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+--- Thread: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build (/showthread.php?tid=134254)
Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Victory - 2012-06-18
Hey guys!
I'm using the D-Link Boxee Box since it's release. At the beginning everything was very promising, but they changed a lot of things in the meantime. I don't want to get all to deep into this topic : ) I'm just not that happy anymore with this device. So it was time for something new. I know xbmc since the xbox1-era, but never really used it (except on the xbox back then, but just for fun). I'm pretty sure this is the right software for a nice HTPC, not only because it's good itself, it has a nice and big community.
I thought, if I build/buy something new, I'm gonna get something good and "durable". In the beginning there were a lot of options. Pre-Build, out-of-the-box... But none of the already existing offers did look really satisfying.
My requirements, or demands, were:
- Silent. Of course, there are a lot of nice fans and quiet PSUs but still, after a while even the best fan is making some noise you can hear (even if barely notable).
- Durability and performance. I don't want to build a system which is fine for just now. It should at least last for some time. The crucial point here is of course the money you want to spend.
- Design. I'm not talking about the ultimate design here, but it should stay in line of the other devices around my TV, 'cause the HTPC will be visible at all time. And if possible, without any blinky LEDs on the front panel
Saving money wasn't high prio, but I tried not to go crazy
Inspired by a lot of google searches and reading threads (like Beer40ozs "Antec ISK 300-90 picoPSU HTPC A6-3500 Very Silent!", thank you beer!) in this forum, I came up with this build:
The case
The Streacom FC5OD Black Fanless HTPC Aluminium Chassis was exactly what I was looking for! Nice design, it's slim, no blinky front LEDs and a little hole for an IR receiver.
But the most important thing is: it's built for fanless systems. Exactly what I wanted.
Don't forget to buy enough thermal paste, I read in a review (was in german, link below) that a single syringe of 2.5g is not enough. You'll need to coat all the heatpipes almost completely. I hope the Antec FORMULA 7 Nano Diamond Thermal Compound will do the trick.
PSU
If you want to have an absolute silent system, there's no way around a picoPSU. In my case: Streacom 150W Pico PSU with 150W Adapter Power Kit. I choose the 150W kit, but I'm pretty sure the 130W version would've been fine too. This kit comes with the PSU and the power adapter (don't forget to buy an appropriate power cable, that's not included!)
Remote
I don't know yet, if this remote will work flawlessly: mCubed HFX 600 Vista RC6 Remote Control GP. It looks really nice, but you may noticed that the IR receiver is an external box. Altough, there is a PDF with installation instructions, how to disassemble the box and install the receiver internally.
An alternative would be the Streacom Internal IR Receiver and Remote Control, which officially is supported by the FC5OD case.
Optical drive
As xbmc does not play BD discs like a real BD player (no menus and so on), I decided to install a DVD+RW drive, this costs less than half of a supported BD drive. Actually, I don't think I will ever need a drive anyway ... There's one really important point, I using the Streacom case: The drive has to be slim, drives with a tray won't work and the eject button has to be on the left side! As there aren't many drives of this type around, my choice was the Streacom Sony AD-7640S Slot Load DVD+RW Drive (by the way: I read that Streacom will maybe change this strict limitation on a future revision).
Usual hardware
Motherboard: ASRock A75 PRO4-M
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (4GB would've been totally enough, but there weren't any 4GB kits of the Kingston HyperX available for the next 1-2 weeks...)
SSD: Crucial M4 2.5" 64GB (needs to be a SSD and not a HDD for an absolute silence build)
CPU: AMD A8-Series A8-3820. I wanted to have an A8, its graphic controller is a little bit better than the one in the A6. The problem here was, that the Streacom case only supports CPUs/APUs with a max TDP of 65W. The A8-3850 has 100W, but is easy to get everywhere. The A8-3800 or 3820 with 65W TDP (3820 has 100MHz more frequency, so no big difference between these two I think) aren't available officially anymore. They will only be sold within a fully pre-built PC (OEM). But sometimes there are people on eBay who sell an A8-3820 for a reasonable price (I paid ~ $85 from a guy in Spain which seems to make money with selling different kinds of processors on eBay). So just keep your eyes open there ...
After exactly a week of placing the orders in different local (Switzerland) web shops, eBay and quietpc.com, everything's here. The whole build costs ~$1000 (including delivery and surprising huge taxes of $102). Yes, it's a lot of money. I think the reason for this is the Streacom case and it's dependencies...
Oh and for the german speaking people here, this looks like a really helpful article when using this case: Im Test: Streacom FC5 - Exklusives HTPC-Gehäuse mit leistungsstarker Passivkühlung (Special Q1/2012). It's a review and sort of an installation manual at the same time.
I'm going to assemble all the stuff and install & configure xbmc soon. I'll keep you posted!
But until then, please feel free to share your opinions, critics and special advice about this build with me! I'd be happy to hear what you guys think
EDIT:
And here we go with some pics.
Sorry about the quality. I just broke my left arm (nothing serious, it's a very small fracture, I don't even need a plaster cast) and an iPhone is just not meant for photos, especially when you only have one hand available ; )
All parts
The processor and the package (someone asked here, how it's been delivered)
Everything assembled. As you can see, the ASRock A75 PRO4-M has not the best design for this case. The socket of the APU should be a little bit nearer the back side of the case. I had to bend the pipes on the front side a little bit and on the back, they only fit half into the heat block. The ASRock A75M-HVS could possibly be more compatible. But still, it doesn't overheat at all.
More infos about boot time and temp coming soon!
RE: Silent/Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Beer40oz - 2012-06-18
Looking good! Let us know how it goes.... beautiful build. Exciting ain't it? Looking forward to see the pictures.
I just got me a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD ... sure you will enjoy it!!!!!
RE: Silent/Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - smitopher - 2012-06-18
This is exactly the path I'm considering. The Streacom is beautiful.
I would of skipped the Optical drive. If you were not getting a blu-ray, why bother. I would get a USB external blu ray for the 3 times of the life of your setup that you wanted to play a disk instead of ripping and then playing.
I would of of gone the path of an Ivy Bridge i5/HD4000, but that is not an unchangeable decision. If an Ivy Bridge i3/HD4000 is out soon, I'd be all over that. No real reason to go Intel, just emotion.
I just looked at the Intel site, an Ivy Bridge i5-3610ME is listed as released.
2.7 GHz
Max TDP 35 (very low power and cool)
Dual core with 4 threads (hyper-threading)
HD4000 graphics
Very Pricy, MSRP $276
RE: Silent/Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - bluray - 2012-06-18
(2012-06-18, 17:09)Victory Wrote: After exactly a week of placing the orders in different local (Switzerland) web shops, eBay and quietpc.com, everything's here. The whole build costs ~$1000 (including delivery and surprising huge taxes of $102). Yes, it's a lot of money. I think the reason for this is the Streacom case and it's dependencies...You'll enjoy your A8-3820 HTPC. Streacom FC5 look very nice. 10% tax on online order is s*u*ck though. No sale tax on online order here in U.S.......
I have my eyes on the FC8 for my next HTPC......
RE: Silent/Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - bluray - 2012-06-18
(2012-06-18, 17:32)smitopher Wrote: I just looked at the Intel site, an Ivy Bridge i5-3610ME is listed as released.Not everyone have the same budget and needs. For sure, OP will enjoy his A8-3820 build..........
2.7 GHz
Max TDP 35 (very low power and cool)
Dual core with 4 threads (hyper-threading)
HD4000 graphics
Very Pricy, MSRP $276
Yes, the 35W and 17W iVy with HD4000 are sweet.......
RE: Silent/Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Victory - 2012-06-18
(2012-06-18, 17:25)Beer40oz Wrote: Looking good! Let us know how it goes.... beautiful build. Exciting ain't it? Looking forward to see the pictures.
I just got me a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD ... sure you will enjoy it!!!!!
Really exciting! Can't wait to start later this week! I will update the thread with experiences during build/install/config, pictures and, if I'm done with everything, maybe details like boot time and further stuff you'd like to see.
(2012-06-18, 17:32)smitopher Wrote: I would of of gone the path of an Ivy Bridge i5/HD4000, but that is not an unchangeable decision. If an Ivy Bridge i3/HD4000 is out soon, I'd be all over that. No real reason to go Intel, just emotion.
After reading this article, especially the benchmark images, I decided to install the A8.
Integrated GPU: Intel HD 4000 Vs Radeon HD 6550D
It's a reeeally small difference and I'm definitely more of an Intel person too. Actually it's my first AMD ever
But the case can handle 65W, so I thought, why Intel when the AMD is better, everyone here loves it and a lot people are posting positive experiences.
As you said, there's no real reason.
(2012-06-18, 19:35)bluray Wrote: You'll enjoy your A8-3820 HTPC. Streacom FC5 look very nice. 10% tax on online order is s*u*ck though. No sale tax on online order here in U.S.......
Thanks! Now wait for the fun fact: Those $102 tax are customs charges (I hope that's the correct word, had to google it) ONLY for the case, remote, PSU and the DVD drive. It was shipped from the UK to Switzerland.
Pretty tough, I was really surprised
All the other stuff is from local web shops, except the A8 (eBay, Spain). But I didn't had to pay any charges for it.
We don't have any special tax for national orders, either
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - teaguecl - 2012-06-19
Nice work on going Silent - I also dislike fans, even the very quiet ones. Also, good choice getting a DVD drive. I built mine without since I figured "physical media is dead, I'll just rip all my discs to .iso". I was right, I don't need DVD's or Bluray's at all - however, my wife isn't so techno savvy. She was not happy when she borrowed a DVD from a friend, and could not play it. She was even less happy when I told her the process for playing it was to:
- walk in to the office
- launch the dvd ripping software
- make an image (wait 20 minutes)
- copy it to a very specific place on the unRaid server (another long wait)
- go back to the TV room, tell xbmc to refresh it's database
So, yeah - optical drives aren't as dead as I had previously believed
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - bluray - 2012-06-19
(2012-06-19, 01:11)teaguecl Wrote: however, my wife isn't so techno savvy. She was not happy when she borrowed a DVD from a friend, and could not play it. She was even less happy when I told her the process for playing it was to:Exactly.....I never build any PC without BD-ROM.....kids/wife enjoy pops in RedBox, Netflix, etc blu-ray discs in BD-ROM.....they rarely watch stuff on the hard drives......they got tired of it after watching it several times!
- walk in to the office
- launch the dvd ripping software
- make an image (wait 20 minutes)
- copy it to a very specific place on the unRaid server (another long wait)
- go back to the TV room, tell xbmc to refresh it's database
So, yeah - optical drives aren't as dead as I had previously believed
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Victory - 2012-06-19
Yep, BD drives are absolutely necessary! I still have a BD player, besides the HTPC.
There are some movies I want to watch on BD and not gonna rip them, like Back to the future, Lord of the rings, Transformers and all of it's bonus content. This would just cost me too mutch storage space, when fully copy or ripping them with the best possible quality (and I think there are some movies you have to see in BD quality). Other stuff will be ripped of course, otherwise xbmc wouldn't make a lot sence
I only would put the player away, if xbmc would have full bluray support. But as we all know, that this is not that easy (licensing and all that stuff) and it won't happen any time soon. So I totally recommend to have a separate BD player anyway. Except, when you build in a BD player and then use it with software on your HTPC wich can play blurays.
Let's say like you are using Windows as OS (I'll probably use openelec), exit xbmc all the time you want to watch a BD and start CyberLink. Then you're good to go with a built in BD drive.
But in my personal case, I want to have XBMC running on the machine and that's it. No other things and no usage of the desktop of the OS.
So I'll keep my Sony BDP-s370 for now.
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - bluray - 2012-06-19
(2012-06-19, 08:02)Victory Wrote: Let's say like you are using Windows as OS (I'll probably use openelec), exit xbmc all the time you want to watch a BD and start CyberLink. Then you're good to go with a built in BD drive.It's not so......I can blayback blu-ray disc on BD-ROM using TMT5 or PDVD11 without exit XBMC. I can watch blu-ray disc on BD-ROM with XBMC Play Disc option too......
You'll need to create a simple codes for it to work......Another External Player Code, but Very Simple to Setup......with these codes, I'm using XBMC for front end tasks and playback using external playback.....!
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Victory - 2012-06-19
Oh wow okay, forget about what I said, this is really nice for everyone who uses Windows! Didn't read that thread until now...
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - krasv - 2012-06-21
Just a quick question - have you already received your a8-3820?
If yes, would you mind commenting on the delivery time and packaging quality of above mentioned spanish powerseller?
I'm planning to buy one too.
thanks
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Jokerjack - 2012-06-21
(2012-06-18, 17:09)Victory Wrote: Motherboard: ASRock A75 PRO4-M
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (4GB would've been totally enough, but there weren't any 4GB kits of the Kingston HyperX available for the next 1-2 weeks...)
SSD: Crucial M4 2.5" 64GB (needs to be a SSD and not a HDD for an absolute silence build)
CPU: AMD A8-Series A8-3820. I wanted to have an A8, its graphic controller is a little bit better than the one in the A6. The problem here was, that the Streacom case only supports CPUs/APUs with a max TDP of 65W. The A8-3850 has 100W, but is easy to get everywhere. The A8-3800 or 3820 with 65W TDP (3820 has 100MHz more frequency, so no big difference between these two I think) aren't available officially anymore. They will only be sold within a fully pre-built PC (OEM). But sometimes there are people on eBay who sell an A8-3820 for a reasonable price (I paid ~ $85 from a guy in Spain which seems to make money with selling different kinds of processors on eBay). So just keep your eyes open there ...
HI - really glad i came across this thread as i have been thinking about pulling the trigger on another build project
ordered the same as the above as the Streacom cases look great, ordered the one without a blu-ray slot as this isnt needed for this device (already have a mac mini in the living room and this will be replacing my popcorn in the bedroom - hence the need for a slient machine), you pay the extra for Streacom cases but they are defo worth it. the only difference for me was 128gb Crucial SSD drive and i ordered the Streacom remote as well.Have you managed to install everything now? As i just wanted to make sure that you havent had any issues fitting the CPU without having to bend the copper pipes? Did you also use the thermal compound paste on the pipes?
Oh and ordered the same CPU from the spainish ebay seller, fingers crossed i get everything soon as i want to start building.
Thanks for posting the build info was very helpfull
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Victory - 2012-06-21
(2012-06-21, 09:57)krasv Wrote: Just a quick question - have you already received your a8-3820?
If yes, would you mind commenting on the delivery time and packaging quality of above mentioned spanish powerseller?
I'm planning to buy one too.
thanks
Yep, received it. The processor has been sent a day after payment. I received it in only 4 days and that's from Spain to Switzerland. Was amazingly fast
Package was okay: Processor was in a small plastic bag and wrapped in something like foam paper (sorry, don't know the correct word for it in english). The whole thing came in an envelope. It looks fine, but I haven't built the HTPC yet. Trying to do so this weekend, I'm going to update the initial post with pics & further infos asap!
(2012-06-21, 15:46)Jokerjack Wrote:(2012-06-18, 17:09)Victory Wrote: Motherboard: ASRock A75 PRO4-M
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (4GB would've been totally enough, but there weren't any 4GB kits of the Kingston HyperX available for the next 1-2 weeks...)
SSD: Crucial M4 2.5" 64GB (needs to be a SSD and not a HDD for an absolute silence build)
CPU: AMD A8-Series A8-3820. I wanted to have an A8, its graphic controller is a little bit better than the one in the A6. The problem here was, that the Streacom case only supports CPUs/APUs with a max TDP of 65W. The A8-3850 has 100W, but is easy to get everywhere. The A8-3800 or 3820 with 65W TDP (3820 has 100MHz more frequency, so no big difference between these two I think) aren't available officially anymore. They will only be sold within a fully pre-built PC (OEM). But sometimes there are people on eBay who sell an A8-3820 for a reasonable price (I paid ~ $85 from a guy in Spain which seems to make money with selling different kinds of processors on eBay). So just keep your eyes open there ...
HI - really glad i came across this thread as i have been thinking about pulling the trigger on another build project
Have you managed to install everything now? As i just wanted to make sure that you havent had any issues fitting the CPU without having to bend the copper pipes? Did you also use the thermal compound paste on the pipes?
Oh and ordered the same CPU from the spainish ebay seller, fingers crossed i get everything soon as i want to start building.
Thanks for posting the build info was very helpfull
Hey, you're very welcome
I hope I can do so this weekend.
First, a very important thing for you: the case without a drive slot does NOT have a hole for the IR receiver!! So you can not use an internal receiver without modding the case... I don't understand why they built it like this.
You may try the remote I ordered, as this one comes with an external receiver. But I can't tell you if the remote works, until I try it by myself (I'll disassemble the case to install it internally).
I think the CPU will fit just fine, as I read that the A6 should fit in without any bending and so on... But as said, if there's something unusual like this, I'll mention it!
I'm pretty sure I'm going to use the thermal compound on all pipes too, even if the user manual doesn't say anything about it. The writers of the german article (1st post) recommended it, but it's not a must. Personally I think it does make sense
I'll keep you posted guys! If there are more questions or things you want know, let me know!
RE: Silent / Fanless A8-3820 (65W) performance HTPC build - Jokerjack - 2012-06-23
Just received my case and just wanted to confirm that it does come with the hole already drilled for the IR receiver. Just waiting for the MOBO and APU now.. can t wait