Ongoing Zalman HD160plus and Antec Phantom 500W PSU (1 Viewer)

lsandini

MP Donator
  • Premium Supporter
  • December 17, 2006
    84
    0
    Kuopio
    Home Country
    Finland Finland
    Hey there,

    HTPC taking shape here. It's all built in a Silverstone SUGO case with the Silverstone Nitrogon lite passive CPU cooler, but for the deployment phase, I am transplanting its organs to a bigger case. I will make a few modifications though, like a Scythe Ninja mini cooler for the CPU.

    I was recommended to use an Antec Phantom PSU instead of the Silverstone "short" one, since the power consumption of the system is so low that the PSU's fan will probably never spin up, but in case of overheating, the fan is a good protection, compared to completely passive PSUs.

    I am a bit worried about air flow in the case, since the gfx card is passively cooled, and the only fans will be the 2x8cm fans at the back of the case (+ CPU cooler ?). I am replacing the 2 x 20.5CFM Zalman fans with 2 x 31CFM Noctua fans, that should be even more silent with better performance.

    Does anyone have comments on that PSU ? According to the manufacturer, the high efficiency means less heat production, and as my components use about 130W when fully stressed and about 80-90W idle, the Phantom could be a good candidate. Suggestions about other PSU (when based on personal experience) are also welcome.

    Lorenzo
     

    lsandini

    MP Donator
  • Premium Supporter
  • December 17, 2006
    84
    0
    Kuopio
    Home Country
    Finland Finland
    Well since there are no opinions, I went out and bought one, ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED. Not once it has gone in active mode.

    I replaced the two 8cm fans at the back of the HD160 Plus case, and replaced them with 8cm Noctua fans. The contents of the case are quite simple:

    Intel DP35DP motherboard, E4600 CPU with Scythe Ninja Mini (passive), 2x1GB RAM, HD2600XT (passive), and FloppyDTV tuner. The HDD is a 160GB 2.5" WD SATA, and DVD-RW drive a cheap LG model.

    The 2 x 8cm fans are spinning at minimal speed and are virtually silent, the HDD is inaudible, and the Intel System Monitor software reports CPU temps of 38-44C, but ICH is about 80-84C, both still in the "green" range.

    Since I have had problems with MP/TV server, I am giving Vista Media Center a try, but EPG problems will probably kill it.

    Lorenzo
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom