HTPC Build - Complete

Jetster · 2012-02-29 16:10

Its finally done

There were some tough decisions and this build was based on a 1156 board I obtained for free. And even though the onboard graphics were working fine I updated to a AMD 6670

Hardware
Silverstone Granada GD05 $100
Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Socket 1156 Micro ATX $free used
Intel Core i3-550 $120
Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 $27
Gigabyte Nvidia Gforce 240GT 1Gb Video Card $25 8/1/12 Updated to AMD 6670 $50
Crucial M4 64G Solid State SATA III Drive $90
Samsung Spinpoint F4 Green 2 TB Drive $70
Rosewill Green Series RG430-S12 430W Power Supply $30
LITE-ON DVD Burner $20
Xigmatek Mono-Cool Fan Controller $11

Total = $493 Without keyboard or W7 64

Review
The Silverstone Granada GD05 is well built and has a lot of room. The three 120mm fans provide more than enough air flow. And they were loud at full speed. I could here them across the room while playing my gaming rig. After installing the fan controller and turning them down to about 600 rpm you could not here them at all. Ran prime95 for 60 min and cpu temps were at 56c. All you can here now is the CPU fan (barely) Everything fit. There is plenty of room for a full size graphics card. It holds two drives. Ether 2.5 or 3.5. I tried Eden but went back to Dharma. Eden would lock up every so often. Also using Windows 7 Professional x64.

Click for video of HTPC
Click for video of Oscar

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Notice its the same size as my Yamaha RX-V571
[Image: image.fetch.php?id=1400819381]

Fan Controller
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More Photos
Photo 7
Photo 8
Photo 9
Photo 10
Photo 11

jackh · 2012-02-29 22:21

Very nice! Looks well put together.

eskro · 2012-03-01 00:04

Ftw!!!!!!!

but how can u control 3 x 120mm fans with that Photos Xigmatek Mono Fan Controller?

Jetster · 2012-03-01 00:45

eskro Wrote:Ftw!!!!!!!

but how can u control 3 x 120mm fans with that Photos Xigmatek Mono Fan Controller?

Its actually call the Mono-cool fan controller. Why I don't know cause it has three out wires. The MB has one fan header and I was going to use the controller for the other two. But went ahead and ran all three through it.

eskro · 2012-03-01 01:22

ah ok, the mono-cool controller has Three 3pin fan connectors...

and the stock case fans also are 3pin ...

and if your avatar is your dog, make a video of him plz Tongue

FTW!

Jetster · 2012-03-01 16:06

Yes you can see the three 3 pin connections in picture #6 under the hard drive. It worked really well. Im also working on the video :0

eskro · 2012-03-01 20:42

right on Jet!

Balinus · 2012-03-01 22:21

Jetster Wrote:Its actually call the Mono-cool fan controller. Why I don't know cause it has three out wires. The MB has one fan header and I was going to use the controller for the other two. But went ahead and ran all three through it.

I've read that the controller didn't have enough power to properly drive 3 fans, even if there's 3 out wires. Though I guess you're not running them at full speed?

eskro · 2012-03-01 23:07

he turned them all down to ~600 rpm

Jetster · 2012-03-01 23:24

Balinus Wrote:I've read that the controller didn't have enough power to properly drive 3 fans, even if there's 3 out wires. Though I guess you're not running them at full speed?

It will run them at full speed. I didn't do it for a long time but why wouldn't it. Ill check it to see if its getting hot. I might move one back to a MB 3 pin header. I can control that one in the BIOS. Also the reviews said the connections break easy. I didn't notice any problems. But there small and I was careful. You can see them in picture 8

jackh Senior Member Posts: 129 Joined: Jun 2011 Reputation: 4	2012-02-29 22:21 Post: #2 Very nice! Looks well put together.
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eskro Posting Freak Posts: 8,333 Joined: Nov 2010 Reputation: 162	2012-03-01 00:04 Post: #3 Ftw!!!!!!! but how can u control 3 x 120mm fans with that Photos Xigmatek Mono Fan Controller? My G7 HTPC // eSkRo's HTPC Guide // Poofy's HTPC Guide // unRAID Guide // SSD Optimization thx :) (This post was last modified: 2012-03-01 00:08 by eskro.)
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eskro Posting Freak Posts: 8,333 Joined: Nov 2010 Reputation: 162	2012-03-01 01:22 Post: #5 ah ok, the mono-cool controller has Three 3pin fan connectors... and the stock case fans also are 3pin ... and if your avatar is your dog, make a video of him plz FTW! My G7 HTPC // eSkRo's HTPC Guide // Poofy's HTPC Guide // unRAID Guide // SSD Optimization thx :) (This post was last modified: 2012-03-01 01:30 by eskro.)
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Jetster Fan Posts: 418 Joined: Sep 2011 Reputation: 4 Location: Oregon	2012-03-01 16:06 Post: #6 Yes you can see the three 3 pin connections in picture #6 under the hard drive. It worked really well. Im also working on the video :0 My HTPC // My Keyboard
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eskro Posting Freak Posts: 8,333 Joined: Nov 2010 Reputation: 162	2012-03-01 20:42 Post: #7 right on Jet! My G7 HTPC // eSkRo's HTPC Guide // Poofy's HTPC Guide // unRAID Guide // SSD Optimization thx :)
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eskro Posting Freak Posts: 8,333 Joined: Nov 2010 Reputation: 162	2012-03-01 23:07 Post: #9 he turned them all down to ~600 rpm My G7 HTPC // eSkRo's HTPC Guide // Poofy's HTPC Guide // unRAID Guide // SSD Optimization thx :)
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