To create an mATX HTPC or go Acer Revo

[Aikouka]

I've been considering the different routes to go when building a new HTPC as well... I had to commandeer my old semi-HTPC (not really in a small case) when my server just suddenly sat on a black screen during boot up (believe it's an issue with the disk controller).

My requirements are:
- Has to fit in the entertainment centers (obviously )
- Has to support blu-ray playback
- Has to support full-screen (720p or 1080p) flash playback
- Must boot up in under 20 seconds
- Must be quiet.

I looked at the newer ZOTAC ZBOX units and during the Anandtech review, he mentions that currently, there are problems with Flash in full-screen since nVidia didn't rewrite the drivers in account of the new structure of Pine Trail (too much inefficient memory access). New drivers to fix this aren't planned for a month or two, so that kind of makes that one a bust. Also, supposedly the ZOTAC can get a little loud, but it isn't as audible unless you're closer up to it. One negative aspect of these boxes is I don't think they can mount to VESA holes... which isn't a huge deal for me given I use DLPs, but some people may want to mount the unit behind the TV (ASUS's nettops can do this).

Then I looked at Mini-ITX cases. The case that I had in mind is the Thermaltake Element Q ( http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1321&ID=1896 ). It's a pretty nice case and I've seen it in person at the local computer store. The only problem with it is the close proximity of the PSU and the optical drive. Blu-ray drives are longer than your usual DVD-RW drives and may cause issues with connecting. I considered Atom+ION for this, but that falls under the same problem as the ZBOX. I considered a Core i3 build using the new ECS mini-ITX H55 motherboard.

Thinking that I might be better off just going a little larger, I looked into one of my favorite case companies... Lian-Li! I chose the PC-C37B ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341016 ).

Given my requirement of quick booting, this would either require a GeexBox setup or something a tad bit more expensive. Given I don't think GeexBox supports blu-ray in any fashion, I'd have to go with something a tad bit more expensive... Windows 7 running on a SSD. Well, there goes another $250 on the price! For this, I recommend the Intel X25-V ( 40GB ). In my experiences with OCZ and Intel SSDs, I've always seen the better performance with Intel (I swear my OCZ-based system is taking longer and longer to boot!)

So yeah... the negative thing for me is my build is going to cost around $700 and that doesn't include the eventual TV tuner + extra HDD to store TV stuff on + remote.

You know what they say... go big or go home (or I guess it's go poor or go home ).

 

[yuppiejr]

I've been considering the different routes to go when building a new HTPC as well... I had to commandeer my old semi-HTPC (not really in a small case) when my server just suddenly sat on a black screen during boot up (believe it's an issue with the disk controller).

My requirements are:
- Has to fit in the entertainment centers (obviously )
- Has to support blu-ray playback
- Has to support full-screen (720p or 1080p) flash playback
- Must boot up in under 20 seconds
- Must be quiet.

Thinking that I might be better off just going a little larger, I looked into one of my favorite case companies... Lian-Li! I chose the PC-C37B ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341016 ).

Given my requirement of quick booting, this would either require a GeexBox setup or something a tad bit more expensive. Given I don't think GeexBox supports blu-ray in any fashion, I'd have to go with something a tad bit more expensive... Windows 7 running on a SSD. Well, there goes another $250 on the price! For this, I recommend the Intel X25-V ( 40GB ). In my experiences with OCZ and Intel SSDs, I've always seen the better performance with Intel (I swear my OCZ-based system is taking longer and longer to boot!)

So yeah... the negative thing for me is my build is going to cost around $700 and that doesn't include the eventual TV tuner + extra HDD to store TV stuff on + remote.

You know what they say... go big or go home (or I guess it's go poor or go home ).

Out of curiosity, why the 20 second boot requirement? If you're adding a tuner I assume you're also using the device as a DVR - which will remain on all or at least most of the time... Seems like an unnecessarily expensive requirement for little or no practical benefit based on the typical HTPC use cases?

 

[Zaap]

I just hibernate my HTPCs. Most DVR software can wake the machine at the right time for recordings, and wake time is easily under 20 seconds. It makes the experience very appliance-like.

 

[slackerinabox]

Odd that no one mentioned the Dell Zino HD. $249 for a very capable little HTPC:
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desk...&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~inspiron-zino-hd-anav1~~

 

[Scouzer]

Assembled my new HTPC.. and the SATA power cable is too short. FML!

Going out to town tomorrow, hopefully can buy a molex adapter or a SATA power cable extension. How annoying.

 

[Aikouka]

I usually go with SSDs just so if I have to ever turn the unit off, it starts up quickly. I know, not terribly necessary, but it also gives the system a nice... snappy feel that I've grown used to since all of my machines have SSDs as the main drive.

What I could do... is build them using a normal drive for right now and wait until the new SSDs come out later this year. I'll most likely replace my Intel X25-M 80GB drives with those and then I can take those X25-Ms and put them in the HTPCs to replace the normal drives (or simply use those other drives as DVR recording space).

Odd that no one mentioned the Dell Zino HD. $249 for a very capable little HTPC:
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desk...&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~inspiron-zino-hd-anav1~~

Not terribly impressed. Once you start adding things to it to actually make the thing comparable to a Core i3 unit, you start jacking up the price like crazy.

 

[kalrith]

Let us know how it goes once you get it set up. As previously mentioned, it'll be interesting to see how well 1GB of RAM handles video playback.

I went with 4GB of RAM in my HTPC. I didn't want Windows accessing the paging file much (slowness coupled with noise). I also didn't want to buy 2 1GB sticks and then add 2 more. I leave my system on 24/7 so every little bit of juice I can save (like using 2 sticks of RAM instead of 4) helps.

 

[slackerinabox]

Let us know how it goes once you get it set up. As previously mentioned, it'll be interesting to see how well 1GB of RAM handles video playback.

I went with 4GB of RAM in my HTPC. I didn't want Windows accessing the paging file much (slowness coupled with noise). I also didn't want to buy 2 1GB sticks and then add 2 more. I leave my system on 24/7 so every little bit of juice I can save (like using 2 sticks of RAM instead of 4) helps.

Based on personal experience, win7 media center's a stuttery mess with 1 gb of ram (using a quad core processor). 2's what I'd consider a bare minimum in my opinion.

 

[zylander]

Not terribly impressed. Once you start adding things to it to actually make the thing comparable to a Core i3 unit, you start jacking up the price like crazy.

Same here. Once I started adding parts to make it worth wile it was almost $700.

 

[slackerinabox]

Not terribly impressed. Once you start adding things to it to actually make the thing comparable to a Core i3 unit, you start jacking up the price like crazy.

Didn't know a core i3 was part of your requirements, based on you mentioning the atom packing Acer Revo. Compared to the revo, I'd go with the zino hd.

 

[Aikouka]

Didn't know a core i3 was part of your requirements, based on you mentioning the atom packing Acer Revo. Compared to the revo, I'd go with the zino hd.

That was the op that mentioned the Acer Revo . I did talk about the Atom, but I've been leaning more and more toward the Core i3 build because power use is about the same (you can't say that for an AMD-based system unless it is a weaker system).

 

[kalrith]

That was the op that mentioned the Acer Revo . I did talk about the Atom, but I've been leaning more and more toward the Core i3 build because power use is about the same (you can't say that for an AMD-based system unless it is a weaker system).

There's also the aspect of buying components that provide you with an easier upgrade path rather than a proprietary box.

 

[Scouzer]

Well, it's all setup now. Had to buy an adapter for the SATA power, $5 no big deal. But while I was there I also got a stick of 2GB RAM, so unfortunately I can't tell you guys how the 1GB ended up working out!

Blu-Rays are so smooth and easy for this computer. I immediately overclocked my Celeron to 3.43ghz so everything flies nicely. The Blurays load up in less than 5 seconds. I can seek in Blu-Rays with minimal delay and while playing CPU usage is 0-10%. No sweat.

The case is a smidge louder than I had hoped for. It's hardly intrusive but if I were to do this again I'd probably brainstorm ways to make it quieter.

Power usage is fairly high. While overclocked, the system peaks at about 120W under full load. It idles at 80W, and sleeps at 3W.

Overall, a good build I'd say. I had no fitment issues. The case was fairly easy to work with. It was very time consuming and the choices for screws were odd... but not overly difficult.

 

[kalrith]

Glad everything's working well. The load wattage seems fine, especially considering the optical drive, but the idle wattage seems a bit high. Is the Celeron power hungry?

I use a program called CrystalCPUID to keep my power usage down. At idle it puts the CPU multiplier to 4x and drops the voltage quite a bit (I think down to .8v). At load it puts the CPU multiplier to 9.5x and increases the voltage to stock, which is around 1.1v. It keeps my idle wattage down to 50W, and if I ever get around to installing my PicoPSU that should be even lower.

How many fans do you have in the system? Do you just have the one hard drive?

 

[Scouzer]

I'll give that program a shot. I bet it'll make it a bit quieter too.

The system has 3 case fans, CPU fan, and PSU fan. One HDD.

 

[Aikouka]

Glad everything's working well. The load wattage seems fine, especially considering the optical drive, but the idle wattage seems a bit high. Is the Celeron power hungry?

I use a program called CrystalCPUID to keep my power usage down. At idle it puts the CPU multiplier to 4x and drops the voltage quite a bit (I think down to .8v). At load it puts the CPU multiplier to 9.5x and increases the voltage to stock, which is around 1.1v. It keeps my idle wattage down to 50W, and if I ever get around to installing my PicoPSU that should be even lower.

How many fans do you have in the system? Do you just have the one hard drive?

Won't Windows do this anyway? Well, as long as you set it up properly in your power settings.

 

[kalrith]

Won't Windows do this anyway? Well, as long as you set it up properly in your power settings.

Windows does the same thing but to a lesser degree. Basically it will underclock and undervolt the processor but only about half as much as CrystalCPUID does. I also have my processor overclocked (at load), and I don't think Cool N Quiet (or whatever it's called) does anything with overclocked processors.