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
![](http://www.shrani.si/t/3k/64/26xGobI8/htpccooling.jpg)