2010-09-29, 07:29
UPDATE: I got the pictures taken and posted, view them here.
I have been playing around with XBMC on Windows and some experimental Live installs for about the last year, but have been holding off on building a set top box until I decided what I wanted to use for it, as well as when funds were available. Being a gamer going way back, along with my day job as a systems admin, building a box that was small, quiet, and aesthetically pleasing was a big departure for me from what I normally do (and my day job is in a call center so I don't have to make anything look pretty...).
After a ton of research and shopping, I finally built my HTPC and although there are plenty of similar threads out there, I want to share my experience... Some of the parts I used don't seem to be used by other people (I searched constantly to see if I was making the wrong decisions with something, as everyone seems to love Revo's, the new ION 2's, AT3 & 5 Deluxes, and Zotac boards).
To start, my network backbone is a wireless router going to a 1Gb switch for wired connections throughout the house (one of which goes to the wall behind the TV for XBMC, I didn't want to mess with wireless). The router serves WIFI downstairs and also is wired into a router upstairs with duplicate settings to extend the WIFI network. On the Gb switch are my fileserver (Freenas with Raid 5 array - yes this is a hotly debated subject as I know there are plenty of Unraid users out there who are happy with their setups. In my case, I have used Freenas for a few years, am comfortable with it, and am alright with a Raid 5 setup), my desktop, which has a JBOD array on it that Cobian backs up the Freenas shares to weekly, and my HTPC.
Since I was using the desktop for trying out XBMC, all I had to so was build the box:
Asus AT3IONT-I
I went with this mobo for a couple of reasons. First, it has a nice big fanless heatsink - most of the other Ion 330 mobos had tiny little fans which I expect have to run pretty fast to keep cool. The heatsink on this mob is perfect to cool using case fans. The other reasons are I am an Asus fanboy, the Atom 330's seem to still be able to hold their own against the next-gen Ion's, and this mobo has a standard power supply connector (unlike the deluxe) which was fine since the case I was using came with its own.
A pair of 1-Gig sticks of DDR3 1066 - Self explanatory, everyone seemed to agree that 2 GB was fine for a Live install that wasn't doing that much more than serving out video content.
Antek ISK 300-65
For the case I took a bit of a leap... No one on this forum seems to talk about this case, and only a few review sites ont he web talk about it. They have their own external brick power supplies, and go from 65 watts up. I got the 65 as I was not installing anything other than the mobo and ram in the box. What I liked about this case was the manufacturer, the look of the case, and the fact that the few review I found talked about how well it colled the mobo. When the case is laying on its left side (but this is equally effective laying on horizontal) there is an intake port at the bottom of the motherboard, and room for 2 exhaust fans at the top. This is perfect if you want to rely on some slow, quiet, case fans that do a much better (and less loud) job than a loud little CPU/chipset cooler. I ended up replacing the one included exhaust fan with 2 Coolermaster fans, each mounted inline with a Zalman fan speed controller I had leftover from CPU coolers. These are turned all the way down (the fans are getting around 5-6 volts instead of 12, and are barely breaking 1000 RPM) and they still cool the massive CPU/Chipset heatsink very well.
For the OS, I used an internal USB header to USB port that is normally used for embedded OS installs. The nice thing about the case is that the drive rack across the top is a perfect place to tie-wrap down the USB key that stores the OS, along with the 2 fan speed controllers for the exhaust fans. Also, filling the drive rack with these parts allows a more contained flow of air across the heatsink.
So far this thing has been AWESOME. It runs very cool, and it is setting next to a Cable Box / DVR whose hard drives enough sound to the point where you can't even here the XBMC fans.
For the remote, I am using a basic $15 Rosewill Media Center Remote, that does everything I need it to in Live.
I am just surprised that I have not heard about more about this case, mobo, or a combination of the 2 on this forum... I feel like in the last 3 months I checked these forums daily for either good or bad news about them. There was an occasional mention, but no widespread endorsement of either... I am really glad I took the leap though, and hope others go this route, as I have not run into any of the issues I have read about on here (Heat, fan noise, etc.)
* I hope to be able to post some pictures this weekend - have to get the camera, and the chance to open her up for some pics (kind of difficult since I haven't stopped using it since I put it together, and my fiance loves it as well).
I have been playing around with XBMC on Windows and some experimental Live installs for about the last year, but have been holding off on building a set top box until I decided what I wanted to use for it, as well as when funds were available. Being a gamer going way back, along with my day job as a systems admin, building a box that was small, quiet, and aesthetically pleasing was a big departure for me from what I normally do (and my day job is in a call center so I don't have to make anything look pretty...).
After a ton of research and shopping, I finally built my HTPC and although there are plenty of similar threads out there, I want to share my experience... Some of the parts I used don't seem to be used by other people (I searched constantly to see if I was making the wrong decisions with something, as everyone seems to love Revo's, the new ION 2's, AT3 & 5 Deluxes, and Zotac boards).
To start, my network backbone is a wireless router going to a 1Gb switch for wired connections throughout the house (one of which goes to the wall behind the TV for XBMC, I didn't want to mess with wireless). The router serves WIFI downstairs and also is wired into a router upstairs with duplicate settings to extend the WIFI network. On the Gb switch are my fileserver (Freenas with Raid 5 array - yes this is a hotly debated subject as I know there are plenty of Unraid users out there who are happy with their setups. In my case, I have used Freenas for a few years, am comfortable with it, and am alright with a Raid 5 setup), my desktop, which has a JBOD array on it that Cobian backs up the Freenas shares to weekly, and my HTPC.
Since I was using the desktop for trying out XBMC, all I had to so was build the box:
Asus AT3IONT-I
I went with this mobo for a couple of reasons. First, it has a nice big fanless heatsink - most of the other Ion 330 mobos had tiny little fans which I expect have to run pretty fast to keep cool. The heatsink on this mob is perfect to cool using case fans. The other reasons are I am an Asus fanboy, the Atom 330's seem to still be able to hold their own against the next-gen Ion's, and this mobo has a standard power supply connector (unlike the deluxe) which was fine since the case I was using came with its own.
A pair of 1-Gig sticks of DDR3 1066 - Self explanatory, everyone seemed to agree that 2 GB was fine for a Live install that wasn't doing that much more than serving out video content.
Antek ISK 300-65
For the case I took a bit of a leap... No one on this forum seems to talk about this case, and only a few review sites ont he web talk about it. They have their own external brick power supplies, and go from 65 watts up. I got the 65 as I was not installing anything other than the mobo and ram in the box. What I liked about this case was the manufacturer, the look of the case, and the fact that the few review I found talked about how well it colled the mobo. When the case is laying on its left side (but this is equally effective laying on horizontal) there is an intake port at the bottom of the motherboard, and room for 2 exhaust fans at the top. This is perfect if you want to rely on some slow, quiet, case fans that do a much better (and less loud) job than a loud little CPU/chipset cooler. I ended up replacing the one included exhaust fan with 2 Coolermaster fans, each mounted inline with a Zalman fan speed controller I had leftover from CPU coolers. These are turned all the way down (the fans are getting around 5-6 volts instead of 12, and are barely breaking 1000 RPM) and they still cool the massive CPU/Chipset heatsink very well.
For the OS, I used an internal USB header to USB port that is normally used for embedded OS installs. The nice thing about the case is that the drive rack across the top is a perfect place to tie-wrap down the USB key that stores the OS, along with the 2 fan speed controllers for the exhaust fans. Also, filling the drive rack with these parts allows a more contained flow of air across the heatsink.
So far this thing has been AWESOME. It runs very cool, and it is setting next to a Cable Box / DVR whose hard drives enough sound to the point where you can't even here the XBMC fans.
For the remote, I am using a basic $15 Rosewill Media Center Remote, that does everything I need it to in Live.
I am just surprised that I have not heard about more about this case, mobo, or a combination of the 2 on this forum... I feel like in the last 3 months I checked these forums daily for either good or bad news about them. There was an occasional mention, but no widespread endorsement of either... I am really glad I took the leap though, and hope others go this route, as I have not run into any of the issues I have read about on here (Heat, fan noise, etc.)
* I hope to be able to post some pictures this weekend - have to get the camera, and the chance to open her up for some pics (kind of difficult since I haven't stopped using it since I put it together, and my fiance loves it as well).