[hungry_thom]

Hello, I am putting together my first HTPC for my father who lives in the tropics. Obviously the HTPC will be subject to constant heat and humidity, so I was hoping someone would be able to take a look at the configuration see if it would be a decent fit. He was pretty adamant about having a mini tower type configuration that could stand vertically, so I was a bit limited.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1EIN4
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1EIN4/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1EIN4/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Gelid Solutions CC-SSilence-iplus 25.8 CFM Ball Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Inwin BL631.300TBL MicroATX Slim Case w/300W Power Supply ($71.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $478.89

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[hungry_thom]

Would the CC-SSilence-iplus CPU Cooler be good enough or would something like the Scythe BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B or Gelid Slimhero be a better solution?

[teeedubb]

To go with the tropical theme I would get a monkey that smokes to fan the htpc. Seriously though the build looks good. Maybe look at adding a quiet case fan to circulate the air in the case depending on how hot it gets. Make sure you spin down the HDD when idle to reduce heat, you could also throttle the CPU if temps are a problem.. The ssd looks expensive, it may be better value to get a 128gb one.

[booker88]

How hot is it where your dad is?

That case looks a bit too compact to get a large enough volume of air going through it to make much of a difference in a high heat & humidity environment.

I semi-retired from Canada to the Philippines some years back. Brought some gear with me... that has all long since perished due to the heat + humidity combination (thinkpad, portable hdd's, 5.1 headphones, etc). Have bought a lot of other gear here , and have seen more failures (hdd's, hdd's, hdd's, more hdd's and a psu are the ones that stand out for me).

I don't run air-con in the main room where my pc & media server are. Not sure if you father will or not... but even if he does he won't run it 24/7. So if the ambient temperature where he is hovers in the 30's C then the temperature inside a case that doesn't have large airflow gets... alarming.

I'd skip the wdd green drive and go with a AV or Red as they *should* be able to take higher (higher than average north american) temperatures. I tried keeping a couple wdd greens in a compact shuttle case, they lasted around 18 months. So did their next-gen replacements in an external 4-bay cage, hahah. Ahhh, good times. I've also had maxtor (that was years back), seagate, & a hitachi hdd expire here at earlier than expected times.

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[hungry_thom]

Thank you so much for the feedback!! I think the temperatures hover around 30 C in the hot months. Do you think a case like the Rosewill R379-M (with an additional fan) could be an improvement or would a completely different case style be needed? Thanks again for all your help.

[Christer K]

Get a bigger case with some flow in it, and mount 1 suck in the fron and one pull in the back, preferably 120> mm at lower speededs (Noctua)

[booker88]

Thank you so much for the feedback!! I think the temperatures hover around 30 C in the hot months. Do you think a case like the Rosewill R379-M (with an additional fan) could be an improvement or would a completely different case style be needed? Thanks again for all your help.

That R379-M looks like you could get some air going through it. But am I reading wrong or does that only have a single 80mm fan mount? If you could go to a slightly bigger case (I know you said he wants mini-tower) with several 120mm mounts... you could move a lot of air without getting too noisy. But then again you shouldn't worry too much about the fan noise as he probably has some floor fans going all the time in his living room.

Just make sure you have at least one (two would be better) intake fan bringing in air over the hdd mount, and another dedicated exhaust fan.

Oh, you might want to suggest that he gets a name-brand UPS (one that will kicks in on power dips and surges) for this box as well. One of the bonus features of most tropical countries is a less than stellar power-grid.

[hungry_thom]

That R379-M looks like you could get some air going through it. But am I reading wrong or does that only have a single 80mm fan mount?

Yes, it appears the R379-M only has only one 80mm fan mount. Would there be any way to make some custom modifications and add additional fans in an effective manner? Would something like a slot fan be helpful at all? And as you mentioned, noise isn't much of a problem with a floor fan in constant use. I am trying to keep it small, but if it comes to it, my dad will just have to deal with a larger case.

Thanks again for all the help! I will definitely be going with the Red HDD, as well as bumping up to the 128GB SSD. Another UPS will definitely be in order, too. I know he has used APC in the past. Is there a relatively inexpensive UPS you can recommend?

[booker88]

Stick with an APC UPS if he can get them locally. Have him get some price quotes on several APC models and get him to send you the model numbers so you can check if they cover voltage fluctuations. APC sells a lot of different model numbers by region/country so make sure he tells you the exact model # and not just the brand line name like "Back UPS". The features can vary by country model.

As for the case... personally I'd just look for another case with more fan mounts rather than trying to jury rig a new purchase.

[hungry_thom]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will have my dad look into which APC units he has available. Is it only the voltage fluctuation coverage I should be looking for? I will also end up going for a bigger case, the Fractal Design Core 1000. My dad would prefer a HTPC with longevity over one that is a bit smaller. Thanks again for all the help!

[booker88]

Ahhh, nice. I have a fractal r3, those Fractal 120mm fans work great.

The voltage fluctuation (you can also sometimes see it referred to as AVR or automatic voltage regulation) handling is the main extra for me, having a data port to handle autoshutdowns is probably optional for your dad (unless he plans on leaving it on 24/7).

Good luck with the build.

[hungry_thom]

With a bigger case, would it be a good idea to get a bigger cpu cooler as well?

[Christer K]

With a bigger case, would it be a good idea to get a bigger cpu cooler as well?

Absolutely! HERE´S a great cooler for the money