[helpermonkey]

Mi7 : The Fresh Eskargo Blu Build
My HTPC that I've named Mi7: The Fresh Eskargo Blu Build, is finally finished (at least the hardware and basic setup). Though I'm not British (and don't root for their footie teams) nor a a huge bond fan, I thought it was an appropriate name for My I7 build [get it? bwahahahaha ]. I hope the reference serves as a thanks to Eskro, Dougie Fresh, BluRay, and Beer40oz for their help (and as a play on Beer's A6-Pack).

The original budget was $1,000 all-in, I did use online coupons and gift cards, but didn't care about MIRs. If you want to see the full spreadsheet with vendors, s&h, and coupons, you can download the xlsx here

HTPC:
CASE: Antec ISK 300-65 $65
PSU: picoPSU-160-XT + 192W Adapter $75.95
MOBO: ASRock Z77E-ITX $134.31
APU: Intel Core i7 3770S $335.68**
RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB DDR3 $57.99
FAN: Scythe BIG SHURIKEN 2 Rev B. $47.95**
HDD: Crucial 64 GB SSD $88.05**
OS: Win7x64 Pro | Owned
REMOTE 1: Harmony One | Owned
REMOTE 2: iPazzPort Pro Mini KP-810-10-A $26.67**
REMOTE 3 (just 4 dongle): Rosewill RHRC-11002 $14.99
ANTENNA: Mohu MHANT 1000 $34.99
TUNER: SiliconDust HDHomeRun Dual $87.46**
Other: Arctic5 $7.99

HTPC Total: $976.93
** - denotes purchased via Amazon











Status:
Win7 Pro: Installed & Configured
XBMC: Installed
Plugins:
- Advanced Launcher: Installed & Configured
Emulators:
- Genesis: To-Do
- NES (Nestopia): Configured
- SNES: To-Do
- TurboGraphx 16: To-Do
TV:
- LIVE: HD HomeRunPrime Dual - configured via http://bit.ly/N2Euk9
* Channel Guide: To-Do
* PVR: To-Do
* Resolve some technical problems
- Streaming:
* AmazonPrime, Free Cable, Hulu, Eredivisie Live,
* Problems: ESPN
* To-Do: Netflix, Explore adding more Soccer (FoxSoccer?), BigTen Network, Football, F1, HBO/Xfinity


To-Do
In no particular order:
3. Setup Streaming for Amazon Prime, ESPN, Netflix, Xfinity, Etc.
4. Configure Harmony 1
5. Settle on a skin
6. Exchange Pico-PSU (something funky with it).

NAS
* In progress * will probably build unRAID
HD1: Samsung EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB $119.99
HD2: Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB $119.99

NAS Total: $238.98

[Beer40oz]

Mi7 sweet man.... hope you enjoy it and post pics and such.... glad to help.

[eskro]

your HTPC will be powerful O.O

i hope the ASRock Z77E-ITX mobo has a wake from S5 using USB Keyboard feature
just like the A75M-ITX

[helpermonkey]

your HTPC will be powerful O.O

i hope the ASRock Z77E-ITX mobo has a wake from S5 using USB Keyboard feature
just like the A75M-ITX

from what i read (http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77E-ITX), it appears the answer is yes! Then again, what I read and what that means doesn't always compute.

[eskro]

i see, wel, keep us up2date!

[helpermonkey]

And so it begins ...



Tonight should be fun!

[Mick1152]

Awesome!!! I'm not going to lie, I have truly loved building these systems the past couple months. I'm so addicted. Just ordered parts for another system just because I love the look of all the parts laid out on the table like that!

One thing... Your build sounds awesome, but, every time I see your thread with this little bug icon, I get this sense of concern and fear something went wrong with your build!!! I'm scared, hold me!

[helpermonkey]

Thanks! Though i've already hit a snag - the power hook up for the picoPSU is right next to the RAM slots on the ASRock Z77E-ITX ... so now i have to see if i can pull off this stupid yellow cover on my ballistix ram, otherwise, the extra width of all things is gonna be a pain to deal with.

[helpermonkey]

swapped out the mobo (same model), got a new type of RAM, still no luck ... the search continues! :-)

[Beer40oz]

I am stumped on this one! I wan't to help you.... I feel bad it ain't going right for you. But you have an i7.... did you try a regular PSU?

[bluray]

swapped out the mobo (same model), got a new type of RAM, still no luck ... the search continues! :-)

Sorry to read that you are having problem with your powerful iVy i7 build. What exactly is your problem?

This place "MitxPC" built very similar HTPC as you, and they used the smallest case too. Here are their hardware's-

Intel Core i7 3770S
Zotac Z77ITX-A-E
PicoPSU-160-XT 160W DC-DC Power Supply w/ 102W 12V AC-DC Adapter
M350 case
4GB DDR3-1600MHz DIMM Memory

[helpermonkey]

This place "MitxPC" built very similar HTPC as you, and they used the smallest case too. Here are their hardware's-

Intel Core i7 3770S
Zotac Z77ITX-A-E
PicoPSU-160-XT 160W DC-DC Power Supply w/ 102W 12V AC-DC Adapter
M350 case
4GB DDR3-1600MHz DIMM Memory

Connect it all up, plug it in - Shuriken spins, blue light on case comes on - nothing happens. Tried it with various combinations of ram in different configurations (swapping sticks, one stick, etc), exchanged the mobo and then swapped out the ram for a different setup and that didn't seem to work either. It might be the processor i suppose, but since i gave up all my testing stuff years ago, i might just need to take it to my local computer shop.

[bluray]

Connect it all up, plug it in - Shuriken spins, blue light on case comes on - nothing happens. Tried it with various combinations of ram in different configurations (swapping sticks, one stick, etc), exchanged the mobo and then swapped out the ram for a different setup and that didn't seem to work either. It might be the processor i suppose, but since i gave up all my testing stuff years ago, i might just need to take it to my local computer shop.

Your problem is more likely relate to CPU and PSU....

Let me ask your these-
Is your house very dry? It tend to generate a lot of statics in a very dry room. Did you discharge yourself by touching the exposed metal on the case or wear ground strap before handling the components? Did you place the mobo on the nonconductive surface or the mobo cardboard box? It's not a good idea to place it on the outside of the antistatic bag either.

Is it possible that the power button on the case is bad? Have you try to bypass the case power button? You can simply remove the power switch wires from the mobo. To manually turn on the PC, you can simply touch the two power switch pins with a flat head screwdriver and quickly remove it......I usually do this before I install the mobo and everything else int he case....

If it still doesn't work, it might be a good idea to take it to your local computer shop.......good luck!

[helpermonkey]

I took all of those reasonable precautions .... outside of wearing slippy socks and rubbing my feet on the carpet combined with the aluminum foil outfit i was wearing ;-).

In all seriousness, i did not try and manually start the computer ... that would have been a good idea. Instead, i dropped it off at the computer store and will let them see what they can figure out. Without my onslaught of spare parts and testing components, I kind of just resigned myself to paying a little to have someone else look at it.

[vooharmy]

Hello,
Ive build a computer that is almost identically specced, so i can assure you its not your hardware unless is damaged.

Case: Wesena ITX7 (Very small case)
PSU: I7-3770
Ram: ARES 2x8GB
HDD1: Sandforce extreme SSD 128GB
HDD2: WD 500gb Caviar (Recycled)
OPTICAL: Slim Bluray BC 5600s
PSU: Pico 160xt - 192W brick
TVTUNER: Compro e700 pcie
CPU FAN: Gelid Slim i-Plus
CONTROL: LENOVO 5902

As you can see very similar specs so the psu is definitely powerful enough for the rig, If its not turning on though I would think your PSU is damage some how. The only problem I'm having is heat, I am probably going to swap out the TV tuner for a USB and put in the best low profile GPU I can find. The heat is only an issue under full GPU + Full CPU load but it holds up great as long as the GPU isn't full stick. I wanted to put a water cooler in but its very very tight and i really need a water cooler that's 80mm radiator and I cant find such a thing.