HTPC-gaming rig planning stages

[Thor.]

Hello i have been planning this for a long time now since the beginning of this week mostly, i was thinking of building a HTPC-gaming rig to cut down the noise and space fro my office isn't all that big considering.

 

i would like some advice and refine my option before i start buying the small thing since mini atx cases are not all that expensive right now. i have a idea what to expect and mostly having a single graphics card and sound card mobo combo. Which makes it a tad more difficult to do since they are considerably smaller than a Antec 1200 :D

 

Here is my goal in mind, but with a gtx780ti and a creative sound card.

 

Any personal advice would be great before i start the first step into the HTPC gaming world. My goal is to manage to fit it into my glass console table that can fit a pioneer hd receiver no problem, tons of space.

 

Any case or motherboard recommendations would be great, also my other goal is to cut down the noise factor by 15%. Might use the same noise cancelling foam mentioned in that video.

 

Sleek, compact, small-easy to move around htpc-gaming rig. Thats what is my goal is for the future.

I went with the the ti because right now its considered one of most powerful single card solutions.

My current specs are as follows

Current specs

Windows 7 Pro OEM 64bit
Linux Cinnamon 64bit
Amd 8350 8 core cpu 4.30GHZ

Corsair water cooling h80 heatsink and radiator (:

2 gigabyte 7950's
8 GB patriot Extreme ram Intel 1860mhz

Asus Sabertooth 990fx v1 sli crossfire

psu Antec 1000 watt

Primary HD "main" Crucial m500 480gb ssd (:
secondary Momentus ssd hybrid 500gb
third Seagate 720gb 7200rpm barracuda HD
fourth 120gb ssd OCZ first gen ssd

close to 1.8 terabytes of storage.

it would be great if you guys can help me cut down on the price, I'm hoping my Asus sabertooth would fit in a mini atx case. I'm also considering going straight ssd and use a external 2tb for storage mostly tucked away inside the console table.

I might need to get a new psu though, my antec has out flowing air intakes at the top. So that can be a problem.

Edited December 4, 2013 by Thor.

[ermacos]

this guy loves to show his stuff, even the cauch... hehe

 

I just got my 780 and I am really happy with it, it also got amazing asic...88.8

 

The Ti is a bit expensive... In the other hand, I dont know what size or shape you wish for it... here is a nice one

 

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=291&area=usa

 

It takes ALL gpu size's, even 7990 and its mini ATX.

 

And this one, is sooo cute... Bitfenix, also can get up to 32cm of gpu!

 

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/prodigy/

 

there is also this one by fractal disign

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-304-black

 

it can get up to 12' gpu... 31cm.

Edited December 4, 2013 by ermacos

[Thor.]

I like the bitfenix, it has a nifty handle on the back sides, thanks for the suggestions.

 

 

Now i need suggestions for a good sli board, or both. unfortunately my full atx mobo won't fit in there, so i would have to get two things.

 

Though the silverstone model does support standard atx motherboards around 12 inches.

 

http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=usa&tid=wh11_008#4

 

reading the specifications of my Mobo, I'm hoping it would fit in there.

 

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_990FX/#specifications

 

I like the silverstone mobo though, looks like it might let me use the Asus sabertooth

Standard ATX specifies length to be 12 inches with width varying from 6.7 to 9.6 inches.

Maximum number of expansion slots is seven (7)

Up to ten (10) mounting holes are available, although four of them are optional (circled in red)

-----

and the Asus sabertooth size.

ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

Edited December 5, 2013 by Thor.

[hoofhearted4]

if i were building one, id go for the Node. i have a Fractal Case, and no complaints, so id deff buy more products from them.

[Thor.]

But do they support 12 inch mobo's is the question, i really don't want to forgo my quad sli-crossfire motherboard.

 

I'm trying to save money here :smile:

 

The more crazy you want to go the more expensive they are, but in my opinion sometimes a expensive mobo can go a long way.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-p9x79ws

 

thats a intel board so the price may be different with amd, On the hunt. Gives you a good idea where i am heading though.

If anyone can help me find one similar to that with a socket am3+ i would be happy-happy :D.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Thor.

[Werne]

Thor - No mATX case supports a standard ATX motherboard - period. If you want the Sabertooth, use an ATX tower, even an ATX midi tower would fit the Sabertooth just about snuggly.

 

If you want mATX form factor, get Intel, AM3+ has some mATX boards but those can just barely house an FX 8320 without turbo, 8350 is iffy, turbo is out of the question, they are not designed for 125W CPUs (no VRM heatsinks, 4+1 power phase). If you really want to keep the 8350, the only mATX mobo I can think of being able to handle it is Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 - 4+1 power phase but it has VRM heatsinks, I'd still recommend no turbo (plus, the mobo has no SATA III, SLI/CF, DDR3-1600/1866 RAM, EFI, etc).

 

Another thing to mention, you'll likely have to get rid of H100i, there's a large chance that it won't fit into a mATX case. mATX systems usually use 1x120mm liquid or air coolers, your choice depends on the case size and mounts.

 

By the way, that Fractal Designed linked there and the BitFenix are both mini-ITX, not micro-ATX, they can't fit a micro-ATX motherboard.

[Thor.]

Hmm after looking into it further maybe a smaller mid size case will do, i need to tone it down a notch. Any suggestions, it'll certainly save me the hassle :mellow:

 

hmm what about this case, any feedback would be great. :thumbsup:

 

Its a sexy looking case, supports everything. I think i am sold with that case, it'll fit under that console table no problem.

 

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=057564

It supports up to 288mm video cards, which is the max length they get like the gtx780ti.

I'm going to need a hdmi auto switcher to switch back and forth from monitor to tv.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Thor.

[Werne]

Check which size ATX mobo will go in there, there are slimmer and wider ATX motherboards. My GA-970A-UD3 is 30cm long and 24.4cm wide, your Sabertooth is the same size, so it's not a small mobo. That Fractal is 34cm deep so I believe the Sabertooth should fit, but I'm not sure, do check the size of the motherboard mount space.

 

Regarding the card, it would have 28mm of clearance behind the card without storage drives, once the drives are in place you have the SATA and power cables to account for as well. Your best bet would be using 2.5" HDDs and SSDs, they are small and quiet so they may fit inside without cables obstructing the card space and you get silence too.

 

By the way, if you intend to use hard drives in that case, I have a trick to keep them dead silent. It's something I picked up from Antec Solo - it's HDD suspension system. You can use two industrial o-rings (or you can cut a quality bicycle tire for that) stretched over the 3.5" bay for suspending 2.5" HDDs (or stretched over 5.25" compartment for 3.5" HDDs), that way you get no vibration and head movement noise (during seek time) transferred to the case, effectively making the drives quiet (even a WD Black becomes inaudible). It reduces the build's price significantly since you don't have to use SSDs for silence, I've been doing that in every machine I build as of lately, people are even willing to pay extra for that.

 

Another thing to consider is getting fans with thermistors (like Arctic Cooling F9 Pro TC, where TC stands for Thermal Control), those are dead-quiet when your PC is idle or doing light tasks, and they rev up when you need them to. I have 2x120mm 2000RPM Scythe SlipStream with a thermal control circuit (I built the circuit myself) which spin at 500RPM when my PC is not doing anything, and at 2000RPM when it's under load, thermistor from the circuit is shoved into the VRM heatsink (since those two fans are for keeping the CPU cool). I have another two Arctic Cooling F9 Pro TC fans that blow over my extension card compartment, those spin at 300-350RPM when the card is idle and at 2000RPM when the card is stressed, thermistors are on the card's heatsink. I don't use fancy cases though, mine's a Chieftec Aegis CH-05B-B, so I can sacrifice fan speed since I have good airflow through the mesh side-panel/front-panel and plenty of space.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Werne

[Thor.]

I have two 2.5 laptop size hd's, one a momentus hybrid and the other is a crucial m500. So they are literally the same size anyways,

My end goal is to make one of the quietest gaming-media centre pc ever :D

Edited December 5, 2013 by Thor.

[Werne]

My end goal is to make one of the quietest gaming-media centre pc ever :D

This one is much quieter. :tongue:

Edited December 5, 2013 by Werne