.

However I question the choice of a SSD. Although I am a huge WD black fanboy it seems to me a good old 1 TB black drive, partitioned for your OS would have been a much better value. In the HWC review of the 1 TB Caviar black, the Intel X-25M 80gb SSD only booted to a usable desktop 8 seconds faster than the black drive. It also only loaded Photoshop CS3 3 seconds faster. Sure if you want bleeding edge performance they're obviously the fastest. But at 2.7X times the price, and 12.5X less storage it just doesn't seem like a good value.

Right now I feel that SSD's are just too poor of a value to purchase, and I LOVE buying ridiculous stuff for my computer.

100%, HD are by FAR best value, even 10k RPM drives...
One place where HDs can't beat SSDs are random reads, but this is a pretty rare. While MLC SSD drive "cheap" - 64Gb about $120-130 and SLC SSD DO rock, but they are very expensive and make even less value vs regular drives.
$120-130 gets you today 1Tb to 1.5Tb - compare it to 64Gb SSD ....

 

[krzywica]

I do love threads with pics in them.

However I question the choice of a SSD. Although I am a huge WD black fanboy it seems to me a good old 1 TB black drive, partitioned for your OS would have been a much better value. In the HWC review of the 1 TB Caviar black, the Intel X-25M 80gb SSD only booted to a usable desktop 8 seconds faster than the black drive. It also only loaded Photoshop CS3 3 seconds faster. Sure if you want bleeding edge performance they're obviously the fastest. But at 2.7X times the price, and 12.5X less storage it just doesn't seem like a good value.

Right now I feel that SSD's are just too poor of a value to purchase, and I LOVE buying ridiculous stuff for my computer.

Suck it boys.

Thats 2x 36GB Super Talent drives in RAID0. I've had them in my main rig for over a year. $130 a piece a year ago....

 

[Shock]

Well when you run them in Raid0 it does tend to double their speed at everything, hah.

 

[krzywica]

Well when you run them in Raid0 it does tend to double their speed at everything, hah.

Yup I'm planning on getting 2 more soon and would expect my speeds to double AGAIN!!

Muahahahahha

 

[KEW]

I should say that storage is where I deviated from Bandphan's recommendations.

He recommended a Hitachi 7200RPM drive. However, I am a WD fanboy - especially since I bought a Fantom 1TB external "Greendrive" which uses a WD Green HDD. The drive was so quiet and ran cool in the aluminum case without a fan.

I am no computer guru, but here is my thinking, let me know if I am mistaken - I wanted the speed of a fast HDD (for booting and loading applications) but the quietness of a slow HDD. Since I only really need capacity for media and I only need speed for booting and loading app's, the combination I got is the best of both worlds!

I also want to isolate all of my media (music and family photos) on a unique drive so as long as I keep that drive backed up they are safe. Also if the computer dies I can remove the 2TB HDD without worrying about the chip set compatibility issues which link to the boot drive (the SSD would get reformatted). I suspect there are more elegant ways to deal with these problems, but I understand hardware better than software, so I take a hardware based approach to the problem (If all you have is a hammer...).

The SSD gives me all of the speed I can ask for and both it and the WD 2TB Green drive (5400 rpm) are noise free as far as I can tell even with the machine just beside the monitor.

I agree that an SSD doesn't represent best value. Simply put, it was splurge.

 

[krzywica]

I should say that storage is where I deviated from Bandphan's recommendations.

He recommended a Hitachi 7200RPM drive. However, I am a WD fanboy - especially since I bought a Fantom 1TB external "Greendrive" which uses a WD Green HDD. The drive was so quiet and ran cool in the aluminum case without a fan.

I am no computer guru, but here is my thinking, let me know if I am mistaken - I wanted the speed of a fast HDD (for booting and loading applications) but the quietness of a slow HDD. Since I only really need capacity for media and I only need speed for booting and loading app's, the combination I got is the best of both worlds!

I also want to isolate all of my media (music and family photos) on a unique drive so as long as I keep that drive backed up they are safe. Also if the computer dies I can remove the 2TB HDD without worrying about the chip set compatibility issues which link to the boot drive (the SSD would get reformatted). I suspect there are more elegant ways to deal with these problems, but I understand hardware better than software, so I take a hardware based approach to the problem (If all you have is a hammer...).

The SSD gives me all of the speed I can ask for and both it and the WD 2TB Green drive (5400 rpm) are noise free as far as I can tell even with the machine just beside the monitor.

I agree that an SSD doesn't represent best value. Simply put, it was splurge.

Well I would never use an SSD for "Media" as you categorize it.....but your justifications are correct. If you want speed silence and want to make thermals a non issue then SSD's are your Huckleberry.
Of course their not the most cost effective...show me one thing thats cutting edge that is.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

What was the total cost of all this?

 

[KEW]

Well I would never use an SSD for "Media" as you categorize it.....but your justifications are correct. If you want speed silence and want to make thermals a non issue then SSD's are your Huckleberry.
Of course their not the most cost effective...show me one thing thats cutting edge that is.

Maybe I'm not following you.
The SSD is used for the OS and applications. The HDD is where all of the media is stored.

 

[krzywica]

What was the total cost of all this?

I would assume under $1K....and the servey says....?

I am no computer guru, but here is my thinking, let me know if I am mistaken - I wanted the speed of a fast HDD (for booting and loading applications) but the quietness of a slow HDD. Since I only really need capacity for media and I only need speed for booting and loading app's, the combination I got is the best of both worlds!

Maybe I'm not following you.
The SSD is used for the OS and applications. The HDD is where all of the media is stored.

Sorry I misconstrued the statement above and gathered that "the best of both worlds" was in relation to the SSD......upon re-reading your conclusion is in fact the best of both worlds.

 

[KEW]

What was the total cost of all this?

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
Item #: N82E16820145184
$99.99

Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136514
$139.99

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98
Item #: N82E16827106334
$28.99

OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound
Item #: N82E16835202006
$5.99

AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor Model ADX435WFGIBOX
Item #: N82E16819103724
$74.99

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128394
$79.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Item #: N82E16817139004
$84.99

Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129057
$84.99

Subtotal $599.92
Tax $0.00
UPS 3 DAYS $12.80
Rush Processing $2.99
Promo code -$10.00
Order Total $605.71

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820167025
$98.99

The SSD had free shipping so total around $705 (about $670 after mail in rebates).

 

[Shock]

Of course their not the most cost effective...show me one thing thats cutting edge that is.

Phenom II X6 1055 for 200 bones.

 

[krzywica]

Phenom II X6 1055 for 200 bones.

Haha I was just about to link that CPU as they had them on sale $50 off on Tiger Direct a few days ago......KEW will get the upgrade bug sooner than later if he can double his processing power for sooooo cheap.

KEW - Once you get the system up and running check out Boxee for your front end. IMHO its unbeatable for a media center front end if you are running an HTPC and can run on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

http://www.boxee.tv/

 

[KEW]

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
Item #: N82E16820145184
$99.99

Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136514
$139.99

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98
Item #: N82E16827106334
$28.99

OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound
Item #: N82E16835202006
$5.99

AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor Model ADX435WFGIBOX
Item #: N82E16819103724
$74.99

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128394
$79.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Item #: N82E16817139004
$84.99

Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129057
$84.99

Subtotal $599.92
Tax $0.00
UPS 3 DAYS $12.80
Rush Processing $2.99
Promo code -$10.00
Order Total $605.71

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820167025
$98.99

The SSD had free shipping so total around $705 (about $670 after mail in rebates).

I forgot that I also installed 2GB of memory from my previous PC, so that would have to be added to make the price reflect what I actually have.

 

[KEW]

Haha I was just about to link that CPU as they had them on sale $50 off on Tiger Direct a few days ago......KEW will get the upgrade bug sooner than later if he can double his processing power for sooooo cheap.

Not really, after the Amiga never took hold as the wave of the future (which it was - just poorly marketed) I routinely built my own MS DOS/Win computers throughout the '90's chasing optimum performance. At that point in time, the difference in hardware speeds significantly impacted real world performance. The hardware was hard pressed to keep up with the demands of the software.

Somewhere in the very late '90's or early '00's I upgraded motherboard and processor and noticed very little or no real world increase in performance for my investment! I realized then that HDD speeds were the bottleneck. Since then processors & bus speeds have gotten so much faster that I've been placing more emphasis on sound level and monitor quality. More human factors than performance.

Even low-end processors of today are faster than the software I use needs (music streaming, basic office suite, and a little CAD/CAM - mostly wireframe, not much 3D solids). Heck, I don't even plan to play video through it anytime soon.

Cheers,
Kurt