78 replies to this topic

[vinylfreak]

Ok! Here are some pictures of my HTPC upgrade adventure.



The new stuff.../ 2 Sata 6gb Crucial M4 64 GB SSDs (Raid 0)... / Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard.../ Intel 2600k SandyBridge CPU.../ SilverStone 3.5 to dual 2.5 adapter tray.


The Old Stuff




My re-purposed nMedia 8000 HTPC case



Re-purposed 8GB Corsair DDR3 Ram





My 1156 chip-set Thermal Zone CPU cooler



My Power-color HD 5570 GPU



My Fusion HDTV Gold 5 ATSC Tuner Card



My Hauppauge HVR-1600 Dual Tuner Card





My Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard




My Asus USB3 / Sata 6GB add on card (Yeah I Know its already on the MB....;-) )



My LG Super Multi Blu Blu-Ray Drive











To Be Continued..............................~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[jmwills]

Whattttttttttt? No Coke Cooler? I looked at that case for my build but the conditions in Iraq were not too desirable for it...the new build may be a different story however.

How is that card for Blu-Ray output?

[pcdoc]

Ok! Here are some pictures of my HTPC upgrade adventure.



The new stuff.../ 2 Sata 6gb Crucial M4 64 GB SSDs (Raid 0)... / Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard.../ Intel 2600k SandyBridge CPU.../ SilverStone 3.5 to dual 2.5 adapter tray.


The Old Stuff




My re-purposed nMedia 8000 HTPC case



Re-purposed 8GB Corsair DDR3 Ram





My 1156 chip-set Thermal Zone CPU cooler



My Power-color HD 5570 GPU



My Fusion HDTV Gold 5 ATSC Tuner Card



My Hauppauge HVR-1600 Dual Tuner Card





My Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard




My Asus USB3 / Sata 6GB add on card (Yeah I Know its already on the MB....;-) )



My LG Super Multi Blu Blu-Ray Drive











To Be Continued..............................~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Any reason why you used a discreet graphics card instead of the built in one?

[vinylfreak]

Any reason why you used a discreet graphics card instead of the built in one?

I wanted to start out with something I new worked in the past.
I have been using the HD 5570 for over a year with no problems.
I plan on weaning myself off of it to try the on-board graphics.
This box is my Main DVR in the house I wanted to keep the WAF high.

[vinylfreak]

Whattttttttttt? No Coke Cooler? I looked at that case for my build but the conditions in Iraq were not too desirable for it...the new build may be a different story however.

How is that card for Blu-Ray output?

Ive used the card for well over a year now. It works Great! for BluRay output.
The HD5000 series also supports passing through all the HD Audio codecs, DTS Master Audio and Dolby True HD.
It also is low power. It does not require an additional power connector.

I'm thinking if I can talk my wife into it maybe I can convert the Coke Cooler into a Server Rack.

Or..............maybe not.

[vinylfreak]

More pics from the HTPC upgrade build.




Re-used my Antec Earthwatts 650 PSU




I did change out the oem 140 rear exhaust fan with this Noctua 140. Its dead silent



The Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 MB



8GB Corsair DDR3 Ram / 2600k and Zero Therm heat-sink installed on the MB



2 Crucial M4 Sata 6 64gb SSDs mounted in SilverStone adapter



Back panel with all cards installed





To be continued ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ikon]

the case is awesome (wouldn't fit my decor, but it's still awesome) and that cooler stack is crazy

[vinylfreak]

the case is awesome (wouldn't fit my decor, but it's still awesome) and that cooler stack is crazy

Thanks!
Yeah I realize that case is not for everyone. Another one of my passions in addition to computers is collecting and restoring antique radios,phonographs and TVs. So it fits in pretty well with the rest of the stuff in our Family room.

Other than the "Cheesy" punch out expansion slot covers the n Media 8000 wooden case is constructed really well. It would blend in pretty well if you had a lot of wood in your den, family-room or home theater room.

[jmwills]

You know something................converting that type of enclosure into something like a server rack may not be that far fetched. If you could control the condensation from the actual coke cooler part you could use some of that cooling power to cool off some high powered gear.

Where is Rick Dale's phone number?

[vinylfreak]

You know something................converting that type of enclosure into something like a server rack may not be that far fetched. If you could control the condensation from the actual coke cooler part you could use some of that cooling power to cool off some high powered gear.

Where is Rick Dale's phone number?

Unfortunately that Coke cooler I have is one from the early 1940's and dose not have a compressor in it.
The Coke was chilled strictly by Ice.
I'm thinking Ice and Servers aren't gonna be a good mix.

[ikon]

Unfortunately that Coke cooler I have is one from the early 1940's and dose not have a compressor in it.
The Coke was chilled strictly by Ice.
I'm thinking Ice and Servers aren't gonna be a good mix.

Nice cooler. If it's from the 40s, isn't worth something as a collector item?

Also, I looked into the idea of using an old fridge or freezer as a cabinet for computer gear but was told by some people more knowledgeable than me that it's not a good idea; seems the cooling systems in them are not up to the job of cooling things that actively produce heat. Too bad....

[vinylfreak]

So far I'm happy.
Still planning on testing various features of the Z68 MB.

[ikon]

So far I'm happy.
Still planning on testing various features of the Z68 MB.

Pretty decent performance. And, with a simple graphics card upgrade you could get all the items into the 7.5+ range; nice to have that option if you ever feel you need it.

[vinylfreak]

Pretty decent performance. And, with a simple graphics card upgrade you could get all the items into the 7.5+ range; nice to have that option if you ever feel you need it.

Yah know, I'm really not a Gamer. My HD 5570 gives me the Full Fidelity BluRay playback I'm looking for in my Home Theater Setup.

I really don't see myself updating my GPU.

I do , however look forward to testing the SandyBridge on board graphics in the future and doing a comparison.

[dagamer34]

So... jealous. But I'm happy with my tiny new HTPC.

[pcdoc]

Excellent system and nice job on this one. Very impressive.

[vinylfreak]

OK!...............Im not proud. Can someone please explain to me how to Enable the on-board Intel Graphics on this Gigabyte MB!

I was under the impression that I could just switch the Graphics output in the Bios to on-board and switch the HDMI cable from my HD5570 Gpu to the on-board HDMI connection and I would be good to go. WRONG! I get no Video output when I do this?

I thought the whole engineering philosophy behind the Z68 Chip-set was that I had the ability to run a Stand a Lone Graphics card in concert with the on-board Graphics built into the Z68 Chip-set??? What am I missing here??? Any help would be Greatly Appreciated!!

Thanks! Vinyl

p.s. I have also totally disabled my HD 5570 card with NO success.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

Did you try removeing the card? I haven't read anything about it so it is just a suggestion if you don't get anyone responding with the answer.

[vinylfreak]

Did you try removeing the card? I haven't read anything about it so it is just a suggestion if you don't get anyone responding with the answer.

That is definitely my Next Step. I just thought that the Z68 Chip-set was engineered with both the on-board and GPU card to live in harmony. Im starting to think I was wrong. If I don't get any other suggestions.... I will be removing the card.

Thanks! Vinyl

[timekills]

It allows the offloading of the calculations that can use the Intel graphics to still function even while you have a discrete video card installed. It is not intended to allow switching between the two like some laptops do now for power savings.