[x1nick]

I have had one htpc before this, which did the job ok and was only used on a old crt tv.

Before building this one I set out a few requirements for it:

• Silent
• 1080p Playback
• Bluray
• Some form of LCD/VFD
• All media played over gigabit from file server

Got a whole bunch of components dirt cheap to start with:

• Intel C2D E6400
• 2x 1GB OCZ Platinum PC6400 RAM
• Abit F190HD Motherboard
• Hiper 420w PSU
• Thermaltake Mozart Case

Already had a 160GB HDD and some other little bits.

This changed a fair bit with the 160gb hdd being upgraded to a 500gb Samsung Spinpoint.

Final spec now is:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
• 2x 1GB OCZ Platinum PC6400
• MSI Neo-F P45 Classic Series Motherboard
• ATI Radeon 4350 HD 512MB
• Hiper 420w PSU with silent fan
• 160GB Fujitsu 2.5" 5400rpm HDD
• LG 6x Bluray Reader/Writer
• Thermaltake Mozart Slimline HTPC Case

Don't think I have missed much from that.

Now for some pictures

GTA case just to show the height of it.

I got the case cheap due to the previous owner hacking away at it in various ways?

The power led on the case would like every other case only be on when the pc is on, so I came up with this its just a relay that switches on when the 12v line is on and changes the led's colour

On:

Off:

The PSU was pretty noisy as standard even though the fan was running at 5v.

Standard fan:

New fan:

Fitted and grill removed:

Inside the case, without graphics card fitted, also note the sound proofing all over the inside the case

Bluray reader/writer fitted behind the front cover

Graphics card:

And fitted in the riser card provided with the case

Underside of the cover is also covered in sound proofing

Software wise its running:

• Vista Ultimate
• Vista Media Centre for interface
• FFDshow
• MPC-HC Stand alone filters for DXVA HD Playback
• Halli Media Splitter
• PowerDVD 8 Ultra
• Collectorz Movie Collector

All installed into my little setup

Will get some pictures of the finished insides and software running on it soon

[Theydon Bois]

Thanks for taking the trouble to post the pics, excellent!

What I would like to know is what the hell did the previous user do to the case? Does it look like he mounted the PSU on the other side (all the extra holes cut?) or a massive custom mod with the guts of a DVD player or something put into this case?

The sound proofing - not having read up on these cases, but it does not look standard? Does the case really need all of that, and is it not hampering the case in any way, such as trapping heat or slowing airflow? Plus would it not get rather hot with all that foam? Personally I would remove it all, and like you already have done, change fans if I suspected any of them where causing noise.

[Holwill]

I think I remember this case being sold on the Chilled PC forums.

[x1nick]

Wel lthe cuts in the back look like they had a motherboard with the pci express slot in the wrong position for it to be used, so they had to cut away at the case to make the cards fit. Either way its at the back and saved me a fair bit of money. But the hole at the side??? no idea what's going on there
Its all hidden once in my stand so dosen't bother me at all. Basically got it below half price I think

The sound proofing is Acousti AcoustiPack Deluxe which I got from maplin for £20, where usually online it was around £40.
No idea if it work's though lol I know it makes the whole case a kg or two heavier
Heat build up seems ok, case never gets too hot, even with cpu maxed out for 2 days re-encoding a film. Got the sound proofing in my file server too which has 5 3.5" hdd's and 1 2.5" hdd, none of which seem to get that hot.
Think it all comes down to good air flow through the case.

[cliffybigreddog]

Hi,

Thanks for the post - pics v. useful!

I want to get this Mozart case too - wondering if you could answer a few questions about it:

1) how are the fans that come with the case (orange ones) - are they effective, noisy, variable?

2) Does the CD tray eject smoothly through the trap door in the front? I guess the only way to eject the tray is with the button on the remote? (and is this noisy?)

3) How is the front display panel in terms of setup, configuration, compatability with your vista setup, etc.? I understand that it is a rebranded i-mon screen.

Anything else that you would recommend if you had to start over or change something along the way?

Much appreciated - Thanks!!

[x1nick]

Glad someone finds them useful

The fans included are good, but only at 5v anything higher and they are a little bit too noisy.
I just modded them to run at 5v.

Would probably recomend upgrading them to something slightly better. I just havent got round to this.

Its smooth, and never had any problems myself. Dosn't feel too cheap in my openion.
But noisy wise it just makes the normal noise any cd drive would, maybe with a extra 'tap' when it closes.
Yes button is only way of opening it unless you fold down the cover.

The display is actually imon, software I installed, disabled the onscreen display (it made some odd noises too) and that was it.
It grabs everything else automatically from vmc no problem.
Best display I have ever used by far.

Remote is pretty naff, not a fan of it. So use the microsoft remote

Advice would be just plan out air flow, get a decent cpu cooler and should all turn out quite well.

Only thing I would change is the psu (bit too noisy) and maybe upgrade the fan's to quieter ones mounted on rubber to stop any vibrations.

Hope this helps

[gd16]

Originally Posted by x1nick

The fans included are good, but only at 5v anything higher and they are a little bit too noisy.
I just modded them to run at 5v.

Would probably recomend upgrading them to something slightly better. I just havent got round to this.

The display is actually imon, software I installed, disabled the onscreen display (it made some odd noises too) and that was it.
It grabs everything else automatically from vmc no problem.
Best display I have ever used by far.

I've got the full size version of this case - and don't know if its just mine - but the fans are terribly noisy. Have been since the word go. The front one is fine (80mm IIRC), but the back two (60mm each) have always been noisy.

Normally only on initial start-up, they sound like they're not completly balanced when spinning. Given time, or a couple of taps - and the noise tends to go away.

If i was using it as a dedicated HTPC i would definately have changed the two fans. But instead i've unplugged one, and keep an eye on the temps instead.

No PSU with mine - so can't comment.

The VFD/LCD display is great. Comes with Imon software, which automatically checks for updates for free. Again i got rid of the annoying on-screen display and related noise. But completely configureable to almost anything you need (MC, WMP, VLC, WinAmp) and i find the controller pretty good - although nothing to compare against. Also the controller has an eject button, so makes it easier to eject the DVD tray.

If i was to buy again, i'd go for the thinner one (same as OP) as the one i've got looks huge, but not a great deal of benefits over the smaller one. OK - 3 x 3 1/2 bays, 3 x5 1/4 bays and 7 expansion slots is great. But for a true HTPC your only going to use 1 of each of the drive slots, and i'm only using 2 of the expansion slots.

[x1nick]

The cases are huge, mine is just not too tall.
Only just fits in my rack.

NExt time round....ASRock > Products > NetTop Series > ION 330-BD

[cliffybigreddog]

Thanks both gd16 and x1nick,

Very helpful for knowing what to expect. The VFD sounds impressive, though i'm wondering what the strange noises could come from a display. I'll start with stock and CPU fans, but replace if necessary. Easily and cheaply done.

Not too sure about the ION though. True the NVIDIA card can handle 1080p, but based on my current netbook, the Atom is so underpowered it would take ages to load the OS and software and it easily gets bogged down by flash ads on wepages and can only handle skype if nothing else is on simultaneously. Anyway....

So i'd like to put a Gigabyte mobo 780G mATX in (this one), but it is not a full ATX so i can't do the count back from six slots to the PCIe slot thing to ensure compatibility with the case. But just eyeballing it, it seems like it should fit just fine, possibly even without the mATX riser card extension.

My suggested build on a new thread is here.

Thanks again.

[gd16]

I've had a thought overnight - i'm not sure what voltage i'm running the standard fans at

The front one (which is fine as far as noise is concerned) is running off the motherboard. But the back two are connected to the PSU. It's suddenly dawned on me that they might be running 12v which is why they're noisy. I'll check, and mod them to 7.7v/5v if necessary to see if i still get the same noise problems.

Will be damn annoyed if this is whats causing the problems for the past 2 years with noisy fans.

The noise that comes with the VFD is the iMon application signifying that its received a signal from the remote. The on-screen display lights up slightly, and a sound is emitted to show that information has been received. Thankfully both the on-screen display and sound can be turned off. Phew!!

[x1nick]

Originally Posted by gd16

I've had a thought overnight - i'm not sure what voltage i'm running the standard fans at

The front one (which is fine as far as noise is concerned) is running off the motherboard. But the back two are connected to the PSU. It's suddenly dawned on me that they might be running 12v which is why they're noisy. I'll check, and mod them to 7.7v/5v if necessary to see if i still get the same noise problems.

Will be damn annoyed if this is whats causing the problems for the past 2 years with noisy fans.

The noise that comes with the VFD is the iMon application signifying that its received a signal from the remote. The on-screen display lights up slightly, and a sound is emitted to show that information has been received. Thankfully both the on-screen display and sound can be turned off. Phew!!

Lol don't think I could cope with noisy fans for 2 years!
I can hear the slight hum of hdd's and it needs sorting. Just need to find some time to fix it.

Also the noise from imon, what made them think that would be a good idea to have enabled as default? Its horrible


The ion to me looks good, I have heard (not read any reviews) that there fine for HTPC's although there is a Zotac Mini itx board which looks like it could be good combined with a low power C2D cpu (is there such a thing as low powered ones?)

[gd16]

Normally i turn the PC on, and come back 10 mins later and the fans had calmed down. Either that, or have the tunes on pretty quickly and they over-power the noise

Took the case off this evening - and suspicions were correct. Fans were running at 12V as standard. Strange how the front one wasn't making any noise.

Anyhow - had two aftermarket fans i'd already played around with the wiring for, so set them up to run 5V, and as they seemed to push out more air at 5v than the ThermalTake ones at 12v - swapped those in. They're still not quite, but far less noisy than the ThermalTake ones. Don't think it helps the fins on them aren't 100%. Will swap them again another time.

[x1nick]

I removed the metal mesh from the front of the case, seemed to make it quieter. Just a thought to help with noise

[cliffybigreddog]

I suppose this will all become clear when my ordered case arrives , but do the two orange fans (or three in the full-sized case) each take their own molex connector? so you both have had to swap out the wires to take them down to 5v? Might spend a couple of quid on fan adjuster with a PCI slot control, but that could be OTT....

As i've been researching low power quiet (but affordable) PSUs for this thing, it would be a shame to ruin the silence with loud stock fans!

[edited] OK - so the large case has dual rear 60mm fans which would be noisy anyway and more so at 12v! But the slim case has two forward 80mm fans - molex or 3-pin motherboard? Don't suppose those could be replaced with mobo controlled fans... how many headers on my mobo... must check...

[x1nick]

Each fan has a molex connector, I cut mine off and wired them to the headers on the motherboard in the end.

I think for a half decent quiet psu you will be looking at around £50 mark.

Atleast thats what I would pay.

Mine was £35 but then add the fan £14.99 it would have been cheaper to buy a better one in the first place, although I already had the fan, so didnt make much difference to me.

[cliffybigreddog]

well got the case and bits and am very impressed by the build quality generally. It will look great under the TV. I didn't expect it to be so heavy! slightly concerned by the small black plastic clip hinge that holds up the access to bays door, but i guess i shouldn't have to open this too often.

i bought an mATX board and the slots seem to line up, but am not sure why thermaltake recommend you buy 2 riser extensions with an mATX board (extension kit). Surely if the riser fits correctly in the PCIe and clips into the strut then any PCI cards will line up with the expansion slots? As I don't have my tuner card yet, I can't test this, but can't see why I would need these...

will spend the weekend wiring it all up. thanks for the help in this thread to get me this far.

[cliffybigreddog]

Hi,

So got it all wired up and am going to tryout win7 RC along with the imon software. Finally figured out how to get my SATA HD running in ADHI mode on one set of ports, while the other set runs the DVD in legacy IDE mode. I'm liking the black remote control. The mATX fits perfectly and I didn't need the riser extension set. I don't think I could get 3 cards in there, but 1 PCIe and 1 PCI is enough for an HTPC setup.

One thing that is really doing my head in is the airflow and fan situation. My PSU fan seems really nice and quiet and that sucks down from the top and blows out the back - that's a closed loop. The stock AMD CPU fan is also very quiet (though i haven't put it computer under load yet!) and also pulls air down from above and disperses it through the heatsink. The two orange fans are the loudest and I need to do something about them - either replace or rewire to run slower. But in examining them, I notice they both pull air into the case. So there are three fans pulling air in to the motherboard area and nowhere for the hot air to go except the (passive) vents at the back of the CPU - seems badly designed.

So i'm thinking of reversing the left-side HD fan as the front fan pulls air upwards from under the VDU, so reversing that would just create noise. It's also irritating that the orange fans run off molex adapaters rather than 3-pin cpu fans otherwise i could control their speed through the bios.

will experiment more and see....

[x1nick]

Hi

I only have one additional fan at the front blowing air in and this is more than sufficient. Even with 24hr 100% cpu load and I have noise foam installed so this traps heat in.

Best bet is to try find where the heat builds up and position a fan to move the air across it.

I would upgrade fans now while building it, saves messing around later on (if funds allow that is)