HTPC for HD-movies and some gaming, how hot components?

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ATWindsor
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Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:53 pm

HTPC for HD-movies and some gaming, how hot components?

Post by ATWindsor » Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:30 pm

I am in the progress of building a HTPC, it will be used for HD-material (it should be able to run everything in software, du to better encoders there). I also will be doing some gaming. It must be very quiet (lets set a target that noe fans should be more than 600-650 rpm, and no more than 3-4 fans, thats the current status for my i7 with the megahalems cooler, and it works fine).

I am considering the 5750 and the i5 750, the former should be fine if i can fit an accelereo s1 (GPU and case compatible), mye 4770 is coold with one today, and its extremly cool even at 400 rpm, i actually doubt i need the fan at all).

The i5 is a cause for concern tho, 95 watt TDP is high. I guess i could go for a fusion max and the megahalems, but its a bit ugly and big, and a bit expensive. A normal Antec Fusion is an option, but is a mini nija enough too cool the i5 at 600 rpm? (or is there a better cooler available?)

Eventuallty i could loook at other cases, are there anyone up to antecs standards? (i would like to not be to expensive, having a screen is not important).

Any feedback is very welcome.

AtW

jimmy_d
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Post by jimmy_d » Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:33 am

I am looking at building a rig for similar purposes. However, I was going to build it using a board like the Asus M4N78 Pro coupled with a nVidia GPU, because then unless I'm playing a game the Hybrid Power feature of the motherboard will switch of the discrete GPU and use the integrated GPU, making it nice and quite when I'm watching HD video (the IGP is good enough for that) and when I'm gaming I don't care about the noise of the GPU. I was going to couple this with an AMD Athlon II X2 240e, because it draws only 45W, and I don't think I need anything more intensive for gaming or watching HD video. Maybe something like this might be more suited for what you need?

I have a powerful desktop computer that I use for tasks such as video encoding, and I'll use it for storing files, so I can just have a notebook HD in the HTPC to keep it quiet.

I'm stuck on which case to use though, what case are you thinking of?

hybrid2d4x4
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Post by hybrid2d4x4 » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:14 am

AtW, if I were you, I'd worry a lot less about being able to cool the i5 with a minja and more about fitting the S1 inside the Antec Fusion/2480 cases. The S1 tends to be "taller" than the vid card, and there is only about 1cm from the top of the PCI bracket to the case 'ceiling'. I had to bend the fins of my vf-900 cooler on my 6600GT when I used it in the case, so I suspect you may have to remove a few fins and clip the heatpipes a bit on your S1 to make it fit. Also, while I don't doubt for a second that the S1 can cool the GPU well, my experience with my 4870 makes me worry about your VRM and RAM temperatures if you're going to run the fan as low as 400RPM. (I know that the 4870 is a LOT worse, but the 4770/5750 are no featherweights at load either)

jimmy_d > Your plan seems like a good one. Another SPCR builder a while ago used the GF8200 for its hybridpower and it worked out good. The catch is only a few of the nV GPUs will properly work with hybridpower (ie: turn off completely when not in use). I know the 9800GT and GTX are among them, but the 9600 and 88xx series won't work. The newer GTX2xx series were supposed to work, but a few sites that reviewed the functionality found that there's almost no difference when HP is used (the card doesn't turn off) versus the card's normal idle power consumption. This means that you're limited to pretty dated hardware, and may not be able to run the newest games at max settings @ 1080P. Still, I thought HybridPower was an awesome concept, but it's too bad that they haven't been keeping up with it...

ATWindsor
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Post by ATWindsor » Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:15 pm

jimmy_d wrote:I am looking at building a rig for similar purposes. However, I was going to build it using a board like the Asus M4N78 Pro coupled with a nVidia GPU, because then unless I'm playing a game the Hybrid Power feature of the motherboard will switch of the discrete GPU and use the integrated GPU, making it nice and quite when I'm watching HD video (the IGP is good enough for that) and when I'm gaming I don't care about the noise of the GPU. I was going to couple this with an AMD Athlon II X2 240e, because it draws only 45W, and I don't think I need anything more intensive for gaming or watching HD video. Maybe something like this might be more suited for what you need?

I have a powerful desktop computer that I use for tasks such as video encoding, and I'll use it for storing files, so I can just have a notebook HD in the HTPC to keep it quiet.

I'm stuck on which case to use though, what case are you thinking of?
The AMD has very low power on idle, so i don't think idle noise will be a problem. Going down on CPU-speed is of course an option i have considered, but i do like the snappy feel ofmy i7 in my main rig. General "snappiness" does make it a better experience, but if i have to go down to cool it quietly, then so be it.

AtW

ATWindsor
Posts: 285
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:53 pm

Post by ATWindsor » Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:18 pm

hybrid2d4x4 wrote:AtW, if I were you, I'd worry a lot less about being able to cool the i5 with a minja and more about fitting the S1 inside the Antec Fusion/2480 cases. The S1 tends to be "taller" than the vid card, and there is only about 1cm from the top of the PCI bracket to the case 'ceiling'. I had to bend the fins of my vf-900 cooler on my 6600GT when I used it in the case, so I suspect you may have to remove a few fins and clip the heatpipes a bit on your S1 to make it fit. Also, while I don't doubt for a second that the S1 can cool the GPU well, my experience with my 4870 makes me worry about your VRM and RAM temperatures if you're going to run the fan as low as 400RPM. (I know that the 4870 is a LOT worse, but the 4770/5750 are no featherweights at load either)
Hmm, that is not so good news. Removing a few fins might be doable, but starting to modify heatpipes scares me abit. On my 4770 vrm temps at load poses no problem with my cooling setup. Infactif i remeber correctly,they weren't even cooled at all by the stock cooler (no contact with cooler/fins)

AtW

jhhoffma
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Post by jhhoffma » Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:04 pm

The S1 heatpipes/fins can be easily bent to curve in a way that will fit inside the Fusion.

See here.

bonestonne
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Post by bonestonne » Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:41 pm

Don't mind me, but the S2 is a better candidate. I have an S1, and i'll say that with 4 heatpipes, bending will get crazy.

That and all the pictures in the linked thread about it are S2 models.

jhhoffma
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Post by jhhoffma » Thu Oct 22, 2009 4:53 am

Good point!

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