HTPC Build - Antec Fusion 430 (Black)

[SamAus]

Thanks Dietman and kszabo for your replies...

Yes I am looking at getting the Scynthe Ninja mini CPU Heatsink which has had great reviews...

Is it ok to remove one fan ?? Would that be enough with regard to cooling ??

I am looking at the Antec NeoPower 430W to see what i can find in terms of reviews but this will most likely be my option.

Based on 2 - 3 weeks of reading and research I have come to the conclusion of this HW configuration.

Any comments from others would be greatly appreciated. I am still looking at all parts to find reviews and see which ones are the most quietest and perform the best but this ongoing until I start building at end of the month.

All in $AUS I found on the net doing quick search.

Case Antec Fusion 430 Silver $255.00 ( will be cheaper if I can find without power supply )
Mobo Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H $95.00
Antec NeoPower 430W $90.00
CPU AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core 4850e $104.60
Scythe Ninja Mini (Fanless) $59.00
Arctic Cooling Fan 12 PWM $19.00
DDR2 PC2-6400 Vista Performance 4GB $145.00
HDD samsung f1 1tb $194.00
Pioneer Blue Ray – DVD/RW $120.00
Logitech Dinovo Mini $199.00 ( when can afford it )
harmony 525 $51.00 ( for now )
Graphics Card 8600GT $239.00 ( Down the track - use on board for now )
Tuner Hauppauge HVR 2200 $186.00

TV For now will be my current SCART/Component Panasonic 76cm non-Plasma with the Pioneer 50' Plasma down the track.

Thoughts ????????

Thanks all.. this forum rocks

[kszabo]

Originally Posted by SamAus

Is it ok to remove one fan ?? Would that be enough with regard to cooling ??

test it yourself, use Speedfan to monitor CPU temp. But I don´t know, if you can monitor the southbridge with the HD3200... it needs much case air circulation. I leave my 2 fans installed...

Originally Posted by SamAus

CPU AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core 4850e $104.60
Graphics Card 8600GT $239.00 ( Down the track - use on board for now )

why do you need a graphics card? you can just use the MoBos onboard graphics. Less heat, less noise. BUT wait a little if you can and buy a new Phenom with dual core (will be called Athlon X2 ....xy, Kuma core) with Hypertransport 3!!! You will get much better picture for HDTV h.264 with the onboard HD3200.

I only found passively cooled better GFX cards (8600GT or HD3650 upwards) with 2-slot design. So something like that would block 1 PCIe slot. You will have only one to use. It can happen very quickly that you want to put one more TV-Tuner card or Wlan adapter inside, and then you are stuck. I suggest: no extra GFx (or just an HD3450 passive single slot design for HybridXfire, to play games), Dualcore Phenom for video quality, USB-Wlan adapter to spare a PCIe slot, 2 TV-Cards.

Software I recommend: Vista 32bit SP1 (no XP because of better driver, EVR and DXVA2), PowerDVD 7.3 with latest patch (for mpg2 and h.264 codec with DXVA support), Catalyst Driver 8.5 (nothing different!), MP 1.0 RC2

greetings from Hungary

[SamAus]

Thanks kszabo.... so the onboard video is good enough to run Blue Ray and AVI files directly... I am not interested in gaming but just playing my media files, mp3, avi, jpg, etc.. and Blue Ray Movies... ?? Also skype, browsing the web, watching movie trailers, etc.. will need to look at Media Portal more closely...

I just logged on to AMD Site and all i can see is the AMD Phenom™ X3 Triple-Core and AMD Phenom™ X4 Quad-Core but nothing about dual core but i suspect that is what you meant... Are they already for sale and they are compatible with the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H ???

Sorry for all the questions this is all new to me and I want to ensure that I have all facts before I start purchasing the parts and putting it all together...

I was going to install XP PRO for stability but based on your comments i think i will switch to Vista and i have a read a document somewhere that gives all the settings and changes that one should make with Vista to help performance etc... will need to find that again..

Cheers from Down Under...

SamAus.

Just found that the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H is compatible with Athlon 64, Sempron, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2, Phenom, Phenom X4, Phenom X3 which i am sure you all already knew..
Found the X3 for AUS$122.00 so I have added that to my list - also updated other prices...
So based on my current list this is what I have

Antec Fusion 430 Silver $215.00
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H $90.00
Antec NeoPower 430W $89.00
Athlon Dual-Core Phenom X3 $122.00
Scythe Ninja Mini (Fanless) $59.00
Arctic Cooling Fan 12 PWM $19.00
KINGSTON DDR2 PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) Platinum 4GB Dual Channel ( 2gb x 2 ) $97.00
samsung 1tb HD103UJ $155.00
Pioneer Blue Ray – DVD/RW $199.00
harmony 525 $51.00
Hauppauge HVR 2200 $186.00

TOTAL AUS$1282.00 ex Delivery - hopefully can source them locally.

Not convinced with the Remote - any comments from anyone ?? Best Remote with above setup and Fusion 430 and IR Receiver??

Thanks

[kszabo]

The first X2 with HT3 is the AMD Athlon X2 6500 Black Edition, 2x 2.30GHz, 2x 512kB Cache, 2MB shared L3-Cache (Kuma core).

But it sells for the same price as the AMD Phenom X3 8450, 3x 2.10GHz, 3x 512kB Cache, 2MB shared L3-Cache

so I decided for the X3. I need the smallest-slowest Phenom and will further downvolt-downclock to spare heat, noise and electricity. Bettwr would be a 45nm Penom, but it will take months till they are available (AMD will release the high-clocked versions first to compete with Intel, mainstream will come later I guess)

Remote:
I have good experiencees with MCE compatible remote with an Antec Fusion 430 v2 silver VFD Display. The Logitech can emulate the MS MCE Remote. But my MCE Remote is not working with my new AntecFusionRemite black with LCD Display. But there is the iMon Pad remote in the box. I can live with that.

MCE Remote works out-of-the-box with MP. Through the Antecs IR Receiver you need to configure few hours to get it work though.

[SamAus]

kszabo yes I see......

Will head down the Phenom X3 8450 I think....

I just realized that the Pioneer Blue Ray DVD/RW only comes in Black is that right ???
I want to purchase the Silver Case to fit with my other Audio Equipment...

Do they come in Silver does anyone know or how about another brand like LG for example that is quiet and energey efficient for a HTPC !!!

[kszabo]

Originally Posted by SamAus

kszabo yes I see......
I just realized that the Pioneer Blue Ray DVD/RW only comes in Black is that right ???
I want to purchase the Silver Case to fit with my other Audio Equipment...

Do they come in Silver does anyone know or how about another brand like LG for example that is quiet and energey efficient for a HTPC !!!

Antec Fusion silver case you mean? It has a silver brushed aluminium front door for the optical drive so you can buy a black bluray drive. You won´t see the drawer of the drive only if it is ejected.

[SamAus]

Originally Posted by kszabo

Antec Fusion silver case you mean? It has a silver brushed aluminium front door for the optical drive so you can buy a black bluray drive. You won´t see the drawer of the drive only if it is ejected.

Oh I see... it automatically flips down when you select eject ????

That is great news.... i will then buy the Silver and put a black DVD Blue Ray Drive...

I wanted it all to be Silver but was worried the black DVD Blue Ray Drive will stand out... but if it is covered with a silver front door and only when you eject does it show that is fine i think...

Thansk kszabo.. i was about to buy the black one...

SamAus

[Justchill]

ArmandP,

how are you doing? Any more HW-updates?
You should check this out:

[ Hardware.Info ] - Hardware.Info TV: BTO Quadcore notebook / ASUS Xonar HDMI geluidskaart / Adobe CS4 met GPU support

choose 2nd article (xonar)

regards

[SamAus]

Hi Guys... i will be proving more details soon but at the moment I have a major issue...

Well major to me....

I have connected my Fusion Remote box and all is ok except the power to the LCD/IR.. I can see a 3 pin female and i believe that is meant to connect to the cable coming from the power supply... The first time i did this SOME BAD RESULTS... this wire started to melt.. well the plastic around it.. and I quickly turned it off and unplugged this cable all together..

After the shock.. i turned the HTPC on again without this cable.. which i believe is the power to the LCR/IR and also Volume Knob and all is ok.. and started installing Vista...

Now i want to come back to this again.. as at the moment i dont have a LCD screen or IR etc...

I have already connected the USB Cable to the internal motherboard... but as there is no power i am not sure if the LCD screen is still ok....... I hope it is not damaged !!!!!!!!!


Anyway my question is has anyone had this problem.. and secondly.... what am i doing wrong... ????

I want to try to connect the power again but I am afraid to do anymore damage.. i think i need to buy a new cable although this cable still looks ok but there is wire being exposed which cant be good...

I am just afraid that maybe i have damaged the LCD etc.... !!!!

Anyhelp or advice would be appreciated.... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks

[kszabo]

Originally Posted by SamAus

I have connected my Fusion Remote box and all is ok except the power to the LCD/IR.. I can see a 3 pin female and i believe that is meant to connect to the cable coming from the power supply... The first time i did this SOME BAD RESULTS... this wire started to melt.. well the plastic around it.. and I quickly turned it off and unplugged this cable all together..

I have a Remote Fusion Black. I did not have any cable to be connected directly to the power unit, as far as I can remember. Only:

- 1 USB cable to the motherboards (MoBo) USB header (or to a rear hub with adapter cable) for LCD and volume knob, power supply of LCD goes through this
- 1 Audiocable to the audio header of the MoBo
- 1 pair cable for the power switch to the power header of MoBo
- 1 pair of cable for the reset button to the reset header of MoBo
- 1 pair of cable of the HD activity led to hd header of MoBo
- 1 pair of cable of the power LED to Mobo's power led header

What the hell did you connect to the power supply? You have good chances that you killed the LCD, if I should bet.