[marcozd]

I am just wondering if anyone in the forums has any experience with this case:

Silverstone Grandia GD04B

I am rethinking my original case idea, the Zalman HD-501, because it is very large.

I was wondering if anyone had any thought on it?

[poofyhairguy]

I was wondering if anyone had any thought on it?

I think its one of the best Micro ATX HTPC cases around.

[marcozd]

I think its one of the best Micro ATX HTPC cases around.

Nice!

Again, thanks to another Guru for weighing in on my build.

It so nice to have such a great community for support with these issues!

Kudos all!

[marcozd]

Anyone have any advice on CPU coolers?

I will be using the intel 13 2100T chip, so I need the LGA1155 mounting option.

There seem to be so many options for CPU coolers!

Any recomendations on a very quiet cooler that is not very overpriced?

[tboooe]

Anyone have any advice on CPU coolers?

I will be using the intel 13 2100T chip, so I need the LGA1155 mounting option.

There seem to be so many options for CPU coolers!

Any recomendations on a very quiet cooler that is not very overpriced?

Sorry to come in late on this but I was also thinking about the i3-2100T but I read on a few forums that the 2100 is not that much different in terms of real world power consumption at idle at actual usage streaming video. If this is the case, I would go with the 2100 and get the extra power. Actually, I am going to wait until the 2105 comes out which will come with the HD-3000 graphics chip which is supposed to be much faster than the HD-2000. Any way, more food for thought.

[poofyhairguy]

This is THE quiet and HTPC friendly HSF:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835185129

[marcozd]

Sorry to come in late on this but I was also thinking about the i3-2100T but I read on a few forums that the 2100 is not that much different in terms of real world power consumption at idle at actual usage streaming video. If this is the case, I would go with the 2100 and get the extra power. Actually, I am going to wait until the 2105 comes out which will come with the HD-3000 graphics chip which is supposed to be much faster than the HD-2000. Any way, more food for thought.

Would you mind posting the links on where you read about the 2100T vs. 2100?

Also, when is the 2105 coming out? I will probably not go with it as I want to use an nNvidia card to take advantage of VDPAU acceleration, but it would be worth looking at.

[tboooe]

Would you mind posting the links on where you read about the 2100T vs. 2100?

Also, when is the 2105 coming out? I will probably not go with it as I want to use an nNvidia card to take advantage of VDPAU acceleration, but it would be worth looking at.

No problem. Here it is: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...st20189994. Look for post 752 towards the top.

Supposedly the 2105 will be released in Q2 2011 (whatever that means).

Just a question, why do you want to use hardware acceleration unless to you have to? The i3 can easily handle streaming media without the need for a dedicated gpu. I saw some performance tests where the i3 cpu usage does not get above 10-20% when streaming.

Note I am not criticizing your build. I am also in the process of deciding on my htpc build and am torn between getting a lower powered processor with GPU or just the i3 2105. Not having the get a dedicated gpu allows me to get a much smaller mini-itx case which is fairly important to me. That being said, others have said a dedicate gpu will have overall better video performance in terms of appearance than the intel hd-3000. I wonder how much "better" it is? I am not a videophile by any means so absolute quality is not of paramount importance to me but I also dont want a crappy picture either.

Decisions decisions.

[marcozd]

No problem. Here it is: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...st20189994. Look for post 752 towards the top.

Supposedly the 2105 will be released in Q2 2011 (whatever that means).

Just a question, why do you want to use hardware acceleration unless to you have to? The i3 can easily handle streaming media without the need for a dedicated gpu. I saw some performance tests where the i3 cpu usage does not get above 10-20% when streaming.

Note I am not criticizing your build. I am also in the process of deciding on my htpc build and am torn between getting a lower powered processor with GPU or just the i3 2105. Not having the get a dedicated gpu allows me to get a much smaller mini-itx case which is fairly important to me. That being said, others have said a dedicate gpu will have overall better video performance in terms of appearance than the intel hd-3000. I wonder how much "better" it is? I am not a videophile by any means so absolute quality is not of paramount importance to me but I also dont want a crappy picture either.

Decisions decisions.

I hear you on the decision issues. It has taken me about 3 weeks to figure out what exactly I want and then another week to find everything and price it.

I too am not a videophile but the support for intel based graphics under linux is not as developed as it is for nvidia. Also, I was able to get an nVIDIA GT210 low-profile silent video card for about $30 which has support for all of the video features I need, does not break the bank and doesn't generate noise.

I want the processor power for DVD ripping if I need to and maybe some mild gaming (starcraft 2 with low video settings or similar). Maybe MAME.

Thanks so much for your thoughts. The 2100 is actually 10 dollars cheaper than the 2100T so I am going for the 2100 instead.

Cheers!