Poorman's Antique HTPC

[Maldrien]

Hi, first time posting on this forum but i've been reading a lot here. So please dont be to hatefull.

I work for lil money during the day and I study at night. So i don't have much free time nor the money to build the perfect HTPC. Since I received a very good computer for x-mas, I wondered what I could do with my old one. I then notice that I had a vga plug on my samsung Tv. There it was. My old computer would perfect on the tv as an HTPC. But i didnt want to have the big heavy beige tower laying around the living room.

I had the idea of building my own case out of wood. But with the free time that I had and the very few tools made me change my mind. I went out for a quest to find the perfect furniture that would fit in the living room and a computer inside of it too. A week later a foud this for 40$

In the lower part there was nearly enough space to get the metal skeleton that i saved from the older case.

So inside that little thing will be a

Antec 300w
Asus A7N8X
AMD 2400 2.0 ghz
Nvidia 9250 passive cooling
1.5 gig ram DDR
seagate 320 gig IDE
western digital 500 gig SATA2

My major point is to not notice that there is a computer in the room. Which means that the desk must stay esthetically the same, and dont make much noise.


Let's begin.

First fit the skeleton in the lower part.

p.s. note htat there is the hole for the 80 mm missing and the metal part in the lower left in a plate to fix the power supply.

I decided to try to suspend the HDD cage and screw the DVD older on top.

Now with everything inside and a 80mm fan

I am very bad at cable management I know......

Power button, HDD LED and Power LED

That setup held for a month being open 24/7 downloading and being used as an HTPC and remote desktop. The temp of the core was always around 53-55 celcius. But now that the summer as arrive the temperature kept raising. I once forgot to close the door for a hour and came back, the comp was around 67 celcius, way too high.

So i bought a couple of noctua 120 mm rated at 17 db.

Now with new fans

note the aeration hole at the bottom, there is a dust filter on the other side as well as before the intake fan ( bottom). Now the temp of the core is around 46 celcius and i can't hear it!!

About the HDD cage, the more i think about it, I dont think it's a good idea but it's holding good. I'll change that. If you have any suggestion don't hesitate.

 

[uzor]

Maldrien - Welcome to the forum!! Feel free to look around, ask questions, etc - MOST of us don't bite.

A couple suggestions for you. If you get the actual location of the pictures from your flickr account (i.e. http://blah.com/blah.JPG), you can embed the pictures in here by putting

behind it. If people don't have to click to see all your pictures, I think you'll find you get more traffic. More traffic means more suggestions, etc. Also, on your project regarding temps, I see that you're still using the stock HSF on it. Those are fine little units under ideal conditions, but I think that to ensure better temps and a longer lifespan, that you might want to invest in an aftermarket HSF. Something like Thermaltake's Big Typhoon will keep that cool no matter what.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

...Thermalright's Big Typhoon...

Don't you mean ThermalTake's? Although, Thermalright might be a better choice IMO.

 

[uzor]

Don't you mean ThermalTake's? Although, Thermalright might be a better choice IMO.

Yeah, my bad.....edited. If you've got a better HSF suggestion for him that is still available and has a Socket A mount, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it. I don't claim to be an HSF guru by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Yeah, my bad.....edited. If you've got a better HSF suggestion for him that is still available and has a Socket A mount, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it. I don't claim to be an HSF guru by any stretch of the imagination.

Hahah, it's cool.

Man, Socket A....I can't even remember back that far. I seem to vaguely recall a Cooler Master unit I used. I'm really not much of an air cooler these days anyways. Probably whatever you could dig up that's still available for Skt. A aside from stock cooling solution would be nice regardless.

 

[Maldrien]

Thanks alot for the suggestion, I had a hard time finding an aftermarket HSF. But I think that if I manage to save 300-400$ I would be able to get a small core duo. I have to close everything (downloads) to play a 720p rip atm. So I think it would be a good investment to change that computer in a close future but for now it does the job. Open 24/7 downloading, and being a media server as well as a remote desktop (from my HTC touch cellphone AMAZING!!)

Been up and running for 10 days now without a hick up.

Also I am using a program called Speedfan to monitor my temp. Is there a better one out there?

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Also I am using a program called Speedfan to monitor my temp. Is there a better one out there?

Speedfan works reasonably well, short of it's quirks.