2014-05-28, 01:39
Pictures at the bottom!!
Decided to move my desktop computer away from HDMI capable range from my living room. Great excuse to buy a new HTPC! After some research I stumbled across this forum and xbmc. Really liked its sleekness and customizability so decided to incorporate it into my new setup. Going from my old and user friendly win7+VLC to a fully featured Linux box is a process that takes some time to complete I've found out. It's not all plug and play. As I'm writing this I've gotten most of the stuff taken care of but there's still some things that need to be fixed. (Deinterlacing issues, Chrome/netflix launcher from xbmc, Streacom IR working with chrome, iptables config etc)
--------------------------------------------------
Setup and hardware:
Pretty straightforward overkill for a regular HTPC. But I wanted flawless 1080p (possibly 4k later) and menu experience in XBMC, 24/7 server operation with VPN for DLNA and internet tunneling, VNC/SSH, NAS (Samba&NFS), and more stuff I dont really need or use today but might in the future.
Xubuntu 14 LTS with Xbmc Gotham. Chrome+pipelight for netflix (works actually). And worst of all I considered the 4765 i7.. The i3 is lightning fast. More than enough.
Intel Core i3-4130T Haswell
Socket-LGA1150,Dual Core,2.9GHz,3MB,35W,HD4400
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=797977
ASUS H87I-PLUS, Socket-1150
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=782481
Crucial DDR3 Ballistix Sport VLP 8GB KIT
1.35V
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=770200
WD Red 3TB + Samsung 120gb SSD (sata3)
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=791617
Case and psu:
Streacom FC5B WS EVO Black
Streacom IR-Receiver& Remote Control
Streacom NANO150 PSU Adapter (150w)
I found this part the most confusing to pick. Initially I considered
Akasa Galileo
http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=p...K-ITX09-BK
Because it's passive and clean looking. It's a lot smaller than the streacom case. So in a typical living room it could look a little out of place next to a A/V receiver for instance.
Secondly a passive mini itx case from HFX looked a bit like this, but in brushed aluminum and straight clean front like the streacom.
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/fanl...ed_pc.html
Ended up choosing the FC5 for space (can expand more HDD later)
No big problems with assembly or parts not fitting with this setup. H87i + streacom fc5b. There's a capacitor which interferes with the 4th heat pipe, but when changing #3 and #4 pipe with each other, it fits. (Picture shows how it'll look. There's enough cooling paste included with the case for the heat pipes and CPU, and my included an updated CPU heatsink assembly.
The whole build is based off of user "binwiederda" HTPC
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=146962
Fanless and passively cooled. Yes you can hear the HDD spinning if you stick your ear next to it, but my 110-220V transformer and kitchen fridge makes more noise.
This is how the harddrives will fit in the case. Lots of space. I think it's room enough for 3x3.5 drives. Also note the 2.5 inch drive is SOOO much smaller (first one I've owned)
USB 3.0 and Streacom IR module in the top right of the picture. IR button has a "pass through" power cable for the motherboard. So the case 'power on' cable, actually goes to the IR module, then to the motherboard pin 'power on' connector. Makes the bios acpi power on/off setting matter, when I use the remote for power on/off. E.g. Hard-off or reset.
Look at the 4th heat pipe from the left. It tucks a bit out of the heatsink, because the capacitor on the motherboard that's barely visible in the back. I switched heatpipe number three and four, it's originally supposed to look symmetrical. This little mod has no practical impact on temperature I'm sure. And it required no bending of the pipes, just a firm hand when installing it all.
This is the psu connector from the 'external' psu box. It's like a laptop psu in comparison, the dc plug goes straight to the motherboard connector, and there's a Y-cable attached for the ATX 4 pin CPU cable. Same with SATA and MOLEX power.
Furthermore you can see from the picture how an add in riser card would work for the PCI slot. It would fit the PCI card horizontally aligned the the expansion card cover. So for cable planning my box now only has the CAT5 and HDMI and power cable attached.
HDMI audio out works perfect, even streams DTS to my soundbar receiver which shows a little DTS logo when I play DTS content, if I've understood it correctly this is bit streaming. A lot of users reported this not working under Linux. VAAPI CPU movie decoding works. The Haswell also has some new encryption feature to make it more CPU efficient, not sure if it works or not. But all in all surprisingly few hiccups with drivers for the build and O/S.
Oh and temperature wise it's cool, Antarctica cool. The case is rated for max 95TDP, the 4130t is 35w. Could easily get away with a 55w Haswell, but I didn't want to take the chance. The heatsinks on the sides of the case feels like body temperature after 1-2 hrs of 1080p playback, never bothered to measure it. It's totally doable to stow this box in an enclosure or something.
Decided to move my desktop computer away from HDMI capable range from my living room. Great excuse to buy a new HTPC! After some research I stumbled across this forum and xbmc. Really liked its sleekness and customizability so decided to incorporate it into my new setup. Going from my old and user friendly win7+VLC to a fully featured Linux box is a process that takes some time to complete I've found out. It's not all plug and play. As I'm writing this I've gotten most of the stuff taken care of but there's still some things that need to be fixed. (Deinterlacing issues, Chrome/netflix launcher from xbmc, Streacom IR working with chrome, iptables config etc)
--------------------------------------------------
Setup and hardware:
Pretty straightforward overkill for a regular HTPC. But I wanted flawless 1080p (possibly 4k later) and menu experience in XBMC, 24/7 server operation with VPN for DLNA and internet tunneling, VNC/SSH, NAS (Samba&NFS), and more stuff I dont really need or use today but might in the future.
Xubuntu 14 LTS with Xbmc Gotham. Chrome+pipelight for netflix (works actually). And worst of all I considered the 4765 i7.. The i3 is lightning fast. More than enough.
Intel Core i3-4130T Haswell
Socket-LGA1150,Dual Core,2.9GHz,3MB,35W,HD4400
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=797977
ASUS H87I-PLUS, Socket-1150
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=782481
Crucial DDR3 Ballistix Sport VLP 8GB KIT
1.35V
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=770200
WD Red 3TB + Samsung 120gb SSD (sata3)
https://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=791617
Case and psu:
Streacom FC5B WS EVO Black
Streacom IR-Receiver& Remote Control
Streacom NANO150 PSU Adapter (150w)
I found this part the most confusing to pick. Initially I considered
Akasa Galileo
http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=p...K-ITX09-BK
Because it's passive and clean looking. It's a lot smaller than the streacom case. So in a typical living room it could look a little out of place next to a A/V receiver for instance.
Secondly a passive mini itx case from HFX looked a bit like this, but in brushed aluminum and straight clean front like the streacom.
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/fanl...ed_pc.html
Ended up choosing the FC5 for space (can expand more HDD later)
No big problems with assembly or parts not fitting with this setup. H87i + streacom fc5b. There's a capacitor which interferes with the 4th heat pipe, but when changing #3 and #4 pipe with each other, it fits. (Picture shows how it'll look. There's enough cooling paste included with the case for the heat pipes and CPU, and my included an updated CPU heatsink assembly.
The whole build is based off of user "binwiederda" HTPC
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=146962
Fanless and passively cooled. Yes you can hear the HDD spinning if you stick your ear next to it, but my 110-220V transformer and kitchen fridge makes more noise.
This is how the harddrives will fit in the case. Lots of space. I think it's room enough for 3x3.5 drives. Also note the 2.5 inch drive is SOOO much smaller (first one I've owned)
USB 3.0 and Streacom IR module in the top right of the picture. IR button has a "pass through" power cable for the motherboard. So the case 'power on' cable, actually goes to the IR module, then to the motherboard pin 'power on' connector. Makes the bios acpi power on/off setting matter, when I use the remote for power on/off. E.g. Hard-off or reset.
Look at the 4th heat pipe from the left. It tucks a bit out of the heatsink, because the capacitor on the motherboard that's barely visible in the back. I switched heatpipe number three and four, it's originally supposed to look symmetrical. This little mod has no practical impact on temperature I'm sure. And it required no bending of the pipes, just a firm hand when installing it all.
This is the psu connector from the 'external' psu box. It's like a laptop psu in comparison, the dc plug goes straight to the motherboard connector, and there's a Y-cable attached for the ATX 4 pin CPU cable. Same with SATA and MOLEX power.
Furthermore you can see from the picture how an add in riser card would work for the PCI slot. It would fit the PCI card horizontally aligned the the expansion card cover. So for cable planning my box now only has the CAT5 and HDMI and power cable attached.
HDMI audio out works perfect, even streams DTS to my soundbar receiver which shows a little DTS logo when I play DTS content, if I've understood it correctly this is bit streaming. A lot of users reported this not working under Linux. VAAPI CPU movie decoding works. The Haswell also has some new encryption feature to make it more CPU efficient, not sure if it works or not. But all in all surprisingly few hiccups with drivers for the build and O/S.
Oh and temperature wise it's cool, Antarctica cool. The case is rated for max 95TDP, the 4130t is 35w. Could easily get away with a 55w Haswell, but I didn't want to take the chance. The heatsinks on the sides of the case feels like body temperature after 1-2 hrs of 1080p playback, never bothered to measure it. It's totally doable to stow this box in an enclosure or something.
