Personal computing discussed

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AMD Damo
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Updating the ol' HTPC

Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:02 am

Hey guys, its come time to update the HTPC we have, at the moment its a few years old, its specs are:

Intel C2D 6320(? I think) 1.86ghz dual core
4GB DDR2 ram
Radeon 5450
1TB 7200 RPM Hitacthi HDD (plan on keeping this)
Thermaltake Tenor PC case

OCZ 600W PSU

I'm looking at going with the new AMD Fusion processors so I can get rid of a card in there, here is what I'm looking at:

CPU: AMD A6 3500
RAM: ARAM 1333mhz 1.5V DDR3 2x2GB
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-A55M-S2H
Case: Silverstone GD05 Black HTPC Case
PSU: Silverstone Nightjar 400W Fanless SF40NF
TV Tuner: Avermedia AVer3D CaptureHD

I'm not too sure on the power supply there, I want something quiet BUT I'm not sure if I should go a fanless one, they require great airflow right? Maybe not something suited to a HTPC type case?

These are the PSUs I have lined up:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=15349
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=11137
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... ts_id=8920

Some advice would be great, any tips/improvements would be awesome.

Thanks much.
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DancinJack
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:16 am

If you're willing to spend that much on the PSU, I would suggest this one.

Are you getting another hard drive? The Samsung F3 (if you want 7200rpm) and F4 (5400rpm) are quick and quiet drives.
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AMD Damo
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:12 am

DancinJack wrote:
If you're willing to spend that much on the PSU, I would suggest this one.

Are you getting another hard drive? The Samsung F3 (if you want 7200rpm) and F4 (5400rpm) are quick and quiet drives.


I've already got a 1TB Hitachi 7200 RPM hdd in there, might look into it though.

I'm weary on PSUs with no fans, might have an airflow issue in these HTPC style cases.
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JustAnEngineer
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:13 am

AMD Damo wrote:
RAM: ARAM 1333mhz 1.5V DDR3 2x2GB

I'm not familiar with ARAM. How about some PC3-12800 like this?
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/info/AL-C ... 00C9/1616/
Faster memory will help your APU's graphics performance.

AMD Damo wrote:
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-A55M-S2H

I have the F1A75-M Pro.
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/info/AL-F1A75-M-PRO/1933/
UEFI and Q-Fan were nice features to have.

AMD Damo wrote:

Something like an Antec Earthwatts Green or SeaSonic S12II in the 300 to 450-watt range would work fine for half the price.
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/info/AL-EA-430D/300/
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/info/PH-PSRS12II-430/300/
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DPete27
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:53 pm

I think your choice of cpu is a little beefy, but not outrageous. I was thinking of doing a similar HTPC build with an A4-3400. The ram should be sufficient though. Even our friends here at techreport think so:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21255/8

Motherboard: A75 is much better chipset to go with as its got usb3.0 and Sata III (usb3.0 is the big winner here depending on how you plan on getting new movies onto your PC) Have you checked out ASRock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157260

PSU: I honestly dont think you're going to be bothered by any decent PSU with a 120mm fan or larger. I have the OCZ Fatality 550 with a 135mm fan and i cant even hear it over the noise of my 120mm xigmatek tower cpu cooler.

Which brings me to my last point. You haven't specified an aftermarket CPU cooling option? I hope you're not going to rely on the stock cooler if you're considering a fanless PSU even.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
AMD Damo
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:36 am

Mainly my movies come from my other PC so USB3 isn't too important to me, I'm not sure if SATAIII and USB3 are worth the extra outlay? What else does A75 offer?

Whats UEFI and Qfan?

Also, the place I use for PC parts hasn't got FN1 aftermarket coolers listed, do AM3 ones work with FN1?
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JustAnEngineer
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:10 am

FM1 processor coolers are interchangeable with AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 coolers.
· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2
 
AMD Damo
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:30 am

Thanks, would there be much performance increase from going 1333mhz ram to say 1866/2000? Would it be worth the cost increase?

Also, these are my two fans i'm looking at:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=15924

or

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=14686
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FuturePastNow
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:21 am

AMD Damo wrote:
Thanks, would there be much performance increase from going 1333mhz ram to say 1866/2000? Would it be worth the cost increase?


Only if you play games using the integrated graphics. Nothing else will benefit from faster memory. The benefit in games is a few FPS, which would make a playability difference if the game you're playing is hovering around the 30FPS mark, but that's about it.

And fanless PSUs do require some air flow. I'd recommend a good, high quality 120mm fan PSU, a Seasonic around 350-400W would work great. It won't be louder than the CPU cooler.
 
DPete27
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:15 pm

AMD Damo wrote:
Thanks, would there be much performance increase from going 1333mhz ram to say 1866/2000? Would it be worth the cost increase?

Also, these are my two fans i'm looking at:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=15924
or
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=14686



I've used the Arctic Cooling cooler on my brothers Athlon II x3 450 computer. Runs quiet, good temps. The coolermaster should give you better temps because of the heatpipes pulling the heat away from the processor. I would prefer the cooler master gemini II myself, its also the most expensive of the three, so if you're on a budget id go with your cooler master vortex.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103046
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
AMD Damo
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:30 am

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=16184

Here is the link to the case I'm going to be using.

Says "cooler limitation 70mm" which is a big pain in the ass because it looks like everything is too tall.
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chrissodey
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Fri Oct 07, 2011 8:09 am

I would not recommend a fanless power supply. Seasonic makes some of the best power supplies out there. Their Gold X series rocks. I would recommend this power supply, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151098.
 
TheEmrys
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Fri Oct 07, 2011 8:38 am

chrissodey wrote:
I would not recommend a fanless power supply. Seasonic makes some of the best power supplies out there. Their Gold X series rocks. I would recommend this power supply, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151098.


There is absolutely no reason to go with a 560w PSU on an HTPC.
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AMD Damo
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:37 pm

If you guys could link to stuff on www.pccasegear.com that would be great thanks, I don't think Newegg ship to Australia?
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JustAnEngineer
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:14 pm

· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2
 
AMD Damo
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:42 pm

I think they're all too tall for the case those HSF I think:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1033-page4.html

Scythe Big Shurikun actually fits, looks like we've got a winner!

Might change the PSU to somethign modular as well to get rid of any excess cabling.
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JustAnEngineer
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Re: Updating the ol' HTPC

Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:55 pm

How did it fit together?
· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2

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