HTPC Part 1/3 By hidefandy Featuring Silverstone GD06, Seasonic X-400 & ECS H67H2-M April 2011

[ElectricMuffinDude]

Isn't that 2500k a bit overkill? I see no extra gpu so why not go with a cheaper cpu? Anyways very nice video series!

[infrinous19]

i love my gd 05 a bit better than the 06 version



[syruppie]

i was gonna ask what hard drive temps you are getting if you fill both hot swap slots. then I noticed you took the whole thing out... damn.

But from your video.. it looks like there is 0 ventilation to that bay. Essentially, that bay is 100% useless. Your 3.5" drives will cook eggs in there.

[SpinDizzyMR]

@syruppie

I think you must have missed the 80/120mm fan bay that's right on top of them, shown at 3:32.

Even with the hot swap bay in, there looks enough depth to fit the fan there and it'll only be about 5 mm off the drive, so in my opinion.

I'd have that fan sucking in and blowing cool air all over the drives, and the ones at the back blowing out.

Better drive cool than a lot of cases like that really in my opinion.

[hidefandy]

@SpinDizzyMR

Your right about the fan for the hard drives. It right next to them but the cage does limit airflow when used. An actively cooled PSU also provides air flow in this area.

[itsame32]

this is gorgeous, i love silverstone cases

[MrsShadowBroker]

Hehe, you momentarily become a frog at 0:17

[kenjuma]

About the way you open the case, I bet if your kid has seen you open it once, he'll know how to open it. :)

[xelink]

@kenjuma There's a lock and key system...

[kenjuma]

@xelink But does one really want to keep one's HTPC behind a lock? I mean, it's something you use almost every day. Locking and unlocking it, is a pain. You just need to make your kids familiarize with the device so they know how to use it, or make them clear that they need to keep their hands of it, or be prepared for some serious pain (like removing Nickelodeon or something :P).

[kenjuma]

Why would you pick such heavy components for a HTPC? A HTPC doesn't need any real performance CPU-wise, as long as you have a proper GPU which is capable of HD decoding. And any decent dual core CPU is capable of decoding HD as well, but you don't want that in terms of heat development and power usage.

[ShadowBoxer85]

Nice looking case but a very odd selection of components you've chosen. Why an i5 2500K and a H67 board. Surely you know the 2500K can not overclock on a H67 motherboard. (Unless of course you wanted the improved integrated graphics, which I don't really understand why you would in a HTPC??) Good choice on the fans, can't beat Noctura fans for silence. For a dedicated HTPC most people would be better served with going more efficient and less power hungry processors.

[hidefandy]

@ShadowBoxer85

I used the 2500k to give me some head room regarding my security system. K versions typically have lower voltages and thus run cooler. It won’t over clock in this rig, when Ivy Bridge comes along the CPU will go into another build.

Sandy Bridge processors are some of the most efficient platforms on a performance per watt basis. As per Pt 3, at idle the whole system only draws 35w.

My old E6500, DDR2 based system which also used a graphics card pulled over 100w at idle.