[baldmosher]

EDIT: mini-ITX just adds extra mobo cost and reduces functionality for any potential future upgrade needs. And may not be able to fit a HSF with a <90mm case. So I'm abandoning the whole mITX idea. Keeping the mATX case I bought (see link below) and will choose a mATX mobo. Cheers all for the input.

Some of you might have read my original thread, I've split off to look at my mITX options, you can read the reasons why here

If I can sell £140 worth of junk on eBay The Wife™ says she will let me buy a HP Microserver which means no PCIE cards or storage disks are required inside the HTPC case any more. This also buys me more time to decide on the HTPC build - Ivy Bridge might throw everything into chaos again.

To sum up for those who don't like reading 5-page threads:

I'm creating a decent home PC for general use that will also do 1080p HTPC stuff as a sideline; emulators but no 3D games; no optical drive or HD bitstreams (yet); pipe a secondary signal into the bedroom. I have already settled on the following internals:
- AMD FM1 Llano A6-3500 (but will go up to A8 if the prices drop)
- 4GB RAM (may go for 8GB)
- HDMI
- either SPDIF coax+VGA or DVI+analog (stereo) audio (optical onboard costs me an extra tenner)
- SSD
- only thing left to choose is mobo, case + PSU

Case...
If I take the £20 and run (see the link) I already have a suitably sized μATX case. It'll fit a flex-ATX or pico PSU.
If I don't take the £20, there is certainly a lot of choice of mITX cases, but then my main concern is headroom for a suitable cooler. Sounds from advice below like I might as well stick with this case as I'll need at the very least 80mm height. Suggestions for suitable low profile cases are welcomed!

PSU...
Edited after advice below, will need 90W, so picoPSU 120W just £60+6 or 90W £59+6
but failing that, FSP FlexATX 220W 85+ £35

Motherboards.... are there really only three FM1 mITX boards out there??
Have narrowed down to a few suitable boards for this case and my requirements:
(mATX)
ASRock A75M £56 (this one's gone in my sig) + £10 opt-coax converter
Gigabyte GA-A75M-D2H £65 + £5 SPDIF coax header
(mITX)
Asrock A75M-ITX £74
Gigabyte GA-A75N-USB3 if it comes out in time
(am still looking and will edit this post rather than posting umpteen follow ups)

[Balinus]

Hello baldmosher,

I have a similar set-up (see my sig). I can easily run emulator on my A6-3500. I've just installed Assassin's creed (the 1st one) and it runs great at 720p (max resolution of the game) with most settings on high. CPU score in Windows gives 6.3.

For the case, I'm also satisfied with my Wesena ITX7. The airflow is not bad in my opinion and it's 4 inch tall with the feet. If you don't use an ODD, you could swap the metal tray that holds the 2.5 " HDD for something that could accomodate higher HSF and still hold a HDD. With the metal tray, I think I am limited to ~55mm. Without the metal tray, I'm sure it's more ~70-80mm of clearance. There is a bracket for 3.5" HDD. You'll need to bend those if you intend to keep the metal tray.

Indeed, there is only 3 FM1 itx board. I took the Asrock and I am satisfied so far.

For the PSU. I think at full load, my HTPC consume ~85W (measured through CPUID "HWMonitor"). I'd go with a 90W (I have a 120W picoPSU).

[kyleshay]

mini itx fm1 boards: http://www.dinkypage.com/fm1-mini-itx

[baldmosher]

Frankly the Asrock A75 does everything I need, as I don't need 4 PCI or 4 RAM slots, so I'm starting to think that board might be my best option, unless some more uATX boards get updated with eSATA/USB3 in the next few months. And in turn, that board is the main reason I'm now considering an ITX case.

I realise that more empty space sometimes means worse airflow and the case I already have here (see sig) is shallow and broad, and with a mITX board that will only be worse I guess?

At £35 (+PSU) I really don't think I could possibly get a case any cheaper (I could be wrong - I guess there might be some with a (pico?) PSU that would work out cheaper).

Thanks also for the info on PSU power, and fantastic to know that I could get away with 90W. Do you know if the mITX boards have more efficient power management than uATX? I assume more features requires more power anyway or is the difference negligible?

Kyle, awesome find! I take it the Gigabyte board isn't out yet....

[baldmosher]

Having just found this for £1.60 and then noticed the two cutouts in the case for eSATA ports I am now scrubbing eSATA off my list of requirements, LOL

[mmajstor]

maybe the most cheapest way is to try to put your wife on e-bay, and with that money to buy whatever you like? )

[baldmosher]

I couldn't buy very much with that

[mystefix]

i built an mini-itx AMD HTP some months ago and used the following hardware:

* AMD A6-3500
* Asrock A75M-ITX
* 8GB G.Skill Memory DDR3 1866Mhz F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR, Sniper-Serie
* Mushkin Callisto 40GB SSD
* Antec ISK 300-150 Mini ITX
* Digital Devices Cine S2 V6 (sat card)

I'm using the xbmc-pvr (pre-eden) + tvheadend from pulse-eight, ubuntu 11.10 and its working quiet well.
The power consumption is around 45-60W (220V AC) during playback or watching tv. I'm thinking about to replace the existing psu with a 80W pico-psu ( http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-80 ) with better efficiency factor, but i'm not sure if this will save a lot of power consumption.

From the performance perspective, the apu is most of the time in the lowest p-state which means 800Mhz. So i think an A4 or lower should also have enought reserve assets.

The only thing that i have to change is the cpu fan, because this box fan produce some noise even in a lower state.

[eskro]

yeah, me too, AMD CPU stock FANS all sound like Jet-Engines...

[mystefix]

i want to replace the cpu fan with either

Sythe Big Shuriken 2
http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cpu...ken-2.html

or

Sythe Kozuti
http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cpu...ooler.html

but first i have to check if there is enough space in the case. personally I would prefere the big shuriken 2.

Or is there another option / model for a silent air cooler, whic does not need so many space ?

[eskro]

i think the SCYTHE SHURIKEN should fit....
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showpo...tcount=306

[mmajstor]

It would fit perfectly.....

[mystefix]

great, thanks for the link !

it seems that this could get a little challenge to get this cooler in this case and hopefully there is enough space between the cooler and the sat card.

[Balinus]

You might want to look into the Thermaltake Meorb. Good reviews for HTPC duty.

[eskro]

agree! Meorb looks promising! 47mm only!