First HTPC (GD02-MT case)

[hsiegeln]

Hi,

I used this forum and many other sites (like tomshardware.com) to collect information I required to build my very first HTPC. Since I finished phase 1 just now, I think it's time to return and share my experience and setup.
I am not claiming this is the most sophisticated, absolutely perfect, all-singing-and-dancing uber-setup. But the final system meets my requirements (see below) and about 95% of my expectations. The missing 5% are due to lacking features in MediaPortal, not in the hardware I chose ;-) I am no evangelist in any aspect hardwarewise (Intel vs. AMD, nVidia vs. ATI (I know its owned by AMD ;-), etc) or softwarewise (Windows vs. Linux, XP vs. Vista).
I just need stuff that works.

My requirements are quite simple:
1) it must be silent; in other words: I am sitting about 3m (10ft) away from my HTPC while watching movies, and I did not want to hear anything from the HTPC from that distance. I would not compromise on that requirement at all.
2) I need the HTPC to only watch movies (replay my DVDs from HDD), listen to music and - potentially - record TV shows.
3) It must fit to the rest of my Hifi equipment (color, size, etc)
4) since I do not have a HDTV currently, no HDTV playback would be required; but for sure I require an upgrade path, once I get a HDTV into my living room. However, I will connect the TV via "component video" (YPbPr) to get the best possible picture. Since I am not sure whether I will transcode all my DVDs to h.264 (saving HDD space), but would like to keep the option, I need something that can decode h.264 in hardware (not CPU, if possilbe)
5) Sound processing will happen in my external amplifier; no need to decode any of the sound formats in the HTPC, but I need an optical out (Toslink)
6) This is not a gaming PC and never will.

Hardware selection:
I really got hooked up by the Silverstone GD02-MT; it is a microATX case, Hifi form factor, black color.
The mainboard of choice: Gigabyte's MA69GM-S2H; passive cooling for north- and southbridge, packed with features and it has a Toslink port.
CPU: AMD X2 BE-2300 (2 x 1.900 MHz); it is a low voltage and efficient CPU (45W TDP), which can be undervolted and kept cool easily
Fan: Noctua NH-U F9; very silent (7 dB) when using the (U)ltra (L)ow (N)oise (A)dapter;
PSU: Silverstone ST30NF Fanless; no comment
Graphics: Gigabyte's GV-NX73G256D-RH; a GForce 7300 card has all I would require: MPEG2/4, h.264 decoding; passive cooling; HDMI and HDCP (via D-SUB); etc
HDD: 2 x Samsung's HD753LJ (750GB)
DVD: SONY NEC Optiarc AD-7630A Slim
RAM: 2 x 1 GB GEIL DDR2 800
Keyboard: tbd (maybe Logitech's Dinovo Edge)

Software selection:
Windows Vista Ultimate 32Bit
nVidia ForceWare 169.25
Gigabyte Chipsetdriver (latest versions as of writing; too many to list)
iMon Software that came with case
RMClock to undervolt and control CPU
Power DVD 7
Media Portal (+External Display plugin, +OFDB patch, +iMon RC configuration)

The rational:
The case was a given. I loved it right from the beginning. I simply had to own this piece ;-) Passively cooled PSU complemented the case. I had spare 2 x 1 GB DDR2 800 RAM at home, so I opted to put them into the system. That was an easy start.
I would have to build a system that uses minimal power, if I want to use almost no fans at all in this microATX case. That is why I chose to go with the AMD CPU. I had Intel's mobile CPUs on my list first, but could not find a good combination of CPU, CPU cooling and mainboard to fit my other requirements. Then I stumbled over the AM2 socket
Gigabyte mainboard and, on top, found some reviews where people used passive cooling for the AMD CPU. That gave me enough confidence to go with this combination.
The mainboard features important (for me) interfaces: 1 GBit LAN, HD Audio, Toslink out, onboard fire wire and USB, PWM, etc. It received very good reviews whereever I went, and it is cheap. The only downside of the board was the onboard graphics. The reviews weren't quite sure about its overall performance for video playback, hence I complemented the board with a GForce 7300, which was cheap, again.
Storage was the final choice. Small drive or large drives? I went for the large Samsung drives because of their nice acoustic management features and well reviews. I will move all my media library to those two drives (OK, almost all media I have) for now, since I do not want any other PC, Server, NAS running in my living room for the time being. Once I move house later this year I will remove the HDD and put them into a SAN in the basement. Hopefully I can afford one of those new SSD to put the OS and HTPC software on by then ;-)
Note on the CPU fan: first, I thought a fanless system is the way to go. But the case has no ventilation slots in its top cover, so that hot air could not leave the case easily.
The fan now blows the air to the right side of the case, also passing the PSU. If this setup will not be good enough, I will move the case's fans back into the system.

The exercise of putting it all together:
What a case! This is the first case I EVER bought, which comes with a manual pointing out the correct sequence for assembling all the components (PSU, FDD, HDD, Mainboard, etc). The case is so tight, you better stick to the manual! The case can hold a slim line DVD drive; however, the cage the drive is put in runs from front to back, right in the middle of the case. It reduces the maximum height the CPU cooler can have. I had to cut off the top ends of the Noctua's heatpipes to get the cooler + fan into the case, but now it nicely fits together.
Also, I removed the case fans, because I expect to have no use for them. Time will tell, whether I am right, or not. Everything is ready to go, and the case is quite packed inside, already. I have no TV card in the system (yet), but the FloppyDTV will fit into the 3,5" FDD mount point.

First boot:
3 ... 2 ... 1 ... fire it up! WHOW. That DVD drive IS NOISY! No way I ever gonna use it for playing a DVD. Luckily I still own a nice DVD Recorder, which is 100% noiseless and can be used for now. First, I installed/configured the acoustic management of the Samsung drives. Next, Vista, Mainboard and nVidia drivers, iMon Software and Mediaportal got installed. Finally, I installed RMClock, which allows me to nicely undervolt my system.
For MP I installed the external display plugin, the ofdb patch and the preconfigured iMon configuration.

First impressions:
Nice case (did I mention that?). Unfortunately it has a habit of attracting fingerprints, which are clearly seen from every angle. From 3m distance the system is noiseless, even when watching movies. From half the distance I can hear the HDD when it is really, really busy (say, when installing the OS). The system cannot be heard in normal operation (movie/music plaback from HDD or LAN) For me that's good enough.
I never gonna use that DVD drive unless I need to install something via DVD/CD. I will continue to test whether AMD's cool & quiet will do, or undervolting via RMClock is a better option. Currently (using RMClock) the system idles at about 32°C with no fan moving. When playing music/movies it goes up to 45°C max and the fan runs at very low RPMs. Only, when I require max CPU power for a longer time the temperature peaks at 60°C.

Questions:
Is there any way to transcode my DVDs to h.264 AND keep the menus? For now I simply copied the DVDs to my HDD and put them on shelf. Since I like to keep the Bonus stuff I opted to not
rip menus and extras. So - is there any way to reduce their the size by using h.264, while keeping all features of the DVD? Any hints welcome!


Thanks for all your former posts, which helped me in building this system!

[ThaClown]

http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...d02mt&area=usa
Whow that is a cool case!!!

Question: will it give problems haveing 2 resolutions: 1080P in TV, 1024x768 on the touch screen?

[hsiegeln]

Originally Posted by ThaClown

Question: will it give problems haveing 2 resolutions: 1080P in TV, 1024x768 on the touch screen?

Hi,

mainboard and graphic card support dual monitor setup. My current configuration is 576i on the TV and 1024x768 on the touch screen without any problem. Once I get a 1080P24 I can test your setup. The nVidia driver, however, supports the combination you mention.

[synthdood]

In MP config you can set the CD/DVD speed. 2x or 4x should be enough. This will slow the dive down and make it nice and quiet!

[outlive]

very good choices - except cpu/additional graphics card/hdd

you could have bought a Sempron 64 LE-1100 for the same speed, half the price and even lower watt output
the onboard ati x1250 chip supports hardware H.264 decoding, resolutions up to 1080p, has passive cooling, HDMI, HDCP
the GForce 7300 just added additional costs, is an additional power consumer, produces additional heat and has less overall performance then the x1250

also i would have gone for 2xWestern Digital Caviar GP 500GB SATA II (WD5000AACS) instead of your Samsungs
the new Green Power drives produce less heat, have lower power consumption
and are close to inaudible as far as operation noise/vibration goes do to an excellent acoustics management

[1fizgig]

Most impressed that you used the case I'd love to use myself - even got a great WAF score!
One question though - would you look to putting a quiet slimline DVD drive in it or is there something else that makes it noisy? I'm holding out on the idea of a slimline blu-ray drive when they're available, but your thoughts would be welcome.
Cheers.

[hsiegeln]

it's the slimline DVD drive making that noise. I squeezed some rubber bumbers between the drive and its cage and throttled its speed to silence it down. I still think its too noisy, hence I copy my DVDs to the HDD and never use the drive.

One note on the display: it's not as usefull as I though in the beginning. That's mainly because I couldn't find any nice "control panel" to display on that touchscreen. I still stick with the plugin mentioned in my original post, but still ....