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I have been using HTPCs for several years now and my last one started rebooting randomly on me so I figured it was time to upgrade!
New HTPC Specs:
CPU: Intel i3-3245 3.2GHz HD4000
Motherboard: ASRock H77m-ITX
Case: Realan E-i7n
PUS: Integrated 84W AC Adapter
Cooler: Scythe Shuriken Rev B
RAM: GSkill RipJaws 4GB DDR3-1600
SSD: Intel 40GB X25-V
IR Receiver: Inteset CIR Internal
Case Fan: 80mm Noctua
Remote: Harmony 650
Software: XBMC on Win7 x64
Review: The case looks great and was very easy to work with. I bought it because of the looks, I knew I didn't need a optical drive, and I like the integrated window for the IR receiver. The brushed aluminum looks good and everything fits together well. The window looks like a bit of an afterthought, but the quality is 'good enough'. Overall, the case is designed well with power connectors for everything that would need them, cables that are the right length, and even some bonus items like an external Molex and eSATA on the back. Installation was easy and routing cables out of the way was equally as easy.
My biggest gripe with this case is with power and SSD LEDs. They look cheap and out of place. The power button glows blue behind a frosted plastic ring that then blinks purple when the SSD is accessed. It only took me a matter of minutes before I turned it off. A second, and minor, annoyance is the cheap little feet on the case. This is a very expensive product and while it does have many very nice features these two items are at the top of my list to improve in a V2.0.
Doug from EcoSmartPC was very helpful. I had a few questions regarding the CIR receiver and clearance issues with my hardware in the case and he answered them before I ever bought anything. My main concern was clearance with my large heatsink in this tiny case... take a look below at how close everything fits with the SSD mounting plate installed! I also had to cut a little chunk out of the heatspreader on the RAM to get it to clear the cooler.
This was my first ASRock motherboard and I'm very happy with it. The BIOS is well thought out and has everything I would need. I can disable the front power and SSD LEDs without unplugging them. It gives a nice single 'blink' whenever the computer wakes up or goes to sleep or powers on/off. The fan control is flawless and my fans run dead silent all the time.
The CIR receiver is good. Plug and play with my Harmony remote (upgraded from another generic WMC receiver so it worked well). Turning the computer on/off is nice (it boots very fast) and the internal IR receiver is great for helping clean up that cable mess a bit!
XBMC performs as expected. I was coming from a 1st generation core i3-320 so there was a bit of a performance hike. With my old system the graphics intensive menus on some XBMC skins would cause everything to overhead and turn the fans on full blast. With the new system there is no issue.
And now on to pictures...
New HTPC Specs:
CPU: Intel i3-3245 3.2GHz HD4000
Motherboard: ASRock H77m-ITX
Case: Realan E-i7n
PUS: Integrated 84W AC Adapter
Cooler: Scythe Shuriken Rev B
RAM: GSkill RipJaws 4GB DDR3-1600
SSD: Intel 40GB X25-V
IR Receiver: Inteset CIR Internal
Case Fan: 80mm Noctua
Remote: Harmony 650
Software: XBMC on Win7 x64
Review: The case looks great and was very easy to work with. I bought it because of the looks, I knew I didn't need a optical drive, and I like the integrated window for the IR receiver. The brushed aluminum looks good and everything fits together well. The window looks like a bit of an afterthought, but the quality is 'good enough'. Overall, the case is designed well with power connectors for everything that would need them, cables that are the right length, and even some bonus items like an external Molex and eSATA on the back. Installation was easy and routing cables out of the way was equally as easy.
My biggest gripe with this case is with power and SSD LEDs. They look cheap and out of place. The power button glows blue behind a frosted plastic ring that then blinks purple when the SSD is accessed. It only took me a matter of minutes before I turned it off. A second, and minor, annoyance is the cheap little feet on the case. This is a very expensive product and while it does have many very nice features these two items are at the top of my list to improve in a V2.0.
Doug from EcoSmartPC was very helpful. I had a few questions regarding the CIR receiver and clearance issues with my hardware in the case and he answered them before I ever bought anything. My main concern was clearance with my large heatsink in this tiny case... take a look below at how close everything fits with the SSD mounting plate installed! I also had to cut a little chunk out of the heatspreader on the RAM to get it to clear the cooler.
This was my first ASRock motherboard and I'm very happy with it. The BIOS is well thought out and has everything I would need. I can disable the front power and SSD LEDs without unplugging them. It gives a nice single 'blink' whenever the computer wakes up or goes to sleep or powers on/off. The fan control is flawless and my fans run dead silent all the time.
The CIR receiver is good. Plug and play with my Harmony remote (upgraded from another generic WMC receiver so it worked well). Turning the computer on/off is nice (it boots very fast) and the internal IR receiver is great for helping clean up that cable mess a bit!
XBMC performs as expected. I was coming from a 1st generation core i3-320 so there was a bit of a performance hike. With my old system the graphics intensive menus on some XBMC skins would cause everything to overhead and turn the fans on full blast. With the new system there is no issue.
And now on to pictures...