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Wiretap's High Definition in a Small Package mini-ITX Project

w1retap

w1retap

[H]F Junkie
2FA
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
14,394
This will be a project I am working on over the next several weeks.. We'll see how it goes, or if it even takes off, lol. :p I might end up keeping the rig, I might end up selling it.

Teaser:


High Definition in a Small Package

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​
 
hi thar...looking forward to your build :)

i want to build a SFF pc in the worst way but dont have the cash for it yet.
 
well this will certainly be interesting to see. I hope that DIMM is of a decent size, since you only get one. Also, I would hope that the Jetway board can handle a decent CPU, since you've got zero for add-in GPU capabilities to offload the HD content streams, and it will all fall on the CPU. Huh...yeah, this will be interesting indeed!
 
The Jetway mini-ITX board has the new Nvidia 8200 series chip in it, almost completely offsetting high def playback. For processors, it accepts up to a 65w TDP AM2+ processor. I'm putting a Athlon X2 4800+ in it. For the RAM, I'm putting a 2GB DDR2-800 stick in the single DIMM slot.
 
Looking forward to this :). Should be able to play all the encodes from HDBits.
 
BTW - It seems like it has OC capabilities so a 3600 with a bit of tuning might be fine!

Only thing that killed it for me was no PCIE 16. Slot only for a nice sound card.

Looking forward to see your final project. I like the fact they hooked you up with the sinks!!!

Enjoy!!!
 
w1retap said:
The Jetway mini-ITX board has the new Nvidia 8200 series chip in it, almost completely offsetting high def playback. For processors, it accepts up to a 65w TDP AM2+ processor. I'm putting a Athlon X2 4800+ in it. For the RAM, I'm putting a 2GB DDR2-800 stick in the single DIMM slot.
Click to expand...

sorry, didn't have time to look at the specs of the jetway before making my post. if it's got onboard nvidia video for hd processing offload, then this could be one sweet solution indeed. what's the price on these boards?
 
i'm looking forward for the results of this :) I once again might have to copy you ^^
 
I should be getting my first shipment of parts today. Hopefully they'll arrive by the time I get home from work. Everything is ordered though, so this project should come together quickly and this will be a short worklog.
 
You could nearly hollow out that DVD drive and put the rest of the computer inside... :D

Did you consider a smaller HD or DVD for this project? I think 500meg 2.5" HDDs are reasonably priced, tho not as cheap as 3.5" drives yet.
 
I was going to go with a 2.5'' HDD and a smaller case, but I wanted the HDDVD/Blu-ray combo drive, so I needed the 5.25'' bay. The case is large enough to fit a 3.5'' HDD as well.

I believe the case arrives tomorrow, so I'll have pictures up. I don't want to say what case yet. It's about the size of a children's shoe box.
 
So you think the board will handle HD output other than through hd-dvd and bluray too? Like say an MKV h.264 file thats 13gigs?
 
Yes. It will handle it. I'll have some screenshots of tests once it's put together.
 
Can't wait for pics, w1retap, your worklogs are always quality. I am looking to do a SFF build and am interested in your case choice as well.

BTW, what camera/settings are you using for the pics, they look good.
 
Thanks. =)

I'm just using a cheap old point and shoot.. lol. It's a Canon SD600. I just set it on manual, usually no flash, put it on a tripod and let it soak up as much light as it can on the lowest ISO. Then I sometimes tweak the colors in Photoshop or Microsoft Office Picture Manager. I would use my brother's Olympus DSLR, but he's not home a whole lot when I am.

Anyhow, here's some of the latest progress. ^_^

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^--- Apex MI-100 mini-ITX case in black.

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^--- Backside. 250w PSU, (1) full heigh PCI expansion slot.

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^--- PSU specs... not that bad, this is an ITX build so it won't use a whole lot of power. I just hope it doesn't blow up. :p

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^--- Sleeved the USB, audio, and front panel wires. Black sleeving from Xoxide.

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^--- Zip tie mounted the wires for awesomeness and so it doesn't get cluttered.

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^--- Case length is inbetween 11 & 12 inches. 5 inches high, 8 inches wide.

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^--- Seagate 500GB 7200.10 SATA mounted (still room for another hard drive or two under the 5.25'' bay

more to come later... still waiting on the Jetway NC62K board to arrive. :cool:
 
I less-than-three this build already.
Looking forward to it's completion. :)
 
The motherboard arrives tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some time to set it all up. =)
 
Motherboard arrived. ^_^

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Inside the case...

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Quick shot of the temps..

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And last of all.. the fans on the board are quiet (silent), but the PSU fan is a little bit louder than I'd like. It would be fairly easy to replace the PSU fan though. It's just a 80mm slim fan. But, once the unit gets put somewhere in an entertainment unit, the noise will be significantly muffled. I doubt it will be an issue.
 
Looks great!!!

Is it that difficult to make MATX cases slightly taller and slightly wider?
 
What I meant was that this Mini ITX looks tremendous! I love it! How difficult is it for companies to make a nice MATX case with SLIGHTLY larger dimensions!!!

It also seems like there is enough room for a reg AM2 heatsink...or probably not... Maybe one of the Zalman flowers? Yes?
 
Oh, thanks. =) The mini-ITX case I chose for this build is a little larger in terms of the form factor, but that was just about the smallest one I could go with in order to fit the 5.25'' LG BD/HDDVD drive in there. IMO, it is a really good layout though, and it leaves plenty of room for a good ITX build.

For heatsinks, there isn't much room between the mobo and power supply. From the bare CPU to the bottom of the PSU, there's about 1.5 or 2 inches of space. I didn't measure, but that's what it looks like to me. I'd be willing to venture one of those Zalman's you speak of would fit just fine.
 
Still waiting on a copy of Vista Ultimate 32-bit... I should have it tomorrow so I can finally get this thing up and running to test out some HD movies.

In the mean time, another picture.

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Very nice looking. Why don't you just install vista for the trial thing for tonight and then add the serial when it comes?
 
I don't really have time anyway. I'll just wait for the weekend.
 
Neat-o!

Excellent choice of movies... I wet myself every time I see them in High-Definition!
I mean... yeah! Simply amazing!

BTW, how are you doing the audio to your Receiver? That board doesn't have a digital out does it?

-Eric
 
Well, I'm not keeping this, so I won't be hooking it up in my theater. I'm going to test it out on my 37'' Westy to make sure it all works top notch, then put it up for sale.

But if I were to hook it up, it has a DVI-->HDMI adapter that carries audio. You also have the choice of hooking up video only to HDMI/DVI, then use either the analog audio, or use SPDIF. The top two ports on the audio outputs of the sound jacks double as SPDIF-in/SPDIF-out and analog.
 
I have to say it again. Drop dead gorgeous...

Something similar to an Antec 380W and a PCIE slot and this is an SFFers dream!
 
Thanks. =D

Be aware that the PSU is actually about 2/3 or 1/2 the physical size of a normal ATX power supply. But the case is designed in such a manor that a huge video card would actually fit in there.. assuming you cut out the side for the fan to breathe. :p
 
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