# Video type: SDTV
# Type of system: combined front- and back-end
# Noise level: I can tell it's on until I play some media
# CASE: $96 Antec Solo
# PSU: $57.95 + $49.95 picoPSU-120 with Mini-Box 110W brick
# MOTHERBOARD: $103 Asus M2NPV-VM
# CPU: $119 AMD Athlon64 3800+ AM2
# RAM: $146 Kingston 1GB 667Mhz DDR2 CL5 - RAM-KVR667D2N5/1G
# CPU HEATSINK: $ 59 Thermaltake SI-128 fanless
# NORTHBRIDGE HEATSINK: none
# CD/DVD-RW: old Pioneer DVD-rom sitting about
# HDD: $ 92 Seagate Momentus 5400.3 80Gb 8Mb IDE Notebook Hard Drive
# GRAPHICS CARD: onboard 6150
# SOUNDCARD: onboard
# TUNER CARD: Hauppage 250 (pulled from old machine)
# REMOTE CONTROL: Hauppage grey
# Extra fan: $ 19.50 Noctua NF-S12-800 120MM
# adapter: $ 3.88 Generic 4 pin molex-4 pin MB
# keyboard/mouse: $ 29 Logitech Premium Desktop Optical
Total: $840.33
(DVD and Hauppauge not included)
all prices in pre-tax Canadian dollars
Power usage (taken with a Kill-a-watt): 51W on idle, 60ishW normal usage, 80-90W full CPU, 4W off (unless I turn off the power bar)
I built this computer with 2 goals: to have no noise (except for the DVD and when the power supply hits almost 90W I was successful to the point that I literally need to put my ear to the back of the case to hear anything) and to use a minimum of power.
I believe I can get the power usage down further with a more efficient DVD-rom/RW and by software under-volting (the motherboard doesn't support bios under-volting). I've not checked to see if Knoppmyth runs AMD Cool'n'Quiet CPU scaling by default but if not I could reduce the wattage that way too (both from an environmental stand-point and to stop the power brick fan from coming on).
I had originally thought of using a SP-8000 mini-ITX motherboard but I'm not certain of it's HDTV reliability (for when I get an HDTV) and it would be underpowered for other games^H^H^H^H^Happs I want to run. The overall power usage may not be all that different in the end.
I swiched the stock tri-speed Antec fan in the Solo Case (it had a notable noise signature even in slow speed) with the Noctua NF-S12-800 120MM using it's U.L.N.A. adapter to drop it from 12 volts to 7.1 volts (I had to buy the fan at NCIX as it was the only place that I could find selling them - I prefer to get things locally) . The fan cannot be heard unless I put my ear next to it. The switch from the low mode Antec to the U.L.N.A Noctura dropped the wattage from 1.18W to 0.41W, the CFM from 30CFM to 25CFM, the RPMs from 740 to 390, and the db from 20db to <19db - very much less I think (according to SPCR).
The Solo case is great (read the SPCR review) - especially the suspensions for the hard drives.
I have to recheck the temperatures with the new fan but it was 40ishC on the CPU before when I had the case open and the old fan.
I decided to go for the PicoPSU (another product I couldn't get locally, but from pcxcomuters.ca which had them cheaper than the only other Canadian online store I could find) as it is 85.6% efficient at 47W input and 87.1% efficient at 73.1-105.3W input according to SPCR - no other power supply comes close to that at the wattage rage I was expecting to use (the Zen solid state is 87% efficient at around 230-280W input put only 77% at 60W input and most others are worse than that) - nor has a Power Factor of 0.98-0.99 (the Zen has a PF of 0.9 at that wattage - I don't pay for the power factor "inefficiency" directly but it will affect the price of power and still requires resource consumption). It is also solid state except for the power brick fan that kicks in at around 90W. No moving parts means no noise - and having the power brick outside the case means less hot air in the case and less cooling needed. I did need to get a molex-P4 notherboard adapter from NCIX (no one local sold them) but apart from that it works like a charm.
The motherboard has composite, S-vid, component and dvi out and runs on the 6150 chipset so it's perfect for an HTPC. You need to buy a connecter to the S/PDIF header if you want that but I plan to use the 3 analogue->5.1 outs. The motherboard is very picky about RAM and needs 1.8volt. I had problems trying to get Gentoo going on that motherboard so was very happy that R5E50 supported this board right off. I've not tried to go component video to the NTSC tv yet - another thing to try.
I decided to forgo the performance of dual channel ram, despite the shared memory of the on-board graphics, to save the watts taken by the extra piece of RAM (5W?). Time will tell if the performance becomes an issue for me, but I'm trying to be minimalist/extreamist on power usage.
The SI-128 seems to run fine fanless since the case fan is right next to it (and there's almost no other heat source in the box).
The Pioneer DVD is the exception to the noise rule .... it's really noisy on when running though silent when stopped. I may switch it for a Lite-on slot load external as that uses 9W when running and 0W idle (compared to 20+W/3-5W for a standard DVD ROM or the Pioneer external that uses 3W on idle) and would take more load off the power supply. In the meantime I'm going to try to configure the maximum spin rate of the DVD-rom when I get a chance as a means to slow it down (though maybe not until I rip a good chink of my music collection).
I opted for the Seagate notebook drive as SPCR said it was one of the few truely silent drives - and I can't hear it at all in the case. I thought about the 160GB version but it was over $240, as was the quite 3.5" 500GB Western Digital that SPCR considers the only true quiet 3.5" drive - however I was stretching the budget and I still need to get an 8 port switch to handle this computer as the 5 port is full already. I'll upgrade the harddrive as price/GB comes down.
The Logitch mouse is the only thing that didn't get detected and isn't working properly. It's a wireless mouse with the RF port on the keyboard. I'm using another USB for the moment.
I'm not quite happy with the remote, but I only got this going late last night so maybe it was me having the problems.
I've got to thank Silent PC Review (SPCR) for providing fantastic research - I promise the wife a silent computer and thanks to them I was able to deliver.
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