[sijones]

I am considering building a fanless HTPC based on the the Thin Mini-ITX Intel DH61AG motherboard. I wondered if anyone had built a HTPC with the same board and if they were happy with the outcome?

http://www.intel.com/Products/Desktop/Motherboards/db-dh61ag/DH61AG-overview.htm

Kind regards,

Steve

[bryanchicken]

From what i read when considering an Intel DH61 board the onboard stuff kinda relies on a fan to keep it from overheating.

[sijones]

Hi,

I would probably buy the case below which comes with the motherboard and fanless cooling:

Media Centre MMC-12 (no OS) - Tranquil PC Limited Store

Kind regards,

Steve

[bryanchicken]

well, in that case i guess it must be ok

I have an intel dh67 motherboard. Its a chipset up but it doesn't do anything special that the h61 can't. I went for it coz i couldn't get a dh61dl.
Its very low power consumption (mine idles at 15-16W with an i3 2120 and 2 sticks of ram).
Its not crashed 1 single time since i got in late nov/early dec. I am using linux though.

The intel boards tend to be less feature packed than other brands at the same price. They also don't tend to use "military grade", "durable" components either. Not entirely sure how much use they are. Maybe they don't need them as they run cool/efficient?

The only thing i'd be worried about with an onboard PSU is that if it blows or has issues you have to replace the whole board. I had a similar zotac board once and the PSU went and i was screwed as i couldn't plug in a regular one.

[sijones]

Originally Posted by bryanchicken

The only thing i'd be worried about with an onboard PSU is that if it blows or has issues you have to replace the whole board. I had a similar zotac board once and the PSU went and i was screwed as i couldn't plug in a regular one.

Thanks for your replies.

This particular board utilises an external power supply so it should not be so much of a worry.

Kind regards,

Steve

[bryanchicken]

Originally Posted by sijones

Thanks for your replies.

This particular board utilises an external power supply so it should not be so much of a worry.

Kind regards,

Steve

Mine used an external brick. But the bit that went was on the board.

[Bossk128]

Sorry to bump an old thread but it makes sense to add my thoughts here. I am very keen on exploring a slim HTPC option. I'm currently looking at the Lian Li PC-Q05, Intel DH61AG slim-ITX motherboard, HTS1155 LP low profile HSF, and a T model low TDP I5 processor (currently the overkill 3570T but that may change). The motherboard supports mSATA so an acceptable £1/Gb Nocti SSD will do plus 4-8Gb RAM. I think this will make a very smart looking HTPC which will more than support MediaPortal or XBMC over a 100Mbs wired ethernet connection for MT2S or x264 media, and also be suitable for BluRay ripping and transcoding once I source an affordable slot loading Blu Ray drive.

The specs mean that it should last 5 years plus I think, and manage everything I throw at it for the same price as an Oppo 93.

Can anybody see any glaring flaws with my plan? Specifically, I want to output 1080P24 with HD LPCM over HDMI: I know the clocking of video outputs is a bit contentious at the moment but how noticeable is it in real life? any thoughts the best way to add IR to a build like this, or stick with an Android based wireless remote?

[tutu]

The only thing I can imagine it lacks is undervolting (which you usually only get in a third party motherboard). I doubt you need to undervolt a T processor anyway.

It doesn't have SATA 6gb and the USB 3.0 is provided by a third party chip. Neither of those are that important in a HTPC.

I was also looking at the bits but the Lian-Li doesn't have a slot for a blu-ray and I was hoping to replace my Samsung D6500 Blu-Ray player (it's a great blu-ray player but awful DLNA streamer in the end).

[Bossk128]

Yes, combining as a disc spinner would be good, but I'd like to keep genuine BRP handy just for compatibility reasons.

I'll maybe look for a decent thin itx with a disc slot, but I do like the Lian Li case.