scarpenter002

[scarpenter002]

Thanks again Aaron.  I will take a look at the OCZ.  I am currently out of the country, so I will exchanging out some of the minor components once I pull the trigger, like the RAM, PSU, etc…   I will even switch out for a different I3 model if one is on sale.  It is a constant churn of sale items, and it will be dependent on the week I order as to the exact item list.

[scarpenter002]

WOW!!  Have to see if this catches on and if the price point is competitive.  With the quietness factor, it should be ideal for the HTPC.

[scarpenter002]

Thanks Aaron, Andrew and Michael.  I have added this Intel CIR to my list.

[scarpenter002]

Thanks Aaron.

[quote=swoon]

500W for the PSU is of course total overkill for a system like this unless you plan to add a discrete GPU down the road.

[/quote]

I have been bit too many times for under sizing the PSU before, and I do want to have the option to add a higher end GPU later for gaming. 

What is the cost of higher rated PSU?  More power usage?  More sound?  More heat?  Or are the above only true based on actually pulling more power?  (i.e. if I add a discreet GPU later)

Thanks,

Scott

[scarpenter002]

Thanks babgvant

[quote=babgvant]

Depending on the use case you may want to go with a faster hard drive.  Green drives are OK for single use w/ limited commercial scanning, but if you intend to do more than that a green drive may let you down.  I’ve been happiest with the WD Black drives but most 7200RPM drives with a decent amount of cache should do the job too.

[/quote]

Actually there will be short period of time where I will be using this HTPC in a stand-alone mode, so I will be storing media on it.  Then later I will empty out the green drive and add it to my WHS.  I have a WD Caviar Blue 320GB 7200RPM SATA3 that I will pull out of my WHS and put into my HTPC.

[quote=babgvant]

Given your build you won’t need this many fans – one is probably more than enough.

[/quote]

Based on the air flow patterns, pulling in from the sides and pushing out the back, I am thinking of two fans, one on each side.  Also based on the reviews of this fan, they are said to be very quiet, but move a low volume of air, hence two.

Thanks,

Scott

[scarpenter002]

Ok, so after lots of input, I have changed direction from AMD to Intel, here is my new build:

• SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / 0.8mm SECC Grandia Series GD05B micro-ATX
• SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply
• Silverstone Short Cable Set For Silverstone Strider Series Modular PSU
• Intel BOXDH67GDB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
• Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 35W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
• Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5″ 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
• Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive
• G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
• LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
• SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm Case Fan  (3 of these)
• AVerMedia AVerTVHD Duet – PCTV Tuner MTVHDDUWB PCI-Express x1 Interface
• Internal IR Receiver w MCE Remote

I have switched over to a low power CPU with an Intel MOBO. (I like the intel NIC) 
I’ve increased my SDD capacity and performance. 
Switched to the AverMedia and separate IR Receiver.
Swithced to a modular PSU to minimize cable clutter.

So, Fire Away!!!  Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Scott

[scarpenter002]

[quote=babgvant]

1) Do you need the analog capture provided by the HVR-2250?  If not, the AverMedia Duet is a much better deal for the same feature set.

[/quote]

The analog is not really required and yes AverMedia is less, but the HVR does provide me with a nice remote and IR receiver.  Of course it might be a good excuse to buy the IR receiver separate and put the savings toward a nice Logitech Harmony.

[scarpenter002]

Thanks Aaron.  Next question is around cooling the CPU.  Is there any difference in the heat produced by the I3-2100 vs I3-2100T?  If so that will also come into play.  I am also considering a heatsink only to replace the stock CPU fan/heatsink.  With the chosen case, there should be a fan right next to the CPU that could be used to push air across a vertical heatsink.  Just another option to keep the noise to a minimum.

[scarpenter002]

Thanks for all the feedback.  Please keep it coming!!!

Yes, I know the memory is overkill, but memory it cheap. 

I will take the Intel route into consideration.  Taking another look at the I3 Sandy. Not sure how the I3-2100 compares to the Pentium?.?.?  Both are rated at 65w, but the I3-2100 is rated 3.1 GHz vs. 2.6 for the G620.  Considering power usage, maybe I should consider the T variants that are rated at 35w, but GHz drops to 2.5 and 2.2 respectively…. 

On the SSD, yes I am reconsidering moving to 64gb and SATA3 rather than SATA2.

Thanks,
Scott

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