My new HTPC is done!! Lots 'o pics (another P180B)

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:05 pm

Howdy, I've been really excited to build my new computer after the one I built 4 years ago recently had the motherboard quit on me. I originally was going to reuse everything I could and just pick up a motherboard, processor, RAM, and a video card, but then I saw too many things I liked.

Anyway, I use this computer as HTPC. It stores many movies, music and games and the Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender as well. I have almost maxed out all of my Vista scores at 5.9 with the exception of the processor sitting at 5.5 (stock speed for now). I just can't wait until HD DVD/Blu Ray combo drives are in the sub-$300 price range because I am definitely going that route.

As I'm sure many will note that I have made a few modifications. I am just trying to make the thing quiet and breath well. I am currently running with one of the 5.25" bays open because there is a lot of suction when I open one of them up. I would like to find something like a Kama Bay, but for only 2 slots.

Well let's get started... Here are the specs:

- MSI P6N Diamond
- Core2Duo E6750 w/ Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (lapped & AS5)
- Kingston HyperX 2 x 1GB DDR2 RAM (PC6400)
- EVGA nVidia 8800GTS Superclocked
- Built-in X-fi
- Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE
- SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA
- WD SE16 320GB & SE16 500GB x 2
- Enermax Infiniti 720w PSU
- Yate Loon 120mm fan x 5
- Samsung 40" 720P LCD HDTV
- Vista Home Premium

Here are some pictures... Let me know what you like and dislike... Overall, it is very quiet even with the fans on full speed and everything seems very cool.

Just a P180B

I really like the orange fans.

I did not like the weight of the Ultra 120 Extreme, so I made a simple bracket to alleviate some of the stress. I currently have not seen my processor temps over 22C. If you look under my video card, you can see the duct I made allowing most of the heat to escape the case. It seems to be working well as the heat is flowing out from it.

Another look

The ducting out the back.

The duct was made out of sheet metal and then wrapped in foil tape.

Konnetikut · Post by **Konnetikut** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:36 pm

yamahaSHO wrote:I currently have not seen my processor temps over 22C.

What did you use to check those temps?

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:40 pm

Konnetikut wrote:
yamahaSHO wrote:I currently have not seen my processor temps over 22C.
What did you use to check those temps?

I'm a little sketchy too....

Anyway, both the BIOS and Speed fan are reporting those numbers. They seem very low, don't they?

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:03 pm

I'm not aware of any commercial 2-bay filtered air inlet (Kama Bay takes 3 bays). Since you've been willing to construct ductwork for the video card, I'd suggest you construct a homemade filter that will fit in a 2-bay hole. Take a look at some of Bluefront's postings for ideas on this. He generally starts with commercial furnace filters and cuts and frames them to size.

Nick Geraedts · Post by **Nick Geraedts** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:49 pm

yamahaSHO wrote:Anyway, both the BIOS and Speed fan are reporting those numbers. They seem very low, don't they?

Use CoreTemp or TAT to measure the temperature. I'm sure that you'll see your temperatures go up a little bit. My system is overclocked and undervolted (9x333, 1.2V) and still reaches 52C at full load.

The easiest way to stress a multi-core CPU today is to use Prime95 v25.4 with small FFTs (for maximum stability testing), or large FFTs for maximum temperature testing. From my experiences, the large FFTs pull as much power as four instances of CPUBurn.

mattthemuppet · Post by **mattthemuppet** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:13 pm

if it was mine, I'd see if I could get rid of the top fan and the front fan - as these are the closest to you they'll have the greatest impact on what you hear, plus they don't seem to be 100% neccessary. Do you have your HDDs in the lower chamber? If you do, then the front fan doesn't seem to be doing much (unless you're OC'ing your video card).

Is there a way of rearranging the cables in the lower chamber so they're no stcuk in front of the fan? Might cause a bit of turbulence and noise.

Very tidy build though, congrats!

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:48 pm

Nick Geraedts wrote:
yamahaSHO wrote:Anyway, both the BIOS and Speed fan are reporting those numbers. They seem very low, don't they?
Use CoreTemp or TAT to measure the temperature. I'm sure that you'll see your temperatures go up a little bit. My system is overclocked and undervolted (9x333, 1.2V) and still reaches 52C at full load.

The easiest way to stress a multi-core CPU today is to use Prime95 v25.4 with small FFTs (for maximum stability testing), or large FFTs for maximum temperature testing. From my experiences, the large FFTs pull as much power as four instances of CPUBurn.

CoreTemp reports 27/32 for core1/core2... I'm not at idle, but I'm not stressing it right now either.

mattthemuppet wrote:if it was mine, I'd see if I could get rid of the top fan and the front fan - as these are the closest to you they'll have the greatest impact on what you hear, plus they don't seem to be 100% neccessary. Do you have your HDDs in the lower chamber? If you do, then the front fan doesn't seem to be doing much (unless you're OC'ing your video card).

Is there a way of rearranging the cables in the lower chamber so they're no stcuk in front of the fan? Might cause a bit of turbulence and noise.

Very tidy build though, congrats!

I thought about that, but it's pretty quiet. I may flip the HDD's around per your advice.

Thanks!

Konnetikut · Post by **Konnetikut** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:47 pm

I think Core Temp in this instance is also wrong...
See the Tjunction: if it's 85, add 15 to your temps.

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:45 pm

What did Tjunction monitor? I think it said 100 actually.