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A6-PACK ☆ ISK 300-90 picoPSU HTPC A6-3500 Very Silent!
#1
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Code Name: "A6-PACK" The Original
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NO LONGER HAVE THE CASE FAN CAGE INSIDE AND SSD/DVD BRACKET


More info: CLICK


More info: CLICK NOW TEMPS ARE LOWER! CLICK TO SEE WHY!

Please add to my reputation if you like this build or it has helped you: Image It's right down on my sig...

Case: Antec ISK 300-65
APU: AMD A6-3500
Mobo: ASRock A75M-ITX
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB 1866
SSD: Patriot Torqx 2 32GB
CPU Cooler: Scythe BIG Shuriken Rev. 2B
PICO: 90W picoPSU
MediaGate GP-IR02BK Remote Best remote ever! Don't forget to install this for the remote.
Unisen's iPazzPort Mini RF 2.4GH Keyboard (KP-810-10-A) Turns on you pc from cold... enable in bios.
Win 7/64 Ultimate
Aeon MQ4 / Eden


Now I CAN turn on my HTPC with my MCE remote take a LOOK HERE!!!!!




YES THE STOCK INTERNAL POWER IS CRAP!!!!! LOTS OF HARD SHUT OFFS on me and other members.
Bought a 90W picoPSU and no more troubles.



SHORT-CIRCUIT.com is a great place to buy!
Talk to CARL if you need help he can take care of you.

He also sells on ebay if you like that better!




---------------------------------------------

By waver123:

husband: honey I'm going to get a A6-Pack
wife: really? but we've a lot of beers in the frig already.
husband: No not the beer! I read about this in the forum I'm going to build myself a A6-Pack!
wife: really? That' awesome so you'll be going to the gym?
husband: ......


Thank you for the support... this started as a small project for my self and it turned out big.

Ok now to the system.....

I wanted a dedicated system for xbmc/htpc and no loner wanted to use my desktop.

Goal is to be silent... and guess what it is very very sielnt and also the APU its super cold even with Prime95. Wink Mission accomplished!

This case can take up to 135W look here. This is great if you plan to game!
NO WAY DON'T DO IT......Have to get a PicoPSU

The stock power brick it comes with is 65W and it works with this build I tested it with Prime 95 and Furmark and no troubles.
FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS ON MINE SOME OTHERS GO OUT IN ONE DAY


This is what a Kill A Watt meter says on this A6-3500 gpu being stressed.
I HAVE TO DO MY OWN TO BE MORE ACCURATE ANYONE WANT TO DONATE ONE TO ME?


My settings on the bios are for the Target CPU temperature is 50c/122F
Target fan speed Level 1
You have to do this to get my temps and speed of fan.
THIS GOES FOR THE PICO AND THE BIG SHURIKEN 120MM


I get my RPM's to 865 steady on windows!!!..... with my settings.... you should have a low RPM on your Big Shuriken....
(in bios it will go to almost full... it is not a good way to test...you have to test in windows... BIOS is like you are doing a PRIME test jaja) Remember to save your settings!


Use this to monitor: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

You could leave the case fan cage if you wan't it fits with everything in but I took it out. It makes the case get more air in and also you can see inside more at the beast.

Here is a pic of how much thermal paste you need on the CPU or APU pea size....

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A nice video on application ways!



I had this Kingston RAM before thinking it was the culprit why it shut off but it's not and still recommended.
My new RAM is a little taller but it fits with about 1/8" of clearance left.
I love how it looks with out the FAN CAGE in.

Image

Oh if you get this Crucial yellow ram all you do in bios set it to 1866 from AUTO that is 1333 and that is it.... the timings on AUTO are correct.

REMEMBER: To install RAM first because you might not be able to after you install an aftermarket cooler.


The ssd/dvd bracket inside needs to be cut a little so the big BIG SHURIKEN Rev. 2B can fit..... after a good job it will not touch anything here is a pic of the bracket cut. And here is a pic of it put on. More info on this read on.
YOU NEED THIS BRACKET IF YOU NEED A DVD/BLU RAY DRIVE

If you don't want to cut the bracket the Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm Shuriken Rev. B 3 fit's perfect! and it will be silent too!!!! Take a look:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1080600
BUT YOU WON'T GET THE SAME TEMPS I AM GETTING

The systems boots at 20 seconds from push of a button.... Blush
I have 21GB free out of 29.7GB.
With XBMC installed plus some small software I have 19.5GB free.
I also deleted (turned off) Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player.


Turn off Hibernate with a small dos command and turn disk defrag off.

Remember to share the memory to the apu in the bios set it at 512MB...

North Bridge Configuration
Primary Graphics Adapter : Onboard
Share Memory: 512
Onboard HDMI HD Audio: Enabled

Download the drivers for the mother board....
This is for win 7 x64
http://www.asrock.com/mb/download.asp?Mo...X&o=Win764


Realtek Lan driver ver:7.044 (this needs to be installed so you can get a connection)

AMD all in 1 driver ver:8.86RC2 (THIS IS A MUST)


Realtek high definition audio driver ver:R2.62 (I DON'T use this but if you are going to use the front jacks for audio or other things you need this)

Install the above first!!!!

THEN


also download the latest Catalyst Software Suite for your GRAPHICS and ALSO it has the HDMI AUDIO what I use..... here:

AUTO DETECT CATALYST

(you need this... IS A MUST)


Also I came to a problem where the SSD booted correctly the 20 seconds then it booted at 50 seconds then XBMC froze at boot.
This had me pulling my hair and made me test a regular HD and it did the same thing.
I found why... I did change my background to a SOLID black color from windows and apparently that has a bug and it's on SP1 too.
Solution if you wan't black just create a 1920x1080 black Jpeg and use that. Never use the solid colors windows uses.
More info:
http://lifehacker.com/5451159/solid+colo...-windows-7

Yes I could of gotten the ISK-300-150 case... it comes with a 150 power supply but it's internal and it has a fan remember the goal?
Big shuriken won't fit anyways in the 300-150 and same goes for any other tall coolers (the plug for the PSU is in the way).....




All in all I hope this will help you in your adventure of building your HTPC the way you want and be happy with.
There are many cases and many components to choose from out in the market.
Enjoy the Movies!!!
Reply
#2
You'll enjoy it.....Nod
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
#3
wooaaa looking sweet Beer40!!

you'll now enjoy the power of SSD's!!

congratz and keep us up2date with images of your building process Smile
Reply
#4
Nice spec, and home cinema setup! +1 for more pics Wink

I recently built an almost identical HTPC (different SSD & RAM) with the same goal as you, I'm currently sitting around 1.8 - 2 meters from the TV and cannot hear any fan noise Smile

Can also say I'm running the latest AE build, granted it isn't finished yet... but wow, plays back any type of audio, inc HD I throw at it and in perfect sync... couldn't be happier with mine!! Big Grin
Reply
#5
FTW jack0w!!

take some for us!!
Reply
#6
Nice build. I think am gonna go for the same build as you
Reply
#7
FTW MrKay!!
Reply
#8
Decided to upgrade the power brick to 120W look at my first post. NO LONGER.... first post says it all!
Reply
#9
oh nice one!
120W power brick!!
man, thats enough juice 4sure!

congratz on your HTPC Case choice,,,,
ISK300-65 is in my opinion definitely better then its ISK300-150 counterpart!!

Not only the ISK300-65's PSU's %110 FanLess 0dBa,
but it can also be upgraded up to a 135W PSU by using a new Power Brick!!

so compared to the ISK300-150,
you paid like $10 more here for the ISK300-65 + 120W Power Brick!!

$10 more for Silent'ness is priceLess!!

Smile
Reply
#10
Unisen's iPazzPort Mini RF 2.4GH Keyboard (KP-810-10-A)
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($25 + FREE Shipping)


Smile
Reply
#11
I'm Drooling over this setup, time to start saving. this will replace my WDLX Live Plus in my bedroom
My HTPC AMD A8-3870K CPU/ SilverStone ML03B/ASRock MB-A75M /Seasonic SS-400ET/Corsair XMS3 4GB
Reply
#12
not only it'll replace your WDLX Live +,
but it'll totally destroy it!!

MOuahahahahah
Reply
#13
(2012-04-10, 02:05)Beer40oz Wrote: Decided to upgrade the power brick to 120W look at my first post.
Perfect choice.....

>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
#14
(2012-04-06, 22:26)Beer40oz Wrote: Goal is to be silent and I hope the CPU Cooler will cool down all and there will be no use for the case fan.

[solved] Smile
Reply
#15
(2012-04-06, 22:26)Beer40oz Wrote: But after reading on power consumption from here,
I decided to get a 120W power brick just to be safe.

:"When we place load on the AMD A6 3500 APU,
we see the power draw rise to 85 Watts:"

something important to know here,
during the test performed at guru3d.com,
the motherboard used was a --> ASRock A75 PRO4 FM1 ATX..

Yepp, the test wasn't conducted on a mini-ITX mainboard
but instead, it was done on a FULL ATX mainboard!!

proof --> http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-a6-3500-apu-review/7

no wonder why they get ~85W under load...

Here's another interesting thread to read --> A6-3500 Power Consumption
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A6-PACK ☆ ISK 300-90 picoPSU HTPC A6-3500 Very Silent!10