Re: Building New MCE HTPC

I suppose 120 degrees F is OK for CPUs and disks, but I'd rather mine ran
cooler than that. I'm happy with the 100 degrees I'm getting but would like
to get the Maxtor down to that from 110.

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"Davids8477" <Davids8477@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:432A4646-0392-418A-861B-BE67B7A9BF55@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
100F = 37C
So 49C = 120F

"Dana Cline - MVP" wrote:

Dunno...I don't do centigrade <g>. According to Speedfan, my CPU runs at
about 100 degrees F, my 80Gb Maxtor at 110 degrees, and my Seagate 160Gb
at
100 degrees. I'm thinking of relocating my exit fan to blow across the
Maxtor...

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"Davids8477" <Davids8477@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7A380853-2B23-472A-82D2-BDD536CFF283@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi dana:

The OS system install went without a hitch.

Currently my CPU temps are 48C at idle and 65C after 5 minutes at
100% -
usung a burn-in program with everthing running - CPU, Video, DVD
network
etc.

What do you think of these?

I am thinking of putting a thin 80mm fan at an inlet next to the CPU to
move
more air - quietly (?)

"Dana Cline - MVP" wrote:

Cooling has always been a black art - my typical response is to throw
more
fans at it. Then again, all of my PCs are tower cases so that's
relatively
easy, if noisy.

So how'd the OS install go?

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"Davids8477" <Davids8477@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:60C97E1C-5B55-4C4D-9FEC-7D3734D07042@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Not sure if anyone is reading this or not. But here's the latest.

I put in ASUS 660GT Silent and the cooling radiator has to go at an
angle
to
clear the support brace in the LC17. This means is was towards the
ARCTIC
P4|ACFZ7-PRO R CPU cooler. I noticed that the CPU temperature was
never
below
55C - not happy with that. Reseated the cooler just in case - same
issue.
Put
in the stock INTEL cooler and the temperature dropped to 40C -
ambient
here
is around 25C (Florida).
Took a good look at the ARCTIC P4|ACFZ7-PRO and didn't really like
the
design - it is rather tall (interferance with Video Card radiator
and
the
side fan seemed to be pretty ineffective - although quiet.
Bought a Zalman 7000 CU this morning and installed that. Plenty of
room
to
put the ASUS radiator above the fan - extra airflow for display
adapter
and
more room overall in case.
Did a 100% CPU burn fro 15 minutes and the CPU temp went to 65C -
didn't
think that that was too bad. Internal temperature on case around
41C.

I need to lay out the cables better now.

If anyone has suggestions on better cooling then please let me know.

"Davids8477" wrote:

Well the last items arrived this morning - CPU, OS and Keyboard.

I assembled all the components - takes some thought as the CPU
cooler
and
headsink for the display adapter take up a lot of space. Also there
are
so
many cables in the PSU that I will not use. Maybe I should have got
a
modular
PSU.

The case (Lascala LC17) is a bit cramped and I had to remove the
drive
cages
on several occasions to get the wirin plugged in - no real issue
though.

Anyway its all in there - no cable routing as yet want to be sure
everything
is working.

Powered it up to see if I could get to the Bios screen. At first it
hung
on
the Intel splash screen with some odd beeps. Took another look at
the
ASUS
out connectors and saw that I had connected the display to the VGA
out
and
not the digital (its a flat panel monitor). Changed that over and
rebooted -
still a couple of beeps but got into the bios and the memory and
hard
drives
were recognized OK.

So thats a good start.

Later today I'll load up the OS and let it run for a few hours to
check
the
temperatures (without good cable runs as yet) and stability.


"Dana Cline - MVP" wrote:

I use Raid on my server (mirrored Seagate 200Gb drives) but
wouldn't
see
much need for Raid in a Media Center box. It could depend on your
needs - if
you want a terabyte of space, get a pair of 500Gb drives and span
them.
If
you want protection against one drive failing and losing all your
stuff, get
a pair and mirror them.

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"Davids8477" <Davids8477@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message
news:88851869-5E92-499C-8946-51EFD93339CB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Also do I need to use a RAID system for capturing HD TV - in
the
future -
or
will a standard SATA drive work OK. I want to rip my DVDs onto
the
hard
drives and obviously Raid or not makes a big difference in the
storage
requirements.

"Davids8477" wrote:

I am gathering product info for a new HTPC and would
appreciate
comments
on
the list of components so far. If anyone has experience with
these
components - good or bad please feel free to let me know.

This system will be in my living room so noise (lack of) is
important as
is
future expandibility. I have not included any tuners as I
have a
HDTIVO
and
am willing to wait on that functionality until I can record HD
from
my
Directtv or maybe Cable Box.

Connection will be through my surround sound system and a
Samsung
DLP
HDTV

SILVERSTONE SST-LC17-B Black
Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body
HTPC Case Computer Case

SeaSonic S12-430 ATX12V 430W Power
Supply

Intel Pentium D 820 Smithfield 800MHz FSB
LGA 775 Dual Core EM64T Processor Model
BX80551PG2800FN



ASUS EN6600GT/Silencer/HTD/256M/A
Geforce 6600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express
x16 Video Card


Intel BOXD955XBKLKR Socket T (LGA 775)
Intel 955X ATX Intel Motherboard - can I use the untergrated
sound
system
on
this board - is it any good?

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6V080E0 80GB 7200
RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - for operating system

4x Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6V300F0 300GB
7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - to be set up as RAID10

PLEXTOR Black IDE DVD Burner Model
PX-740A/SW-BL

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU
Cooler

I have memory available and will use 2GIG.

OS MCE 2005 with IR and remote

Microsoft Media Center ZV1-00004 Black 83 Normal Keys 33
Function
Keys IR
Wireless Mini Keyboard

Thanks for your time











.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Building New MCE HTPC
    ... Well the last items arrived this morning - CPU, ... you want a terabyte of space, get a pair of 500Gb drives and span them. ... Connection will be through my surround sound system and a Samsung DLP ... Intel Pentium D 820 Smithfield 800MHz FSB ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Building New MCE HTPC
    ... usung a burn-in program with everthing running - CPU, Video, DVD network etc. ... I need to lay out the cables better now. ... the Intel splash screen with some odd beeps. ... you want a terabyte of space, get a pair of 500Gb drives and span them. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
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    ... According to Speedfan, my CPU runs at ... I am thinking of putting a thin 80mm fan at an inlet next to the CPU to ... the Intel splash screen with some odd beeps. ... you want a terabyte of space, get a pair of 500Gb drives and span ...
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    ... I still believe that the problem is that since MCE uses VMR9 decoding and ... It could be that there is some microcode support that the CPU needs that ... both in recording and playing. ... and not the USB/IEEE drives? ...
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