View Full Version : My V351B HTPC Rebuild - lots of pics!!!
So I was getting annoyed with my current HTPC because the fan on the GPU would spin up and be just audible enough over other sounds to be annoying so I decided I would move from my intel build to an AMD build and go onboard.
Old Kit
Asus P5G41-M mATX motherboard
Intel E8200
2 x 2 GB Corsair XMS2 800Mhz DDR2 Ram
Sapphire 2600XT
Thermalright SI-120 Heatsink
New Kit
Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB mATX motherboard
AMD Athlon II X3 400e
2 x 2 GB Corsair XMS3 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
Thermalright SI-128 Heatsink
Some pics of everything
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpca.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpcb.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpcc.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc1.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc2.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc4.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc5.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc6.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc7.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc8.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc9.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc10.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc11.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc12.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc13.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc14.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc15.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc16.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc17.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc18.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc19.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc20.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/htpc21.jpg
Temps - these are after the machine has been on most of the day just doing normal things, using media centre, nandub, utorrent, sides are off at the moment, but they only cause a couple of degrees climb, in fact under normal use teamviewer seems to increase temps the most, which is the cause of the 38c high. Havent done any stress testing on it, as its not overclocked and isnt going to be stressed by games etc. Highest temp I hit yesterday was mid 40s if I remember rightly, not sure what I was going though at the time.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/temps-2.jpg
Vertex 2E - with Sata ports set to 3Gb/s
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/vertex2ea.jpg
Vertex 2E with Sata ports set to 6Gb/s - using same normal Sata cables - not Sata 3 cables.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/vertex2eb.jpg
Think I'll stick with em on 3Gb/s.
The machine is now basically silent - when I walked in the room earlier I had to look for the HDD light (havent plugged the power light in as its quite a bright blue) to make sure it was on as I cant hear it. Im using the stock Antec fans, 2 x 120mm intakes at front and 1 x 80mm exhaust at rear.
From the pics you may notice the heatsink has two different orientations I opted for the second of the two, must say though not that impressed with the mounting mechanism for the SI-128, as its fiddly and not that easy to actually clip on without moving the heatsink.
The heatsink itself is very nice though, same design as the SI-120 it replaced, but improved upon nicely.
It's a sad day when ones everyday machine is shadowed by 90% of HTPC's :D
Looks great mate. One meaty cooler, I love it :P
It's a sad day when ones everyday machine is shadowed by 90% of HTPC's :D
Looks great mate. One meaty cooler, I love it :P
Yeah I love the thermalright coolers as well, was gonna go for a smaller one with fan, but this does the job excellently without the need, so is kinda perfect, although it wouldnt fit in a low profile case like the Antec Veris 350.
Gonna be sticking the old parts up for sale if you want to upgrade ;)
I cant, I'm saving up atm. Hopefully in around February time I can have a big spend :D
Looks great mate, i'll be doing something like that soon :thumb:
Not going to dual channel the RAM?
Looking good though!
love the cooler, running without a fan? nice!
Not going to dual channel the RAM?
Looking good though!
Yeah I am now you mention it, for some reason until you posted that I didnt realise I had one stick in the wrong slot.
love the cooler, running without a fan? nice!
I do too, actually ran prime95 on it last night and it maxed out at 55c, which I am happy with as its never going to be stressed that much from normal use.
Well I double checked the manual and I swear from reading it I have the RAM in the right slots for Dual channel (ie two different colour slots).
http://gyazo.com/e90f87f790a8d2501392947e14619ce9.png
I also tried putting the RAM into the first and third slots and it wouldnt even boot, put them back in slots 1 and 2 and it booted straight away again, but CPU-Z does show it as single and the BIOS on boot shows it as un-ganged, so confused.
I've also this evening tried the Turbo switch - this worked perfectly and overclocked the CPU from 2.2Ghz to 2.64Ghz - nice to know that works but Im not going to leave it on as I really do not need the extra speed for what I do.
I also tried the Core unlocker switch, on boot up it shows the CPU as an X4 6400e and states all 4 cores active, however windows will not boot as it hangs on the first screen you see when windows starts loading, oh well never mind again its not like I need the 4th core.
A1 and B1 would be a dual channel configuration. Matched Blue.
Very nice, looks like an ace HTPC. Good work Pepp!
A1 and B1 would be a dual channel configuration. Matched Blue.
Yeah I have now realised my mistake - of course both being in A slots would be single channel, so now just have to work out why it doesnt boot when in slots A1 and B1.
Very nice, looks like an ace HTPC. Good work Pepp!
Cheers Nick, Im happy with it :)
lol, I shouldn't have mentioned the RAM not being dual channel, with all the hassle its caused!
lol, I shouldn't have mentioned the RAM not being dual channel, with all the hassle its caused!
Yep its all your fault and you should come and sort it out :p
Terbinator
07-10-10, 12:48
That case is really nice :)
I'm thinking about going uATX when I upgrade next time, this case looks like a winner.
That case is really nice :)
I'm thinking about going uATX when I upgrade next time, this case looks like a winner.
It is really nice - slightly small to do things in once you have everything in, but the removable motherboard tray helps there and there are a few spaces to try and keep the cables out of the main housing area.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Decorating/DSCF0091-4.jpg
Theres an updated one out now V352B - and that improves on it even more.
Terbinator
07-10-10, 16:45
Not to be a pain, but can you upload a picture of something next to it, a DVD for example so i can get some idea of scale ? :D
Not to be a pain, but can you upload a picture of something next to it, a DVD for example so i can get some idea of scale ? :D
Hows about
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Decorating/DSCF0130.jpg?t=1286466992
Terbinator
07-10-10, 16:58
Cheers man, I've got a 'phat' PS3 so I've got an idea now :D
looks awesome.. well packed together and tidy. great pics of the board and cooler.
double thumbs up..!
Just a question,(I have Intel Q6600) if i increase my RAM from 4GB to 12GB, will I have to aquire any additional cooling to the fan I already have on my CPU? I ask as I dont know if it will make the CPU work harder?
Thanks, and good luck with any additions in the future!
Marc
I highly doubt that you'll be able to get 12GB's of ram on a 775 socket, and if you are, it wouldn't affect the cooling need for the processor. The ram will chuck out some heat so more fans my be needed. also depends on the ram, some ram runs stupidly hot, other are almost codl.
wonderlust
03-11-10, 10:24
looks awesome.. well packed together and tidy. great pics of the board and cooler.
double thumbs up..!
Just a question,(I have Intel Q6600) if i increase my RAM from 4GB to 12GB, will I have to aquire any additional cooling to the fan I already have on my CPU? I ask as I dont know if it will make the CPU work harder?
Thanks, and good luck with any additions in the future!
Marc
socket 775 have the memory controller on the motherboard rather than the processor so more ram will not increase the cpu heat directly.
Indirectly it could be affected, depending on the cooler you are using and its orientation, as any heat produced by the ram may be drawn into the pcu cooler.
As a side note, not all 775 board support more than 8Gb of ram.
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