My Silverstone LC17 HTPC [2008-09-22]

[SweMart]

Summer is here so I thought it was a good idea to finally get rid of my old crappy piece of junk.

The choice of CPU may seem a bit retarded but since I'm a big fan of american muscle cars I went for the AMD64 X2 6000+ which consumes a whopping 125W.

Here are the specs:

Hardware:
- Silverstone LC17 case
- AMD64 X2 6000+ (Socket AM2)
- Gigabyte GA-M55S-S3 (motherboard)
- Corsair HX 520W (PSU)
- Noctua NH-U9F CPU heatsink
- Club3d ATI HD2600 Pro 512M (Passively cooled CPU)
- 3GB RAM
- 400GB Seagate barracuda
- NEC 13x DVD-+RW
- 2 * FloppyDTV-C
- mCubed HDD Slient Brackets
- 3 * Noctua NF-R8 80mm fans

Software:
- Vista Ultimate SP1
- MP 1.0.0.0 RC2 using TVE3
- PowerDVD 8.0
- CoreAVC 1.8.0
- Latest Haali
- Latest DivX
- Latest Direct VobSub aka vsfilter
- Latest Daemon Tools

Home theatre stuff:
- Sony Bravia KDL-52W4000 52" LCD connected via HDMI
- Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver with built in HDMI switch(capable of DTS HD MA and DD TrueHD)
- Harman/Kardon KTS11 5.1 speakers

Changelog:
080922 - Today I swapped my PSU to a Corsair HX520, bloody amazing! It's even quieter than my old Zalman, it's also only 520W. Mental note: Never open the case again, it's a nightmare changing the PSU.
08XXXX - The following changes have been made:
- XP MCE 2005 out - Vista Ultimate SP1 in
- ASUS 8600GT out - Club3D HD2600 Pro in
- Old Samsung 40" LCD out - Sony KDL-52W4000 52" LCD in
- Another GB to cater for Vista
071004 - Renovated the room, new wallpaper + paint, also replaced the Yamaha with an amazing Onkyo system
070901 - Replaced my "Zalman CNPS9700 LED" with a "Noctua NH-U9F"
070901 - Mounted the HDD using mCubed Silent Brackets in a 5.25" slot
070829 - Replaced standard fans with Noctua NF-R8 fans

Note 1: Added some pictures of the mCubed HDD brackets as per several requests.
Note 2: Interesting build guide at corsair.com, they same to like the same kinda products - http://www.corsair.com/systembuild/r...port_id=358301

The wife, daugther and the dog loves it!

[ThaClown]

Very very nice, just love that case!
Question? why the 2gig of memory? isnt that a bit overkill?

[SweMart]

Originally Posted by ThaClown

Very very nice, just love that case!
Question? why the 2gig of memory? isnt that a bit overkill?

The case is very nice, I especially love that the PSU isn't seated on the same side as the CPU, makes cooling a whole lot easier.

It was like 20 euros difference between 1GB and 2GB so I though why not

[ThaClown]

Hehe ok indeed why not? and 2GB with an AMD64 X2 6000+ seems perfectly normal! hehe Love your setup.
Nice job

[SweMart]

Major upgrade today!

I replaced CPU cooler, case fans and mounted the disks using HDD rubber brackets. I thought that the HTPC was quiet earlier but boy was I wrong. The Noctua fans are unbelievable, you can't friggin hear them.

The HDD brackets is also a must buy at only 10 euros, can't hear the disk any more.

[surfermc]

I've got the same case and am interested in how you mounted the HDD rubber brackets. Have you got any pictures you can share? Have you hot the HDD is the 5.25in slot under the DVD?

MC

[druffski]

Nice!! I've been eyeing off the Silverstone cases for a while now.

2GB RAM - I agree, why not!!

[SweMart]

Originally Posted by surfermc

I've got the same case and am interested in how you mounted the HDD rubber brackets. Have you got any pictures you can share? Have you hot the HDD is the 5.25in slot under the DVD?

MC

Sorry no pics, had a very tight schedule when I replaced both the CPU heatsink and refitted the HDD.

Yes, it's in the 5.25" slot below the DVD. Temp is something like 35C and absolutely silent.

A fairly good pciture can be found here, click on the small image to enlarge:
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=37285

Originally Posted by druffski

Nice!! I've been eyeing off the Silverstone cases for a while now.

It's an amazing case, the best thing is that the PSU is not situated on the same side as the CPU - makes cooling a whole lot easier.

Only crappy thing is that the fans delivered sucks imho.

[player-x]

Hi SweMart

I have a HTPC close to your config, its a little older but not mouths.

I have the predecessor of your video card the asus 7600GT silent.
and had problems whit the height of the card, it was about 3mm to high for my Silverstone LC03 case.

I cut a hole in the top of the case to fit the card and it works well
Even think it improves cooling a lot but don't wane cut more hole's then i have now

I was thinking of getting the same CPU cooler you have the Noctua NH-U9F
I am only afraid that i will have problems whit the height again.
Do you remember how mouths space you had left after installing the CPU cooler because your case is about 10mm higher then mine.
Everything i checked over the i-net says it should fit but i am not completely shore.

Here are some photos/drawings of the problems i had whit the 7600GT and i was hopping to avoid them whit this cooler

[SweMart]

Originally Posted by player-x

I was thinking of getting the same CPU cooler you have the Noctua NH-U9F
I am only afraid that i will have problems whit the height again.
Do you remember how mouths space you had left after installing the CPU cooler because your case is about 10mm higher then mine.
Everything i checked over the i-net says it should fit but i am not completely shore.

I think there's a little bit less than 1cm left to the case cover from the heatsink. I would look for other alternatives...