Noise-less, fan-less HTPC

tomtom21000 · 2005-08-23, 19:21

I am pretty excited about my new HTPC

So I thought, I let you all know about it

Situation:
My first HTPC was a MSI Mega 651, a nice little box for the living-room.
The one thing my wife complaint about was the noise of the box. And, allthough my tolerance was somewhat higher, had to agree to this.
(And this, allthough I had a passive graphics card and replaced the original northbridge cooler with a passive solution.)
So this box replaced my 5 year old desktop now and I moved on to my 2. generation HTPC...

Sorry, no photo of my wife´s expression,, when I told her, I bought all the new stuff only for her, because she complained about too much noise

Goals:
# fanless, completely quiet HTPC
# enough power to allow a game like NFS Underground and to reencode dvr-ms to avi
# low power consumption
# good design (not decisive)

Shopping list::
HFX-Media case 295 ,- EUR
Borg HPC CPU-Heatpipe 76,- EUR
HFX Emergency fan + controller 92mm 30,- EUR
Imon VFD 16x2 85,- EUR
Silverstone fanless 300W-Power-Supply 120,- EUR
Samsung SP1614C- SATA 160 GB 80,- EUR
Asus AV8-E Deluxe (with WLAN) 105,- EUR
AMD Athlon 3500+ Venice 229,- EUR
BenQ 1640 Double Layer DVD Brenner 54,- EUR
MSI NX6600 TD - 256 MB PCI graphic-card, passive cooled 115,- EUR
DDR 3200/400- 1 GB-CL3 RAM noname 84,- EUR
sunbeam Harddrive-silencer for 5,25" 11,- EUR
and Zalman passive Northbridge Cooler 6,- EUR

Total cost: 1.278 EUR

I reused my Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 (150 EUR)

Comment:
The Spinpoints are known to work very silent
The BenQ was tested by "chip" as one of the most quiet drives
I replaced the motherboard fan with a passive solution
The case fan is only for emergencies. It is at 0 rpm and only starts when the cpu reaches 60 degrees Celsius

Assembly:
It was quite hard. I won´t bother you with details. I am no hardware pro. I put together the MSI, but this was prebuild with box and mb, so I had only to stuff some things in. The case has lots of space, but the order in which you build things into the case matters. I had to build everything in and out four times. Had trouble connecting the VFD and getting S3 to work. Also nearly slipped a decisive setting to get the Cool & quiet working.

Experience:
I think it is a very nice case. It is extremely heavy, due to the massive heatpipes. The heatpipes do get rather hot, so they seem to work good.
While using MP, the MB and CPU temp are 55 degrees Celsius. I haven´t really stressed the CPU yet. mcubed has test charts on their website for 100% cpu-usage in a similar setting.
One possible drawback is, that the case has no card slots. There is a 3,5" bay at the back where you could place a internal 3,5" card reader into. As my HFX went into a rack and I can´t get to the backside easily, this was no option for me. I connected an external card reader via usb.
And it has no front usb.

The HFX works absolutely without noise. Very nice so far. Still testing. Have it now for 3 weeks.

Feel free to place your comments

tomtom

Info for HFX-case:
German: http://www.mcubed-tech.com/deutsch/hfx.htm
English: http://www.mcubed-tech.com/eng/produkte.htm

irrotational · 2005-08-23, 20:03

Looks ace!!

I was going to get one of these for my htpc project but they had big delays when starting production so it was going to take too long...

apart from the massive zalman efforts its the only way (afaik) to get heat-pipe/fanless for all parts....

now sit back and enjoy it!!

wortelsoft · 2005-08-23, 20:46

Wow impressive kit you have there.

I'm going the papst 12 dB fans + zalman vga heapipe way.
I still need to replace the not so silent as promissed fan in my power supply.

Not as good as your set, but well I just started the HTPC adventure and I'm not willing (yet) to get the big cash out.

Would have loved to see your wives face when she saw the bill

tklon · 2005-08-23, 22:32

Very nice configuration. This would also be a 2nd generation machine for me.

Try this tool for Cool'n'Quiet if you have trouble with the AMD tools: http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml
It works very well with my AMD Athlon XP-M.

mbb · 2005-08-24, 09:31

I plan to buy one.

To wait (for money and availability), I bought the cheapest case I found (25€ with 400w psu)

To drive the power use of my Athlon 64 3200 I use CrystalCPUID http://www.silentpcreview.com/article231-page1.html

(and adapt a 120 fan against the very noisy 80 of the psu)

2005-08-23, 19:21	#1 (permalink)
tomtom21000 Retired Team Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 977 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts My System	Noise-less, fan-less HTPC I am pretty excited about my new HTPC So I thought, I let you all know about it Situation: My first HTPC was a MSI Mega 651, a nice little box for the living-room. The one thing my wife complaint about was the noise of the box. And, allthough my tolerance was somewhat higher, had to agree to this. (And this, allthough I had a passive graphics card and replaced the original northbridge cooler with a passive solution.) So this box replaced my 5 year old desktop now and I moved on to my 2. generation HTPC... Sorry, no photo of my wife´s expression,, when I told her, I bought all the new stuff only for her, because she complained about too much noise Goals: # fanless, completely quiet HTPC # enough power to allow a game like NFS Underground and to reencode dvr-ms to avi # low power consumption # good design (not decisive) Shopping list:: HFX-Media case 295 ,- EUR Borg HPC CPU-Heatpipe 76,- EUR HFX Emergency fan + controller 92mm 30,- EUR Imon VFD 16x2 85,- EUR Silverstone fanless 300W-Power-Supply 120,- EUR Samsung SP1614C- SATA 160 GB 80,- EUR Asus AV8-E Deluxe (with WLAN) 105,- EUR AMD Athlon 3500+ Venice 229,- EUR BenQ 1640 Double Layer DVD Brenner 54,- EUR MSI NX6600 TD - 256 MB PCI graphic-card, passive cooled 115,- EUR DDR 3200/400- 1 GB-CL3 RAM noname 84,- EUR sunbeam Harddrive-silencer for 5,25" 11,- EUR and Zalman passive Northbridge Cooler 6,- EUR Total cost: 1.278 EUR I reused my Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 (150 EUR) Comment: The Spinpoints are known to work very silent The BenQ was tested by "chip" as one of the most quiet drives I replaced the motherboard fan with a passive solution The case fan is only for emergencies. It is at 0 rpm and only starts when the cpu reaches 60 degrees Celsius Assembly: It was quite hard. I won´t bother you with details. I am no hardware pro. I put together the MSI, but this was prebuild with box and mb, so I had only to stuff some things in. The case has lots of space, but the order in which you build things into the case matters. I had to build everything in and out four times. Had trouble connecting the VFD and getting S3 to work. Also nearly slipped a decisive setting to get the Cool & quiet working. Experience: I think it is a very nice case. It is extremely heavy, due to the massive heatpipes. The heatpipes do get rather hot, so they seem to work good. While using MP, the MB and CPU temp are 55 degrees Celsius. I haven´t really stressed the CPU yet. mcubed has test charts on their website for 100% cpu-usage in a similar setting. One possible drawback is, that the case has no card slots. There is a 3,5" bay at the back where you could place a internal 3,5" card reader into. As my HFX went into a rack and I can´t get to the backside easily, this was no option for me. I connected an external card reader via usb. And it has no front usb. The HFX works absolutely without noise. Very nice so far. Still testing. Have it now for 3 weeks. Feel free to place your comments tomtom Info for HFX-case: German: http://www.mcubed-tech.com/deutsch/hfx.htm English: http://www.mcubed-tech.com/eng/produkte.htm __________________

2005-08-23, 20:03	#2 (permalink)
irrotational Portal Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Looks ace!! I was going to get one of these for my htpc project but they had big delays when starting production so it was going to take too long... apart from the massive zalman efforts its the only way (afaik) to get heat-pipe/fanless for all parts.... now sit back and enjoy it!! __________________ -insert sig here-

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2005-08-23, 20:46	#3 (permalink)
wortelsoft Portal Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Age: 32 Posts: 374 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Wow impressive kit you have there. I'm going the papst 12 dB fans + zalman vga heapipe way. I still need to replace the not so silent as promissed fan in my power supply. Not as good as your set, but well I just started the HTPC adventure and I'm not willing (yet) to get the big cash out. Would have loved to see your wives face when she saw the bill

2005-08-23, 22:32	#4 (permalink)
tklon Portal Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Germany Age: 43 Posts: 311 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	Very nice configuration. This would also be a 2nd generation machine for me. Try this tool for Cool'n'Quiet if you have trouble with the AMD tools: http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml It works very well with my AMD Athlon XP-M.

2005-08-24, 09:31	#5 (permalink)
mbb Portal Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 148 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country:	I plan to buy one. To wait (for money and availability), I bought the cheapest case I found (25€ with 400w psu) To drive the power use of my Athlon 64 3200 I use CrystalCPUID http://www.silentpcreview.com/article231-page1.html (and adapt a 120 fan against the very noisy 80 of the psu)