Knowing Linus he's probably just jacking around. It looks like you could almost fit that board through the CP Cooler cutout.
Brother in law Build Log!
- Thread starter salvage-this
- Start date
Knowing Linus he's probably just jacking around. It looks like you could almost fit that board through the CP Cooler cutout.
salvage-this
Active Member
Round 2!
HTPC Build:
AMD A6 6400K
Asus A78M-A
8gb DDR3 1600
SeaSonic SS-300TFX
APEX DM-387
Seagate 1TB
Hauppague 2250MCR TV Tuner
Logitech K400 Media Keyboard
Windows 7 x64
I have only done one other HTPC Build and it was super cramped. This time I wanted to go for a small form factor, but not sacrifice on performance without spending too much on it. I decided to get the APEX DM-387 case for this build and I can say I was really impressed by what I got.
For $45 it is a thin mATX media center case that has a PSU included. Most of the negative reviews of the case are for the PSU, claiming that it failed in the first few months and took other components with it. It could be that someone just added one too many expansion cards and overloaded a bad PSU, but I decided not to take that chance. I ordered a new SeaSonic TFX PSU to replace the one that came with it.
First issue that I came across is I forgot to compare the length of the replacement PSU. Turns out it won't mount properly unless I removed the top fan. Not really what I wanted to do, but this system will not be stressed all that often. There is still room for heat to rise, I just don't get a fan.
The last AMD CPUs that I worked with were the Phenom 2 955, FX 6300 and 8320 so it did amaze me a bit how small the stock coolers were getting.
Once I had the motherboard installed, I decided to get a head start on the cable management for the system. I find that in HTPC systems it really is better to layer the cable management. Connect the cables that you can when you install the motherboard, manage them, then add the next layer of hardware. This case comes with a decent amount of empty space under the drive cage that allows for the cables to be tied down. I just bent the clips over the wires for the front panel.
Here is another angle with the drive cage installed. Really impressed that they made this cage removable so you can manage cables first then add the drives to the cables hidden below.
There is room for an ODD as well as a 2.5" and 3.5" SSD/HDD. A bit cramped if you use all three but completely doable.
They decided to ditch the cable box and use an OTA DTV Antenna to get the basic channels. I have been using this DTV Tuner for years. Love it. It allows for two TV streams into the card at once. watch live/ record or record two at the same time. and you can add additional cards to add more TV streams if you need that much simultaneous recording. It would be interesting to see the HDD performance numbers when recording 4 FHD streams to a single disk.
I use this DTV Antenna at home.
http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B004QK7HI8
I get ~35 channels. Probably 8 or so are ones that I would want to watch. If you want to check the signal strength of OTA DTV in your area check your location here
http://tvfool.com/
All put together. I am really surprised at how much room for cables there is in this case.
There is a big vent over the CPU cooler. Plenty of room if you wanted another low profile cooler that is a bit better.
There is a magnetic door for the front bay access. Didn't feel super cheap to me, we'll see if it holds up over time.
Over all I am really happy with the way this one turned out. Excited to see the performance when recording TV and streaming MCE Extender in the other room.
HTPC Build:
AMD A6 6400K
Asus A78M-A
8gb DDR3 1600
SeaSonic SS-300TFX
APEX DM-387
Seagate 1TB
Hauppague 2250MCR TV Tuner
Logitech K400 Media Keyboard
Windows 7 x64
I have only done one other HTPC Build and it was super cramped. This time I wanted to go for a small form factor, but not sacrifice on performance without spending too much on it. I decided to get the APEX DM-387 case for this build and I can say I was really impressed by what I got.
For $45 it is a thin mATX media center case that has a PSU included. Most of the negative reviews of the case are for the PSU, claiming that it failed in the first few months and took other components with it. It could be that someone just added one too many expansion cards and overloaded a bad PSU, but I decided not to take that chance. I ordered a new SeaSonic TFX PSU to replace the one that came with it.
First issue that I came across is I forgot to compare the length of the replacement PSU. Turns out it won't mount properly unless I removed the top fan. Not really what I wanted to do, but this system will not be stressed all that often. There is still room for heat to rise, I just don't get a fan.
The last AMD CPUs that I worked with were the Phenom 2 955, FX 6300 and 8320 so it did amaze me a bit how small the stock coolers were getting.
Once I had the motherboard installed, I decided to get a head start on the cable management for the system. I find that in HTPC systems it really is better to layer the cable management. Connect the cables that you can when you install the motherboard, manage them, then add the next layer of hardware. This case comes with a decent amount of empty space under the drive cage that allows for the cables to be tied down. I just bent the clips over the wires for the front panel.
Here is another angle with the drive cage installed. Really impressed that they made this cage removable so you can manage cables first then add the drives to the cables hidden below.
There is room for an ODD as well as a 2.5" and 3.5" SSD/HDD. A bit cramped if you use all three but completely doable.
They decided to ditch the cable box and use an OTA DTV Antenna to get the basic channels. I have been using this DTV Tuner for years. Love it. It allows for two TV streams into the card at once. watch live/ record or record two at the same time. and you can add additional cards to add more TV streams if you need that much simultaneous recording. It would be interesting to see the HDD performance numbers when recording 4 FHD streams to a single disk.
I use this DTV Antenna at home.
http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B004QK7HI8
I get ~35 channels. Probably 8 or so are ones that I would want to watch. If you want to check the signal strength of OTA DTV in your area check your location here
http://tvfool.com/
All put together. I am really surprised at how much room for cables there is in this case.
There is a big vent over the CPU cooler. Plenty of room if you wanted another low profile cooler that is a bit better.
There is a magnetic door for the front bay access. Didn't feel super cheap to me, we'll see if it holds up over time.
Over all I am really happy with the way this one turned out. Excited to see the performance when recording TV and streaming MCE Extender in the other room.
Last edited:
zeppelin04
Member
I may have to look into a htpc. Haven't had cable in years but wouldn't mind the basic channels for news, sports, etc. Not to mention add streaming my digital collection.
Did you get any special peripherals or are they just using a wireless mouse?
Did you get any special peripherals or are they just using a wireless mouse?
salvage-this
Active Member
Just the K400
http://www.logitech.com/product/wireless-touch-keyboard-k400r
If you want to do streaming to other media in the network you might want to use Plex. MCE is great for watching TV and connecting the recordings to another media extender. If you are more concerned with playing local media files I would look to Plex or Kodi (XBMC).
I just needed to basic channels for news and a few TV shows, but my Wife needed the DVR. We ended up converting her gaming PC into the HTPC so we could watch TV most of the time and still play co op games when we felt like it.
http://www.logitech.com/product/wireless-touch-keyboard-k400r
If you want to do streaming to other media in the network you might want to use Plex. MCE is great for watching TV and connecting the recordings to another media extender. If you are more concerned with playing local media files I would look to Plex or Kodi (XBMC).
I just needed to basic channels for news and a few TV shows, but my Wife needed the DVR. We ended up converting her gaming PC into the HTPC so we could watch TV most of the time and still play co op games when we felt like it.
ninjabubbles3
Active Member
Why not a miniITX system?
Silverstone recently made a really nice case for HTPC, looks like PissFour, i think its called the Silverstone Raven or something, it supports a full sized graphics card too
Silverstone recently made a really nice case for HTPC, looks like PissFour, i think its called the Silverstone Raven or something, it supports a full sized graphics card too
salvage-this
Active Member
Definitely not the Raven 
I wanted to go ITX, but couldn't find motherboards that I really wanted to use for the right price. Also if there was a need to go beyond one expansion slot I wanted that flexibility.
Silverstone makes some great HTPC Cases. Eventually I will be transferring my HTPC into a GD05 Need to find the extra cash first.
There is no need for a full size GPU, much less a dedicated GPU at all. So I didn't need to go nuts with the case design. He wanted a vertical case to fit between two pieces of furniture. This fit the build nicely.
I wanted to go ITX, but couldn't find motherboards that I really wanted to use for the right price. Also if there was a need to go beyond one expansion slot I wanted that flexibility.
Silverstone makes some great HTPC Cases. Eventually I will be transferring my HTPC into a GD05 Need to find the extra cash first.
There is no need for a full size GPU, much less a dedicated GPU at all. So I didn't need to go nuts with the case design. He wanted a vertical case to fit between two pieces of furniture. This fit the build nicely.
salvage-this
Active Member
Thanks again!
Being able to pull the drive out really made the build easier. It really would have been pretty tough if I couldn't remove that cage since I would have needed to add the PSU and motherboard last
ODD = Optical Disk Drive. Devices using lasers or other optics to write data vs magnetic or flash media.
Being able to pull the drive out really made the build easier. It really would have been pretty tough if I couldn't remove that cage since I would have needed to add the PSU and motherboard last
ODD = Optical Disk Drive. Devices using lasers or other optics to write data vs magnetic or flash media.
Nothing I've ever seen on this forum has made me want to sign out and leave forever more than this. How have I never heard this acronym before? I feel so stupid for not knowing that.
Thanks This makes me want to build an HTPC. I totally would except I have no use for one whatsoever.
Sigh. You got to be kidding me? Another person I can't take anywhere. Lol
Well put it this way. I didn't really start getting in to computers until 2011 when optical drives are kind of on their way out. I figured it was some sort of disc drive but my brain just couldn't think what on earth started with an O that would fit.
I may be a bit dense...
salvage-this
Active Member
HTPCs are fun builds. A bit tough since the info on them isn't scarce, but a bit hard to find what applies to your build.
I think I am getting into a FreeNAS system when I get the chance. Maybe play around with what I could move to VMs with a 2nd hand 2u rack and VMware ESXi
I think I am getting into a FreeNAS system when I get the chance. Maybe play around with what I could move to VMs with a 2nd hand 2u rack and VMware ESXi
This is pure gibberish to me. I assume VM = Virtual Machine but that's about as far as I can get.
salvage-this
Active Member
It's kinda hard for me to explain, but it is how quite a few enterprises manage their virtual servers. Spin up virtual servers, point them at different data stores on a networked storage array and assign whatever hardware necessary for the server load. You can move running servers and storage volumes to different locations without severely effecting the performance of the running server. Probably the closest thing to pure magic that I have worked with in IT.
zeppelin04
Member
HTPCs are fun builds. A bit tough since the info on them isn't scarce, but a bit hard to find what applies to your build.
That's for sure. I usually see people just playing DVDs and some videos off the hard drive. Nice to see the addition of tv and hear the necessary software.
I will definitely look back at this thread if I build one myself. Would like to game on one too. Use steam big screen mode with it.
salvage-this
Active Member
You don't need an HTPC to have a TV Tuner. I added it to my gaming PC and watched tv on a second display while gaming.
If you want to game on it as well as use it as a media center, do the build the same as you would do a gaming build, just add a media center case that has enough air flow for the higher end parts. Also remember that Windows 8.1 does not have Windows Media Center unless you buy Windows 8.1 Pro Pack with Media Center. Absolute rip off. Get Windows 7 or use 3rd party software.
If you want to game on it as well as use it as a media center, do the build the same as you would do a gaming build, just add a media center case that has enough air flow for the higher end parts. Also remember that Windows 8.1 does not have Windows Media Center unless you buy Windows 8.1 Pro Pack with Media Center. Absolute rip off. Get Windows 7 or use 3rd party software.
I'm still not entirely sure if I'm understanding that but it sounds pretty cool. I'll have to do some reading. The whole concept of servers and how big companies, or even schools for that matter, can deal with that much data is mind boggling. I can't even imagine the infrastructure behind the Engineering department here at KU.