Ongoing Pc for media portal software (2 Viewers)

[wojciech_ste]

HI;
I want to start my second MP Project.
In the December Chip (chip.de) I found very nice set.

1.Antec Veris Micro Fusion 350 case with low noice power PSU
2.Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H ATI3200 on board (enouth for 1360x768).
3.AMD Athlon X2 4050e CPU with Thermaltake SonicTower (passive)
4. 2GB DDR2 RAM
5. Samsung EcoGreen F1 DT 1000GB, SATA II (low noise)
6. Technotrend S2-3200 HDTV TV Card (works very fine with MediaPortal)
7.LiteOn DH-4O1S, SATA Blu-ray player (Power DVD from Cyberlink already included)
8.Netgear RangeMax WPN311, 108Mbps for Video stream.
9. Build-in adapter for CF, SD, SDHD etc. card.
10. Optional ATI Radeon HD 4550, 512MB GDDR3 passive for Full HD.

This configuration has been already tested and won against Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 with Asus P5Q-EM Motherboard. The AMD setup need much less power than Intel, escpecially in the Idle-mode.
AMD system produce about 1,3 Sone noise.

I will upload some picture when I'm finished with the system

 

[magao]

I found that even with the case fans on the lowest setting, they were a bit loud in the Micro Fusion 350.

I did a 5V mod - took a molex to 2-molex adaptor, removed the red (5V) wire, moved the yellow (12V) wire on the single molex to the 5V position, then plugged the two case fans into the modified adaptor (leaving the fans on the highest setting).

The case fans are now very quiet but are still exhausting plenty of air (my CPU - E7300 - is sitting around 12C above ambient).

 

[iancalderban]

I found that even with the case fans on the lowest setting, they were a bit loud in the Micro Fusion 350.

I did a 5V mod - took a molex to 2-molex adaptor, removed the red (5V) wire, moved the yellow (12V) wire on the single molex to the 5V position, then plugged the two case fans into the modified adaptor (leaving the fans on the highest setting).

The case fans are now very quiet but are still exhausting plenty of air (my CPU - E7300 - is sitting around 12C above ambient).

agree with these comments very much. the antec fans are not good (=quiet) enough in the micro fusion. disappointing as I have had larger antec case with 120mm fans that are "good enough" from silence point of view. The hdd fan is the worst from a user experience on the micro-fusion as its closest to the front. I swapped all mine out which unfortunately puts the price of the case up. but its not that expensive a case in the first place (not compared to the zalmans etc) so hey its ok.

I have a nexus blowing onto the HDD connected to a fan-mate (mounted externally) which I leave on 6v most of the time. The case fans I have swapped for pair of 1000rpm 80mm sharkoons which are still silent at 12v ( I tried pair of 80mm nexus driven off the system PWM connector but wasn't happy with the noise) . The cpu has a scythe shuriken on it, using the motherboard's PWM connector for control of that fan. Finally I also have a couple of nexus 80mm mounted externally in holes at the back of my av bench behind the htpc, helping push air through the bench (the microfusion is covered by the bench so airflow around it is not that great passively), these are powered from the HTPC and again controlled by an external fan-mate @6v most of the time.

after all this , its quiet. hardly noticeable even with sound off (recording by itself for example) certainly not intrusive. With tv sound on - htpc noise is no longer noticed at all.

I mean to experiment soon with hand-made cardboard air-baffles from the external fans, to "push" air into the perforated intakes at the back of the case to try and move the internal case temp down a little (currently sits about 40).

its a nice case apart from the stock fans. good price, included PSU, included LCD (ok so the viewing angle is poor, but for the price its acceptable) and its SMALL. I don't want a full-size antec fusion on my av bench which is what many have done.


one more thing - the mobo doesn't come with a coax-spdif out and a special pci-slot bracket for that is expensive / hard to find and probably not low-profile. you can make your own for minimal outlay with these (or equivalent from your local electronics store as you are not in uk). Maybe even cheaper solution if you have a two-pin mobo connector with bare wires already kicking around your parts box somewhere.

• Two pin mobo header to 3 pin fan connector adapter Graphics Card Fan Adapter > Maplin (connect the two pin connector to spdif header on mobo)
• 3 pin fan extension cable 3 Pin Extension Cable > Maplin (use extend the first cable to where you want to put the phono pull the other end connector off to leave bare wires)
• Chassis phono connector Phono Chassis Socket > Maplin
• 5.5MM drill bit - drill hole in case backplate supplied with mobo above the optical spdif out where there is space.
• Mount phono connector into new hole backplate. Wrap bare ends of wires from spdif header into holes in phono connector. cover with insulating tape (holds them in as well as insulating, no nead to solder).

Job done - coax spdif for about 7 GB pounds.

cheers
Ian