New HTPC: A6-3500, Wesena ITX7 build

sorry for the late reply

Very nice HTPC!

besides the annoyances of the case, how do you like the A6-3500?

Looks perfect to me!!

voip-ninja Wrote:Thanks for sharing. I see that you ran into the same unfortunate problem of needing to bend the Wesena drive tray in order to clear the HSF of the CPU.

This is really a problem, especially considering that very few people will ever utilize the 3.5" drive rails that make the case have so many cpu/fan clearance problems.

Wesena really need to ditch the 3.5" drive tray altogether which would give another 1.00" of much needed cooler clearance and open the case up to better build options. Or, if they insist on having 3.5" make it OPTIONAL and sell that part for $15 separately.

Yeah, the case would easily accommodate higher HSF if the metal tray did didn't include support for the 3.5 HDD. I might redesign it as I don't use the 3.5 HDD and also no ODD. The trick with the wooden stick seems a nice workaround. I'll place the 2.5HDD where the ODD would be, allowing more airflow around the CPU.

voip-ninja Wrote:Also, which PicoPSU did you go with? What's your power consumption when playing stuff in XBMC?

I got the picoPSU from Perfect Home Theater (PHT). I was told that they are made by Wesena. First one was faulty and PHT sent me a 2nd unit to test both PSU at the same time. Great service and you have a direct contact with the owner when you write an email.

It's a 120W DC-DC and a 120W (12V, 10A) power brick for 60$. The downside so far is that the powerbrick is only a 2-pin connection at the wall (no ground). So, I'm a little bit worried about that.

I don't have a tool to measure the power consumption. Maybe I'll buy something, measure it and return the tool!

kokoro Wrote:Hi, I ran into the same problems with my itx7 case, I had to bent the plate so much in order to fit the scythe Kozuti with a 3,5 HDD drive that I couldn't eject my DVd in the DVD drive anymore.
Finally I went for the Gelid Solutions Slim Silence iPlus 28mm high cooler and it fitted perfectly (I still have 3-4 MM clearance between the HSF and the HDD, and not too noisy as well). I think the location of the IR window is bad as well, I've ordered the IR receiver from HD-plex and I couldn't install it because the IR window is too close from the lid. The finishing of the case is very bad as well, it's not brushed aluminium like the origen M10, just black matte paint with irregular color levels and scratches all over the case. You cannot close the case well, the aluminium lid is not perfectly bended and didn't adjust well with the bottom of the case.

Oh, and forgot the fan blades rubbing against the horizontal plate of the chassis, I had to use a piece of cardboard to solve the problem.

On my side, I'm am happy with the case. I like the feeling and the look of it. However, it is very easy to scratch the surface with your nails or tools.

Airflow is not bad, I have, after 1 hour of 1080p video, temps around 47-48C for the CPU and lower temps for the rest of the parts. CPU fans is at 35% (~1600RPM) and case fan is ~1300RPM. The next mod wil be an aftermarket HSF I think, or maybe another slow spinning (~800RPM) case fan on the other side of the case. I'll look into Gelid HSF. 28mm is low profile!

I also had some problem with the lid the 1st time I had to screw it. But the more I screwed it, the easier it was to put the lid back on.

Fan mounting is good imo. I tried to put some rubber between the bottom of the case and the mounting fan tray, but the screws are not long enough. I don't get vibrational noise so far so I'll probably left it like that.

Beer40oz Wrote:Thank you for the pics and vids! looks like a solid build. That APU is amazing no Macroblocking.... nice!

Can you get away by not adding that HD tray and use something else?

Thanks! the CPU could be slightly more powerful, but it does the job well and has low operation temps! So, can't complain that much. With the "Sync video to display" (not sure if it's the right words), the avg CPU use is around 15-20% during a 1080p ripped bluray.

I might design a new tray. You have to use it because it hold the back of the case. So you need something that tie together the front and the back of the case.

eskro Wrote:sorry for the late reply

Very nice HTPC!

besides the annoyances of the case, how do you like the A6-3500?

Looks perfect to me!!

Thanks!

Annoyances of the case are minor imho. Nothing that can't be worked around.

So far, I'm really happy with the A6-3500. Fast enough and cool temps make it perfect for an HTPC. This is important as I have an open cabinet, so fans have to be silent. In complete silence (ie XBMC GUI), we hear the HTPC, but not that much. During dialogue, I don't hear it, unless I concentrate on hearing it. I am about 8ft from my 42" HDTV.

The bottleneck is my HDD. 5400RPM, 120GB 2.5 drive. 5-6 yr old (but not used much). I bet that with a SSD or faster drive, performance inside XBMC will be much quicker (it is already, but faster at scrolling all your movies without buffering). Maybe I'll get a gift card for that this christmas.... who knows?

Updated the 1st post. Wanted to thank forum members as I got most of my informations here! So, thanks to everyone that helped me! I'm really happy now and my wife is much impressed.

Not sure how good this measure is, but with CPUID, it says that the power consumption while reading a ripped 1080p from Planet Earth is a steady ~27W, with some peaks around 35W.

Definitely, an SSD would definitely make your XBMC fanarts load wayy faster!!
the APU takes care of the UI speed while the
SSD takes care of the Fanart loading!!

eskro Wrote:Definitely, an SSD would definitely make your XBMC fanarts load wayy faster!!
the APU takes care of the UI speed while the
SSD takes care of the Fanart loading!!

yeah, I know! Though, no money left for now! And it's quick enough anyway.

just wait for a deal on the patriot Torqx2!
often $45 after MIR!! even for us Canucks!