2010-10-02, 00:01
Hey Guys,
I have been following this post for quite some time now, and have my HTPC built on this mobo. Went thru all the troubles of incompatible ram and high temps when trying to run this completely passive.
I like the way "bradsnw" has posted his findings and am posting mine in the same way.
RAM - Tried various sticks from kingston, elpida, patriot, samsung to Corsair. Corsair 2GB was the one that finally worked. I had 4 Gb Elpida with me from my laptop, so wished to use them so that some money could be saved. But no luck with the older BIOS.BIOS ver 0316 was lucky for me, as i could use the Elpida 4GB ram (2 * 2Gb) and returned the Corsair. Must say i was lucky with the ram as it was not part of the QVL.
CASE - I am using a Cooler Master Elite 100 Mini Itx case. Not the smallest and the prettiest of cases. It has a built in power supply, so its not completely silent, when one in 2-3Ft range of the case. But this case sits in my TV Stand/deck which is like 7-8 Ft away from the couch, so the sound is not a problem at all. It has enough space for 2 * 2.5 Internal HDD or one HDD and a laptop CD/DVD Rom drive. I am using one internal HDD from my old non-working laptop and have a external Blu-Ray Drive from Asus, so have plenty of space in the case for the air flow. There are vents just above the CPU heatsink. There is no pre-built fan in the case. Future plan is to remove the built in PSU and replace the same with a Pico PSU, which is completely silent and devoid of moving parts.
OS - Did a clean install of Windows 7 64-Bit. Installed all the updated drivers, Microsoft updates and the latest version of XBMC for windows. All my media is connected to this beast with a USB 3.0 powered HDD and i have hooked this beast to my Sony Bravia XBR 6 42" LCD via HDMI. Both Audio and Video is crisp and clear. I use W7 Media Center and XBMC for playing my media content and belive me its good...
VIDEO - I play BLu-rays with Power DVD and its just awsome. Did not try any MKV's till date. Hulu, netflix and youtube play HD videos just fine as well with latest flash installed. Initially there was a slight delay in the audio and video sync, but a few settings and its solved now. ION2 is worth the money.
TEMPS - This was one of the toughest things to be satisfied for. Initially when i built my HTPC it was without a fan and the avg idle temps were in the mid 60's© and when playing HD content it used to rise up to late 80's to mid 90's. Luckly for me never went above 100C. Did not like this a bit. Went and got a Silenx 80mm fan for abt $11. I was not hard pressed on a fanless setup, so it was not disappointing. Set the fan on the case vents which were just above the CPU heat sink. Voila.... the idel temps were down by about 30C. Now the the idle temps are in the early 30's and under load are about late 40's. Have not reach 50C after i added the fan. Adding the fan was a huge plus and also this fan is one of the quietest fans i have seen so far.
Just like "bradsnw" would stress on the fact that for this mobo to be cool, make sure the case has enough room for good air flow. Can this mobo be passively cooled.... hmmm well... i have no different answer than most of us have found out to be. One suggestion for the ones who want to use this setup as passively cooled is, make sure the room temperature is cool enough and that also helps to get the CPU and GPU temp down by at least 5C-10C. Just a personal observation.
I have been following this post for quite some time now, and have my HTPC built on this mobo. Went thru all the troubles of incompatible ram and high temps when trying to run this completely passive.
I like the way "bradsnw" has posted his findings and am posting mine in the same way.
RAM - Tried various sticks from kingston, elpida, patriot, samsung to Corsair. Corsair 2GB was the one that finally worked. I had 4 Gb Elpida with me from my laptop, so wished to use them so that some money could be saved. But no luck with the older BIOS.BIOS ver 0316 was lucky for me, as i could use the Elpida 4GB ram (2 * 2Gb) and returned the Corsair. Must say i was lucky with the ram as it was not part of the QVL.
CASE - I am using a Cooler Master Elite 100 Mini Itx case. Not the smallest and the prettiest of cases. It has a built in power supply, so its not completely silent, when one in 2-3Ft range of the case. But this case sits in my TV Stand/deck which is like 7-8 Ft away from the couch, so the sound is not a problem at all. It has enough space for 2 * 2.5 Internal HDD or one HDD and a laptop CD/DVD Rom drive. I am using one internal HDD from my old non-working laptop and have a external Blu-Ray Drive from Asus, so have plenty of space in the case for the air flow. There are vents just above the CPU heatsink. There is no pre-built fan in the case. Future plan is to remove the built in PSU and replace the same with a Pico PSU, which is completely silent and devoid of moving parts.
OS - Did a clean install of Windows 7 64-Bit. Installed all the updated drivers, Microsoft updates and the latest version of XBMC for windows. All my media is connected to this beast with a USB 3.0 powered HDD and i have hooked this beast to my Sony Bravia XBR 6 42" LCD via HDMI. Both Audio and Video is crisp and clear. I use W7 Media Center and XBMC for playing my media content and belive me its good...
VIDEO - I play BLu-rays with Power DVD and its just awsome. Did not try any MKV's till date. Hulu, netflix and youtube play HD videos just fine as well with latest flash installed. Initially there was a slight delay in the audio and video sync, but a few settings and its solved now. ION2 is worth the money.
TEMPS - This was one of the toughest things to be satisfied for. Initially when i built my HTPC it was without a fan and the avg idle temps were in the mid 60's© and when playing HD content it used to rise up to late 80's to mid 90's. Luckly for me never went above 100C. Did not like this a bit. Went and got a Silenx 80mm fan for abt $11. I was not hard pressed on a fanless setup, so it was not disappointing. Set the fan on the case vents which were just above the CPU heat sink. Voila.... the idel temps were down by about 30C. Now the the idle temps are in the early 30's and under load are about late 40's. Have not reach 50C after i added the fan. Adding the fan was a huge plus and also this fan is one of the quietest fans i have seen so far.
Just like "bradsnw" would stress on the fact that for this mobo to be cool, make sure the case has enough room for good air flow. Can this mobo be passively cooled.... hmmm well... i have no different answer than most of us have found out to be. One suggestion for the ones who want to use this setup as passively cooled is, make sure the room temperature is cool enough and that also helps to get the CPU and GPU temp down by at least 5C-10C. Just a personal observation.