My Htpc/nsk1480 review

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:59 pm

My htpc:
Case: Antec nsk1480
Motherboard: Gigabyte 780g matx
CPU: AMD 4050e athlon x2
Hard Drive: Western Digital 750gb Green Power

Antec nsk1480

from the front

from an angle

when you open up the top cover

inside theres the powersupply on the top left corner, hard drive cages on the bottom left, and the external drive bay on the bottom right.

inside the white box are 2 stands to stand it up vertically, screws, zip ties, more air blocker thingies, and some pads (dunno what those are used for)

80plus 350w power supply. in the manual, it says the the power supply is actually an intake fan instead of the usual outake fan

the cd-rom cage in the left, and the hard drive cages on the right

hard drive cage is held in position by 2 thumb screws

after removing the hard drive cages, i saw there was a shield for a 3.5" device, although there is not hole for it in the front

there are actually 2 hard drive cages, 1 for each hard drive and each have a little handle to pull out of the case
these included antec's harddrive rubber mounting gourmets

i cant install my components and upload pictures yet because the parts didnt come yet. i will upload them as soon as i can. for now ill post up two more pictures of the case

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:09 am

picture with the motherboard, cd-rom, and ram in
my cpu,tv tuner, and hard drive come in on friday
long wait :\

EDITED BY ADMIN -- Yes, bigger pics are ok BUT...., the rule is max 800px wide. See here: viewtopic.php?p=2960
1936px Ã— 1296px is absolutely ridiculous & unnecessary. If you feel you must post such large pics, post links instead.

that Linux guy · Post by **that Linux guy** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:19 am

First of all, I love that friggin' case. At first glance, I thought you'd hacked an old NES. I've been looking for something just like that, except for the PSU.

What are some other specs of it? What video card and tuners are you looking at? What OS are you planning to use?

When you get it built and running, let us know how the noice character is. I'm especially curious about that PSU... It's an odd form factor and would be kind of a pain to try and source a quieter replacement.

Awesome rig; I'll be watching this thread for more

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:21 pm

Don't want to offend you but can you please post a smaller picture. The big picture doesn't show anything a smaller image can't show and it would make the thread a much more enjoyable read.

crispyfish · Post by **crispyfish** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:15 pm

peerke wrote:Don't want to offend you but can you please post a smaller picture. The big picture doesn't show anything a smaller image can't show and it would make the thread a much more enjoyable read.

I disagree. Smaller images are nearly useless on high-resolution displays. However, thumbnails with links to the larger images are generally preferable to putting large images directly in the thread.

For those with low-resolution displays, here's a good workaround if you're using Firefox (if not, why aren't you?). First, right-click on the image and select "View Image." The image will appear in a separate window. Now click on the image again (the cursor should show a magnifying glass) to resize it for your display.

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:42 pm

Thanks for the pics, a good case.
The pictures are good; it's a problem with the forum software that they come out bigger than the window width on most screens but it's no big deal.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:42 pm

crispyfish wrote:I disagree. Smaller images are nearly useless on high-resolution displays. However, thumbnails with links to the larger images are generally preferable to putting large images directly in the thread.

That may be, but the unspoken forum rule is 800x600 for the max image in a forum. It's to respect those with lower resolution monitors. Links can always be posted to higher-res images, but shouldn't be embedded in a post.

Besides, if you're using FF3, you can always use the zoom feature.

crispyfish · Post by **crispyfish** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:56 pm

jhhoffma wrote:
crispyfish wrote:I disagree. Smaller images are nearly useless on high-resolution displays. However, thumbnails with links to the larger images are generally preferable to putting large images directly in the thread.
That may be, but the unspoken forum rule is 800x600 for the max image in a forum. It's to respect those with lower resolution monitors. Links can always be posted to higher-res images, but shouldn't be embedded in a post.

Besides, if you're using FF3, you can always use the zoom feature.

You do realize we're in agreement with respect to the size of inline images, right?

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:11 pm

It's not the size of the image itself I have a problem with; it's the resultant scrolling left to right, necessary on my 12" laptop, to read the comments that gets very tiresome.

crispyfish · Post by **crispyfish** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:14 pm

peerke wrote:It's not the size of the image itself I have a problem with; it's the resultant scrolling left to right, necessary on my 12" laptop, to read the comments that gets very tiresome.

I agree. That's why I drew the distinction between links and inline images. I prefer large images because they provide more detail and can be resized for any resolution. However, I don't like them placed directly in the thread for precisely the reason you listed.

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:48 pm

Ok. I fixed the images with a thumblink. I hope that would be better.

I finally got all the parts up and running. I put in a 5v/12v switch for the fans, and right now they are running at 5v on high. I can not hear them over my projector fan, which is pretty loud.

The psu fan is actually pretty quiet. About as quiet or quieter than the tricools on 5v.

I am using ASUS 9400PE tv tuner. Right now, I can not get it configured properly to get HDTV in vista media center. any help?

Here are the temperatures from speed fan

Im thinking the cores are at 36 and 34
and the northbridge is at 85 (ouch)
but, its still stable, and I watched 2 movies on it, 1 720p rip from bluray, 1 divx rip, for 5 hours straight, and its still running, so I do not think it will be a problem.

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:36 pm

Thanks for fixing the images. It's a much better read now.
Did I miss something? I can't see what CPU cooler you are using. Your temps are fine but the fan speed seems a bit high. What fan do we see the reading from?

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:45 pm

peerke wrote:Thanks for fixing the images. It's a much better read now.
Did I miss something? I can't see what CPU cooler you are using. Your temps are fine but the fan speed seems a bit high. What fan do we see the reading from?

I am using the stock cooler. I can't really hear it, and the temps are fine, so I have no reason to buy another fan.

Oh. I forgot to mention, the 750gb I got was DOA, so I am RMA'ing back to newegg, and buying a 1tb gp from my friend at a discount. Right now, I use a maxtor 200gb SATA, which is the loudest component in my case right now.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:59 am

I'd like to know where you bought the case from. I will be build ing a new PC for my brother and wanted to use a smaller case.

Thanks

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:09 pm

Jackal5 wrote:I'd like to know where you bought the case from. I will be build ing a new PC for my brother and wanted to use a smaller case.

Thanks

i got it from Valley Seek

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:23 am

Thank you.

augi · Post by **augi** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:50 am

Hi,

I am planning of using the NSK1480 case for my homebuilt PC.
I want it to be on 24/7 and use it as a music/file server, for watching movies and downloads.

I want to use a separate graphics card, not an onboard one, because I want a nVidia GPU with CUDA support + hardware video acceleration on linux.

I have found many low profile cards (since these are the only ones that fit this case), and I would like to ask you if you had any experience with these.

For example, the MSI NX8400GS-TD512EH

Thanks,

augi

SebRad · Post by **SebRad** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:22 am

Funnily enough I was looking at this case earlier for a possible slim PC build. For UK buyers I found it on ebuyer for Â£50. Can't promise they are cheapest or best but they're an option. Seb

NeoteriX · Post by **NeoteriX** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:07 pm

Don't the integrated Nvidia 8200 and 8300 based motherboards offer CUDA support?

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:42 pm

you could try the 9800gt here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814187061

augi · Post by **augi** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:10 am

Thanks for the advice guys.

Just a quick question:
The card that godbreath has proposed is classified as "low-profile", but the bracket that is shown in the picture is a full height one.

Is it implied that there are low profile brackets included in the packaging? Or should I buy them separately (I could also just remove the bracket but that would be sloppy...)

Thanks!

Monkeh16 · Post by **Monkeh16** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:48 am

augi wrote:Thanks for the advice guys.

Just a quick question:
The card that godbreath has proposed is classified as "low-profile", but the bracket that is shown in the picture is a full height one.

Is it implied that there are low profile brackets included in the packaging? Or should I buy them separately (I could also just remove the bracket but that would be sloppy...)

Thanks!

Not only does it explicitly state that a low-profile plate is included, but you can see it in the pictures..

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:49 am

If you look at the last picture that shows all the accessories and stuff, you'll see the low-profile bracket sitting there. You'd just have to swap them when you got it. It's easy enough.