Antec Minute HTPC + SERVER + 40 Watts Load (ALL in ONE)(Passive) (Gazzilion Pictures)

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annaconda

[H]F Junkie
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My goal was HTPC+SERVER+40watts Load electric to run 24/7.

I always wanted to built a HTPC but also wanted a SERVER too, but i could not justify to have two computers for this. Also higher electric city bills, my goal was it to be energy effecient 45-50watts tops underload, and it should be able to play HD contect + Blue ray, etc to fullfil HTPC part.

On the server side it should be able to do Active Directory + Exchange + Web + File + Torrent etc.


Thanks to AMD, it is possible now because of their 780G chipset as you all know. So i pickup my hardware + Software.


Lets start with the Hardware:

1. AMD X2 3600 @ 1 ghz = .9 v (passive) (MultiPlier @ 5 in Bios) = $ 30

2. GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard =$69
3. Cooler Master Gemini II =$4 AR
4. 160GB SATAII Hard Drive = FREE
5. Antec Minuet 350 HTPC case + 350 watts Antec 80% PSU = $61 shipped (Buy.com after $30 Credit card Credit)
6. 2GB (1GB X2) PC6400 ram = $10 AR

Total = $174 :)

Software:

1. Windows 2003 Enterprise Server Edition 32bit
2. Windows 2003 Exchange Server
3. Media Portal HTPC software FREE

Antec Minuet-350 Case:

Let me tell you guys about Antec Minuet case. It is Absolutely beauty, there is no way picture can do justification to this cases beauty. You have to see it in person. It has aluminum front, car quality black paint, size is absolutely excellent.

Just remember it is mATX case, you cannot put ATX board in it, the following pictures will explain better becase there is no room except mATX board.

The shipping Quality from Antec is absolutely excellent, the material quality is 10/10.


UPDATE LINK
 
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looks good, but can 1ghz play 1080p content? i know the IGP off loads the decoding but still that seems low on the ghz end
 
Great how that coolermaster heatsink worked out, it almost looks like it was made for that case. Everything looks really good to boot.

Good luck with the finishing touches and hope to see those pics soon :)
 
annaconda, first of all, congrats on the new job. hopefully in 5 years I will have that kind of salary! the gemini looks like an interesting cooler. I am loading up my movie collection onto disks right now. the case only has 1x 3.5" bay, correct? This is my main problem in choosing an HTPC case, as i am using spare / smaller 3.5" drives (160's and 250's) to store content. is there any additional 3.5" drive space to speak of in this case? I am on the hunt, but that would be a killer for me. Where's you get the case + PSU for under $70 shipped, oh king of the HotDeals? I've got the ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI 780G as my base.
 
holy crap, i just noticed that the giant grill looking thing in your case was the heatsink. my god that thing is massive.
 
yeah, I saw those. I have yet to try and OC on mine, since I am building up my MyMovies database at the moment. I don't think I quite as many options as yours does (and that I am accustomed to having), but my intent is to run this thing at stock anyways (x2 5600 windsor...although I do also have a 3600 x2 Brisbane, as well).
 
Did you meet your power goals. I'm looking to build something like this to be a server. That power consumption looks like something I can afford.
 
Congrats on this build. I think it's a great idea to make a machine with low wattage. I mean to be 5-10watts less than the average light bulb is great.
 
Great post :),

Whats the noise like from the PSU/Case fans that come supplied? It looks a great case but im put off by the silver front, but maybe you can buy it in black.

Is it possible that you could run a program like timecodec to get the fps for playing back 1080p/720p movies at a least 10-15Mbits?

P.S. You forgot the IO Shield when installing it :(
 
Toytown said:
Great post :),

Whats the noise like from the PSU/Case fans that come supplied? It looks a great case but im put off by the silver front, but maybe you can buy it in black.

Is it possible that you could run a program like timecodec to get the fps for playing back 1080p/720p movies at a least 10-15Mbits?

P.S. You forgot the IO Shield when installing it :(
Click to expand...

maybe he did that intentionally to get more airflow?
 
The power is low (39 W idle and 45 W Load), but that was with .1V, i lowered it to .9V, I will post the screen shots later. Yes i forget the I/O Shield then it does not matter any ways. I might have to change the Heatsink on the 780G Chipset, i have some spare ones laying around, from old CPU ones would be good keep the temperature down.

The noise from PSU and 80mm is ultra quite, i cannot hear them from 3 feet. Specially PSU is Excellent 20/10, i am running 80mm fan on the side on its lowest setting there are three speeds, low, medium, fast. On medium and fast fan gets little noisey, but on low it is perfect and air flow is excellent.

Yes Sabergen, i changed that to 32bit. :)

"Is it possible that you could run a program like timecodec to get the fps for playing back 1080p/720p movies at a least 10-15Mbits?"

Yes i will do it tonight, i was looking for good screen capture software any suggestions on it would be great. I tried to capture screen with "Print Screen" for HD/BlueRay Movies, but when i paste it in MS-Paint it makes the Video screen blank.

I just want to remind you guys that the front of the case i Aluminum, Quality of this case is 20/10.
 
I will probably use this HSF on 780G chipset, i migh have to drill some holes in it. I was selling it in F/S thread :) It is HSF from old PIII CPU.

100_2757358.jpg
 
You can use Media Player Classic/MPC Home Cinema to take screengrabs as it allows you to specify the exact frame you want etc. But Nero/PowerDVD should also let you use the "Save Image" from them.

maybe he did that intentionally to get more airflow?
Click to expand...

I always thought it was best to keep it in, so that the airflow through the case would be better, i.e the exhaust fans not just exhausting the heat coming through the io shield spot. But perhaps it does help, or doesnt make much of a difference? I dont know.....anybody else know?
 
That case looked amazing... until I saw the LP brackets and proprietary PSU size.

:( I might've replaced mine with it, otherwise.
 
I will try one of those softwares you mentioned ToyTown, well there is no Exhaust fan in the back of that case. The only fan is 80mm on the side, since there are alot of ventilation hole as you can see on top of the case the air flow is already great.

AVT PSU is top class, you have place this case Horizontally or vertically your choice.
 
I love that case!

I would like to use another 780G for my next HTPC build but my stupid sony TV doesn't play well with the ATI drviers and I can't get anything to display... However, I love the 780G with my samsung bedroom LCD.
 
Is your plan to run an exchange server purely for your own personal email?


Case looks really good.
 
I would be weary of installing Exchange on the same machine running AD as the domain controller, thats alot of headaches waiting to happen.
 
Yes exchange is for my personal use, and i already installed every thing on it as you can see in the previous screen shots. Criccio there is no Headache :)

It has Exchange 2003 + AD + DNS + SSH Server + FTP + WEB + File Server + Torrent + etc
 
Ok, it can do BD, but the real test is high bitrate 1080p x264 content ;)
 
SpiderMan 3 Blue-Ray, cpu is 100% and perfectly playing Blue-Ray @ 1ghz and .9v
Click to expand...

If its at 100% then i wouldnt trust it at all for playback. There will be some scenes where the cpu might show 100% but the actual work load needed was greater and therefore you will get dropped frames. Also whilst watching a movie back all it would take is a windows process to just use 10% of the cpu for a second and you would end up with frames dropped.

The ati3200 should be able to handle DXVA and send almost all the work to the GPU, this would drastically drop that cpu usage as all that would be left would be the AACS encyption to decode.
 
There a section in the guide here, which might help you.

You could also try getting MPC-HC here and follow the information here to get it working correctly. If your playing a H264/AVC clip then your CPU usage should be almost nothing. If your playing a bluray disc with a H264/AVC video, then the cpu usage will be for the AACS encyption only.

As noted on the MPC-HC page though, "VC1 acceleration is broken in 8.6 release " and ive heard some posts on forums saying H264 is also broken in 8.6 but i havent tested it myself.
 
But how it will effect the Media Portal, i think media portal has every thing in it.
 
I realized that VLC player is not good for windows2003 as compare to windows media player. VLC player is having issues playing HD content under 2003 OS, but Windows Media Player 11 works perfectly fine.
 
Anybody know how can i change the default player in Media Portal HTPC software to windows Media player?
 
annaconda said:
Anybody know how can i change the default player in Media Portal HTPC software to windows Media player?
Click to expand...

Off the top of my head, go into the settings window and look for "external player" and click the check box; the default filed in should already be to WMP. Make sure you enable "Expert options" in the top right hand corner.
 
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