[deksawyer]

Tinners, no, I don't want it lit at all, but the Asus board is designed to flash the power LEDs when in standby. The most annoying thing about it is there doesn't seem to be any way to turn it off!

I've been spared the problem now as the Omaura logo packed in yesterday, leaving just the power button light.

I unplugged them both anyway so no lights when in standby and only the OLED when it's actually on.

The joys, eh.....

D.

[Alexd912]

Hi there deksawyer,

Firstly a fantastic HTPC build by the way and I have a very similar build to you based on a Zalman HD160 case.
Only small difference is that I have a 3Ghz dual core and 4Gig of OCZ memory. Now when I try HD playback my processor goes mad, nearly 90% cpu and I get choppy playback through my 42" LCD (PAL). When I try HD I get around 50% CPU but still some choppy playback
Now you mention that you forced your refresh rate to 50Hz, was that due to that issue?
Im pulling my hair out as that P5E-VM HDMI mobo should support full BR/HD playback..

Anyhelp would be appreciated mate.

Alex

[deksawyer]

Hi Alex

Your CPU should be more than up to the job, and if you're playing back HD DVD/BR via discs, then the motherboard GFX chip should cope as well.

I have the PWM feature enables and Speedstep and the CPU doesn't even go to full multiplier, it stays at 6 instead of 9 when playing HD DVD/BR.

What exactly are you trying to play back? And in what player?

cheers

D.

[djphatic]

deksawyer - what is your overall opinion of the omaura case? I have been looking into HTPC cases for a while and the omaura looks great and just what im looking for but I must admit it is quite pricey, especially without a PSU and LCD/OLED screen.

How is the cooling using 2x 80mm fans? Are the PCI slots full profile or half? Any build issues, rattling side panels? What are noise levels like etc...

[Mconnect]

Anyone know what AV reciever that is?

[Theydon Bois]

Dek will send him a PM...

[deksawyer]

Originally Posted by djphatic

deksawyer - what is your overall opinion of the omaura case? I have been looking into HTPC cases for a while and the omaura looks great and just what im looking for but I must admit it is quite pricey, especially without a PSU and LCD/OLED screen.

How is the cooling using 2x 80mm fans? Are the PCI slots full profile or half? Any build issues, rattling side panels? What are noise levels like etc...

The case is pretty damn good. Well made and no rattling. Half height cards only.

I removed the 60mm fans altogether and replaced the 80mm (slimline 15mm) with Silenx fans. I also reversed them so they exhaust.

I removed the 'mesh' the other day on the 80mm fans and it's made a massive difference to the temps.

With the stock CPU cooler running at 50% and the 80mm fans running at 45% it is pretty much silent - I'm using Speedfan to control them. My CPU is currently running at 23 degrees C.

The OLED is a huge let down, as it doesn't do 2 things it really should;

1. display the clock when in standby

2. display anything on wake from standby

Apart from that, I like the case but the software is needing a huge rebuild.

D.

[deksawyer]

Originally Posted by Mconnect

Anyone know what AV reciever that is?

It's a Harman Kardon AVR340.

D.

[Mconnect]

Originally Posted by deksawyer

The OLED is a huge let down, as it doesn't do 2 things it really should;

1. display the clock when in standby

2. display anything on wake from standby

Apart from that, I like the case but the software is needing a huge rebuild.

D.

I had a TF11 on order and cancelled it, and went with an alternative, and i was thinking of still going with the Omaura OLED, so i am glad to read your feedback

Have you had any communication from Omaura that they plan to do any further development with the software?

[djphatic]

I am a little confused with the PSU, does it have a 12cm fan on it? If so, is there vents on the bottom of the case.

[deksawyer]

Yes, it has a 120mm fan.

The vents don't look too good, but the PSU is set to SSM mode, whereby the fan only spins when it needs to and I've never heard it come on yet. So they can't be that bad!

D.

[Theydon Bois]

Hows the build going Dek? Managed to get the LED to display properly etc?

[deksawyer]

Hey, mate

The OLED works well enough in general use but could do with an update or ten, but the killer is no display at all when the pc resumes from standby.

I've also not figured out the probem with the power light/logo.

For the most part, it's been going very well - S3 sleep & resume is working well, it's recording everything I want it to and is generally reliable.

I recently patched PDVD7 and it f%cked up all HD DVD/BD playback. I then installed WinDVD (with the bells & whistles) and it does a much better job of playing the HD discs.

I also tried PDVD8 with the HD DVD hack, but it's just as problematic.

The case, with the mods I've done really is superb; I can't believe how cool & quiet it is. It's the quietest PC I've ever built and I've built "a few".

TBH I've been playing with my new (40th b/day present) AKG K701 phones with a new Dark Voice Figaro valve headphone amp. I've been scouring ebay for better valves...................I've also been trying to settle on an OS for my media server rebuild, but that's such a trek, I won't be sharing the troubles wth any of you's lot!

Anyway, thanks for asking and I'll update when I can.

D.

[Whisler]

Nice build Deksawyer

I'm due to buy and build a HTPC next week and this case was one of the front runners but I think i'll have to find an alternative Is the OLED issues you are having across the board or just you might have a dodgy one ? cos I can't really grab a whole deal of info on these cases.

Cheers

Mark

[deksawyer]

Mark, as far as I know, there are a few of us having problems. Omaura have taken on a further 2 developers so hopefully it's fixed fairly soon.

You'll also find it very hard to get hold of one of these cases, as Omaura are having all sorts of problems getting them out to suppliers.

D.

[Whisler]

Originally Posted by deksawyer

Mark, as far as I know, there are a few of us having problems. Omaura have taken on a further 2 developers so hopefully it's fixed fairly soon.

You'll also find it very hard to get hold of one of these cases, as Omaura are having all sorts of problems getting them out to suppliers.

D.

You certainly aren't wrong there !! only place I can find in the UK is Kustompcs and them other ones you had probs with. Emailed them as they are out of stock....think it's time to look for another case lol

Mark

[deksawyer]

This thread is slipping, but I have to say - not much to report.

The HTPC is running smoothly, although it did give me problems for a week or so all of a sudden in that it wouldn't play .avi files. A bit of tweaking with Radlight Filter Manager solved the problem.

Day to day use, stability, temps & performance are superb. It really doesn't miss a beat no matter what file type I throw at it.

I'm now using WinDVD as my preferred HD DVD/Blu-Ray player and I find it plays back all the discs I have without issue, whereas PowerDVD just couldn't play some discs at all.

I rebuilt my home server with some more modern hardware I had spare as well as a change from XP to WHS.

WHS is a superb bit of kit. I tried everything from (K)Ubuntu to FreeNAS (which was great) but nothing worked out of the box and with the least set up hassles or problems compared to WHS. FreeNAS almost worked for me but I couldn't get Slimserver & AlienBBC to work very well.

The OLED still has problems with standby and I'm not on the Omaura site as much as I should be to try and resolve it (if they're still trading), but the case itself is still living up to my hopes. It's cool. very quiet and looks good.

Cheers

D.

[Theydon Bois]

Glad to hear all is ok Dek - Your thread does not appear to be in the sticky (as part of the main thread or Mickwalls Build sticky) so I have added a link for one of the Mods to add.

Your build does use one of the notoriously hard to find cases, and so should be available for all to see!

[kav]

Now added to sticky, thanks.

[deksawyer]

OK, more updates.

I've found a third party developing the OLED software and it's much, much better but it still has a way to go before it's considered stable; mainly issues coming out of standby. Available here;

omauraoleddisplay - Google Code

I've also done a fresh install of Vista on a spare 2.5" drive and added the TV Pack (Fiji) and pleased to report it looks good. I'm using a dual DVB-T tuner and the set up is slightly different from before, in that there seems to be no way of choosing which transmitter you'd like to use - it just automatically chooses for you....

It's a bare minimum install, with CCCP pack and Core AVC Pro the only added extras (as well as Speedfan). VMC plays every file type I have without issues, inc. avi, mkv, ts and mp4. No reg hacks needed.

I've yet to install PDVD and/or WinDVD yet.

It's a pity but Omaura seem to have disappeared off the face of the planet....

D.

[Theydon Bois]

tsk tsk Dek...I was expecting more juicy pictures of cheese and biscuits..... *goes off to browse some specialist cheese sites*

[deksawyer]

Well, my fingers were itching and along with a few minor problems with the Asus board, it's now time for a change.

I bought the Gigabyte E7AUM-S2H board in the classifieds and installed it today (I couldn't find my Vista disc so had to resort to an alternative method of obtaining one; which took a while.....) so it's currently installing drivers from the mobo CD.

I'll get to grips with it on Tue evening and get things set up the way I like them.

NB heatsink is very hot though and that's with the case lid being off all day. Skythe Shuriken is on order and if it doesn't fit, it'll go in my desktop rebuild which will contain the old Asus P5E-VM HDMI board.

D.

[GlynG60]

I will be very interested to see how you get on with the Gigabyte E7AUM-S2H board.
I am considering a HTPC Mk3 build using this board. Either by rebuilding my Mk 1 Antec Fusion based machine - which currently has a E2180 and a Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H board, using a Radeon HD3450 graphics card to enable BD playback. Or alternatively as a fresh build in an as yet undecided case. This will then go in a rack in my new (yet to be created) home cinema room feeding a 1080p projector. As it does not have to look sexy and slimline under the TV, I might go for a more full size case.
If I do go with a Gigabyte E7AUM-S2H system I have not decided what CPU to go for. I have thought about a Q6600, which would be good for HD re-encoding. However, I am concerned it may be overkill for a HTPC.

[deksawyer]

OK, everything is going well with the new board - Bluray playback is super smooth using Arcsoft TMT and playback of file based material is also very good (from within VMC). I have some high quality rips of The Matrix trilogy and they playback better than ever, with no stuttering. This board is superb at decoding......

There's some standby issues that need sorting out, in that it'll always go into standby but once in a while it won't resume. MCE standby Tool might be on the cards.

I've fitted a Scythe Shuriken and it's keeping the CPU under 30°C. It just fits and using Speedfan it's inaudible most of the time.

Apart from the standby issues, I couldn't be happier.

The Asus G35 board I used before is now in my desktop PC with an E8400 (@3.6Ghz) and it's lightning fast, so I'm chuffed about that as well.

D.

[GlynG60]

Sounds good - just what I wanted to hear.
How have you configured your software?

[deksawyer]

Pretty much the same as on page one, and all from within VMC;

Blu-ray/HD DVD playback

Arcsoft Total Media Theater. Very good. Plays blurays perfectly. Not tried HD DVD yet but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Audio is connected via SPDIF and it outputs DD & DTS to my receiver. I did have the Asus board set up to use analogue but the jacks on this board are too close together for my chunky mini jacks.

MKV playback

CCCP codec Pack (a tweaked ffdshow). I've not checked since installing TMT, but there's a chance the FFDShow decoders have been given the push by the Arcsoft ones. But if it works........

Audio is handled by ffdshow audio decoder, using spdif pass through.

Hi-Def .TS files

I have a few 1080p rips that are in a .ts container. Some are mpeg2 and some are VC1. ffdshow is selected to decode the mpeg2 and the in built Vista VC1 decoder does, well, the VC1.

Audio is handled by ffdshow audio decoder, using spdif pass through.

DVD playback

These are handled by the default Vista decoders, good job they do too.

TV playback

Again, handled by the Vista decoders. Lipsync is sometimes an issue.

If VMC flakes out on me then MPC HC is set up as a backup tp play everything apart from BD/HD DVD discs.

It's pretty much how I've set up my various guises of HTPC over the years.

D.

[albriscoe]

Hi Dek

thanks for the tip with the ACHI hack, alls well again.

just read your thread from the start and your HTPC looks the biz, what do you do regards storage, in other words how much have you or is it somewhere else .

Also i`m running Vista 32bit with VMC/My Movies/P/DVD 7.3 and BD/HD playback is super smooth for me.

Also using ASUS M3N-H HDMI board now and I`ve had to shave my analogue cables down a little to get them to fit.

I`m thinking of changing my NVidia 8600GT HDMI GC for one of the ATI 4670 cards so the audio goes via HDMI rather than analogue.

Whats your views on this, better or worse??

Anyway great thread mate Al

[deksawyer]

No worries Al, we're here to help each other............

I have a small WHS with 1.5TB of storage. That's on 24/7 as it's used by the HTPC, the Squeezebox, my main PC upstairs and occasionally used to stream music at my work via Softsqueeze. I'm gonna need more storage soon as well!!

As for the discrete graphics card, I'm afraid I've not used one for a few years, the last being a very good Gainward 8600GT.

If the ATI card enables multichannel LPCM via HDMI and you can make use of this with your receiver, then go for it.

And cheers for the comments - this really is the quietest, coolest PC I've build. It's a very good case!!

D.

[tinners]

dek - still think its one great case. Can't believe you're still tinkering with it a year later !

No I can, actually, as I found HTPC a full time occupation, so got rid of mine now and gone the NMT route, as I have family and other work commitments now

[Theydon Bois]

I am still a little gutted I couldnt get an Omarua case, but my Zalman was a very very close second choice anyway. And as for still tinkering after a year, surely thats the whole reason we started these?

I will be adding a thrird HD (1tb) soon, and have swapped from Monochrome to the very nice Streamed MP as not only is it a very nice looking skin, the installer is a joy too use.

Nice pics of the heatsink mate, what camera do you have? I need to get rid of my old Sony one - it had no optical zoom and macro work always looked blurry...