HTPC build: first impressions

[Half-Saint]

A few days ago I finished my first HTPC build.

Setup:
- Asus AT5IONT-I motherboard
- 2x 1GB Hynix DDR3 SO-DIMM
- 500GB WD Caviar Green
- Casetronic Travla C137 mini-ITX case 90Watt
- ATi Remote Wonder

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit.

Note: I decided against using an optical drive as I feel these are a thing of the past.

Impressions:
Assembly was quite annoying because I used a 3.5" hard drive (tight fit) and SATA cables are also not very easy to route. The system is stable and 1080p playback is smooth however I find Windows 7 to be a bit sluggish and not as snappy as I'd like. I expected that the new Atom would perform better so I'm still not sure whether or not this is normal.

As you may know, the motherboard has passive cooling only. This turned out to be a problem because the CPU & GPU got so hot during HD video playback, that the system eventually switched itself off! I added a slim 70x70mm AMD stock fan above the heatsink and this remedied the problem. Temps are now at 39C for the CPU and 47C for the GPU under load. I'm thinking of getting a larger low-rpm fan to cover more of the heatsink but attaching one is a different problem.

The case is beautiful and well made. The only negative point is the blue power LED - it's just too bright for the living room.


Anyway, I'd be happy to hear your feedback especially regarding Windows 7 and cooling.

Cheers
SainT

[Ekaros]

2GB with 7 is on low side... Still, quite nice and "tiny" build.

[Zen]

^What he said ..

Using the right player and driver is critical,
Core AVC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoreAVC
exploits CUDA to the max and allows H.264 decoding with minimal CPU-usage, making the OS feel less sluggish .

Also, pay close attention to HDD-temperature !!.
It would be better to use a SSD, it develops less heat and is not prone to
overheating-related sudden death. It will also boost performance significantly .
You could use external HDD's or a NAS for longtime-storage ..

[Half-Saint]

^What he said ..

Using the right player and driver is critical,
Core AVC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoreAVC
exploits CUDA to the max and allows H.264 decoding with minimal CPU-usage, making the OS feel less sluggish .

Also, pay close attention to HDD-temperature !!.
It would be better to use a SSD, it develops less heat and is not prone to
overheating-related sudden death. It will also boost performance significantly .
You could use external HDD's or a NAS for longtime-storage ..

It doesn't have problems with 1080p playback. It feels sluggish while installing stuff or launching apps like Steam for example.

Not really worried about HDD temperatures. That's why I bought a "Green" HDD. Low power consumption, low noise and also lower temps. SSD's are still far too expensive for my taste.

Cheers
SainT

[kidchunks]

Media Portal on WinXP was bad ass when I had my media box set up (recently turned into a fileserver). Thinking of rebuilding one and using the same os/prog. It ran 1080p rips (2-7gb) streamed from my fileserver over wifi g with no stutter problems. The tru 1080p rips (10+gb) ran off the hdd with no issues also.

You should give media portal a shot!

[Half-Saint]

I replaced the small AMD fan with a bigger one and temps are now actually higher than before! Probably because the new fan only moves about 15 CFM at 1000rpm. On a positive note, the fan is quieter and temps are still under 60C which is fine.

SainT

[Brian8bit]

There's been a bunch of AMD Fusion mini-itx announced at CES. I'm looking forward to seeing pricing for those. E-350 dual core 1.6Ghz 18w, paired with 6310 graphics.

[Half-Saint]

A year later I did some more tweaking to this build. Added another 2GB of RAM and used some zip ties to properly fix the fan to the heatsink. Refreshing!


HTPC Cooling - Part III. by Mr. Mayhem, on Flickr