Double check my HTPC spec
#1
Hi,

I'm wanting to build a HTPC which I will keep on 24/7 as it will also serve as a NAS and download box. It will be in my bedroom so noise is of concern to me. I have selected the following parts:

Lian Li PC-Q11 - Looks like I can soft mount hard drives at the base, should be able to fit up to 3 with using the dvd drive space.
120W PicoPSU - I already have this part.
A6-3500 - Gets highly recommended as a good cpu to use as a HTPC on XBMC, as I will be running Win 7 I don't need to worry about AMD drivers.
Gigabyte GA-A75N-USB3 - Good price M-ITX FM1 motherboard with enough features. Should have decent PWM control?
4gb 1600mhz DDR3 - I won't be overclocking so shouldn't need quicker than that, and 4gb should be plenty.
Scythe Mugen 3 - Seems like the included fan is able to spin nice and slow. Is this an overkill?
Samsung 830 64gb SSD - Plenty big enough to run XBMC off, is this an overkill SSD wise?

So my plan was, due to running a picopsu the case will have enough space to run a large cooler like the Mugen 3. I was hoping I should be able to run the CPU cooler at 300-500rpm without the case fan fitted. If it requires undervolting then I would happily do that, and I will also have a few 3.5" hdd's fitted in the case. I imagine I will want to have the 3.5" hard drives to spin down quickly so the only part producing sound should be the cpu cooler.

Does this sound like a sensible setup?
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#2
The PC-Q11 (like it's predecessor the PC-Q07) is a great mini-ITX case.

When using the picoPSU in that case look at this post: http://outsidethestb.blogspot.com/2011/0...otype.html
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#3
Exactly what I was going to do, minus the fan. Hoping it will be totally silent though.
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#4
I am not positive that HSF will fit, but I think it should. The rest of the build looks great.

As far as making it silent two things:

1. Use an adaptor like this to run the CPU fan at 5v:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pin-Molex-to-X...841wt_1380

I have one, it would make that fan inaudible from more than a foot. If you really need a case fan run it off the other 5v connector and it too will be silent (as long as its a good fan).

2. The 3.5 inch HDDs make me nervous- they can put off some heat and blow the entire deal. The one exception in my experience is if every one of these drives is a WD Green, which I have found run very cool and can take being in a hot environment.

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#5
The PC-Q11 does have a 120mm at the front of the case so at least there's some cooling unlike the PC-Q07 which relied on the PSU fan. These cases also have a ton of ventilation. The 3.5" HDDs in the 5.25" bay (which isn't like a normal 5.25" bay so check your plan will work) won't have any direct cooling and will be at the top of the case with no top vent where the heat all rises.

There are better Lian-Li choices for adding multiple 3.5" HDDs like the PC-Q25 -- for about $20 more.
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#6
poofyhairguy,

It is a PWM fan on the Scythe, so speedfan can be used no problem to create a custom curve for fan speed. As for the case fan I will also control it via speedfan and probably make it spin just above its stall speed. I checked out the dimensions and the q11 says a max heatsink height of 80mm, but then as I am not using an atx psu I had a look and they are 85mm thick, so I will at least have 165mm clearance, with the Scythe being 158mm. It will be tight but will fit which is handy!

I only have two at the moment, though they aren't green drives but are slower rpm ones which help. Though I will have to think more about hard drive storage.
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#7
If you can get the hard drives out of the case and on your network then silent is much easier. That is how I finally got my one fan rig to work.

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#8
(2012-06-21, 08:10)saitrix Wrote: so I will at least have 165mm clearance, with the Scythe being 158mm. It will be tight but will fit which is handy!

With only 7mm to spare you might have one problem or another. If it's right against the side panel where there are no hole there will not be a lot of space for the fan to draw air down. If it's against the area where there are holes, the air rushing through those holes will make noise (a problem I had in the PC-Q09).


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#9
It'll be more than 7mm as the psu isn't hard up to the edge of the case, looks like there is another 10mm, so it will be closer to 17mm gap which will be plenty. No need to draw air down as its a tower cooler so it's just moving air through the case.

poofyhairguy, I may build it with the hard drives in with the thought of removing them in the future but currently I can't really get them out of my room.
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