[Major Payne]

Good Morning XBMCers,

I'm looking to create a XBMC machine which will be placed in my bedroom. As I have a wife, the biggest issue I will be running into is noise level. I'm looking at primarily mini ITX but can be talking up to a micro ATX. . The 2 requirements that can't be changed is the RAM as I already have 2 x 4gb DDR3 and It will need room for 1 PCI-E Video card. I have looked through the PSU's and what I saw was disconcerting. I saw fanless as a very strong and viable proposition but the price is just way to high. What I was currently thinking is listed below please feel free to change anything you see out (I went with AMD due to 8 GB ram vs Intel 4GB ) Has anyone tried using the all in one motherboards?

PC 1 (Mini-ITX)
Motherboard: ASRock E35LM1 AMD E-240 APU AMD Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo
Video Card: VisionTek 900231 Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 (need as I have a tube TV in place for now)

PC 2 (Micro-ATX)
Motherboard: ASUS E45M1-M PRO AMD E-450 APU AMD Hudson M1
Video Card: VisionTek 900231 Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 (need as I have a tube TV in place for now)

Need thoughts on

PSU: SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3
Case:

[Dougie Fresh]

Windows or Linux?

The E-350/450 are pretty weak for the money, especially since you will not be using the GPU which is the best part of the motherboards you've listed. I would look instead at the Celeron 847 mini-ITX motherboards. There is no 4GB limit with the Celeron motherboards like Atom. For the same money you get a faster processor and later if you take out the video card, better GPU driver support. It's been shown you can even run them fanless, though coupled with the video card that might not be the best idea.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131948
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128585
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813138368 (I have a couple of these and they are very good)

If you want a fanless power supply, take a look at a picoPSU. With the older more power hungry video card you still would likely need no more than 150W, probably less but it'd be good insurance to have the 150W since it's a few generations older card and likely uses more power.

[Major Payne]

With the motherboard you are using. the Fan on board is it loud? I think i was reading you replaced it with a scythe for like 6.50?

I'll be running Linux as Windows always take to much to run. Going to run it off of a USB stick with network access to the NAS server

[Dougie Fresh]

With the motherboard you are using. the Fan on board is it loud? I think i was reading you replaced it with a scythe for like 6.50?

Yes, I replaced it. Other commentor either in the thread here or AVSForum (can't remember which) have run it without any fan or just with a case fan without issues. Adding the video card though will create heat so you won't be able to go fanless but you should still be able to achieve quiet.

[Major Payne]

Ok so now I need to look at a case that will house the Video Card also

[stammie]

For micro-ATX I can recommend one of these PSU's:-

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-be-q...plus-green

I have one in my bedroom HTPC and its not completely silent but is very very quiet

[Headcase_Fargon]

For a low power bedroom HTPC I'd take a look at pico PSUs. No need for a big, noisy, full size PSU. I'm currently running an E-350 in the bedroom on a (I believe) 90W pico and it's plenty powerful enough for OpenELEC. The only thing about the E-350 is they typically come with very small (and hence loud) CPU fans. I went with a tiny case as well that only supported a 40mm fan, but mine is sitting in an armoire so I don't hear it. If you can find a fanless E-350 and put it in a case with a decent 80mm fan you should be able to get it near silent.

[dalben]

I went for a Pivos Xios running the Linux / xbmc firmware. Perfect bedroom appliance if you ask me.

[Major Payne]

I like the idea of to Pivos, but because I am not using a current TV i can only use Svideo or componet/composite. This wouldn't work for me

I just looked into a conversion cable and found them for 7 bucks... i might actually do it now.