24 replies to this topic

[Joe_Miner]

Parts List:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128503
Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32120 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115077
Intel XMP certified, designed for Intel P67 & Z68 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231428 (Got 2 for 16GB total)
SeaSonic X series SS-400FL Active PFC F3 400W ATX12V Fanless 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817151097
Very low power consumption when active at 0.38 watts: Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) http://www.newegg.co...=82E16820167042
Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136792
Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16823109079
LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827106348
SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / 0.8mm SECC Grandia Series GD05B micro-ATX / Mini-DTX / Mini-ITX MB, 1x5.25", 2x3.5"+1x2.5"HDD or 1x3.5"+2x2.5"HDD, 3x120mm golf bladed fan, 11" expansion card capable HTPC Casehttp://www.newegg.co...N82E16811163166
USB 3.0 Module Part Number: 14G000516101 http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3536


Other Parts that were later incorporated into the setup:

Rosewill WMC Remote control/Rcvr RRC-127 for Win 7 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16880101003

HDHomeRun DUAL - High Definition Digital TV Tuner (Network Attached) HDHR3-US (Black) by SiliconDust http://www.newegg.co...N82E16815345007

References that I used:
Gigabyte Manual http://download.giga...-response_e.pdf
Silverstone Manual http://www.silversto...GD05-Manual.pdf
Silverstone write-up link from Diehard http://legitreviews....article/1348/1/
Arctic Silver Manual for i3 Sandy Bridge http://www.arcticsil...l_line_v1.1.pdf
One issue that raised was how to keep the SSD free of “extra” files etc. – I’d be very curious how others do this – what I ended up doing involved some registry manipulation which I don’t see as an elegant solution but it seemed to work for now http://www.overclock...-secondary.html

Overall, I can’t say enough good thing about this MB and equipment combination. I’ve had it running almost continuously since Friday, September 23^rd.

The i3-2120 runs very cool!

At idle I saw temps down to 30c and even after running Prime 95 for several hours I never saw temps get over 63c. The SeaSonic 400 ran very cool which I think is readily apparent by checking the WD_FAEX temps never going over 38c even though the FAEX is mounted directly over the SeaSonic 400.



Windows Performance Index:



SSD Performance Index:



WD 2TB FAEX Black Performance Index:



I’m still running this through it’s paces but have been very encouraged (and amazed) by it’s performance so far and it’s apparent rock stability.
I’ve loaded XP in a Windows Virtual Machine and have loaded Oracle Virtual Machine Box. In VM_Box I’ve loaded and am currently running test set-ups of WHS-V1, WHS 2011, SBS-e 2011. Right now I’m “playing” with moving VM’s between my main Client and the HTPC platform. Seems to work.
Here are some pictures of my build: (well it seemed like a good idea to post some pictures )




Final Thoughts:

This has been a truly trouble free build – I really like this MB and the i3-2120. Very impressive!

Performance wise – I haven’t noticed any problems even when running 3 virtual machines while WMC is recording and a video is playing (obviously I'm not pushing it hard enough). I still continue to push the configuration but I like the idea of having a HTPC that also functions as a VM test bed that with its low power consumption I have no issues with leaving it on 24/7.

Edited by Joe_Miner, 10 October 2011 - 12:11 PM.

[Joe_Miner]

Actually, I think I'm having more trouble posting about the HTPC than the build itself -- here are the pictures (or some of them): OK -- the board will not take so we just have to imagine -- it's a really amazing build and a true work of art.....

Edited by Joe_Miner, 10 October 2011 - 12:12 PM.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

How do you like the remote? Does it have a back button that will take you from the current channel to the one you were on last?

[pcdoc]

Looks like a nice HTPC. My experience with I3-2100 have been very good and is a great processor for HTPC as well as servers. I am sure you will be very happy with especially as an HTPC. If you want to post pictures, the easiest way for now is use something like imageshack post the pictures there and paste the link in the board and they will show up. Good luck with your HTPC.

[ikon]

Congrats. Nice to see people excited by their creations. Good job I-gor!

[Joe_Miner]

More Pictures:

The i3-2120 and the heat sink prepared per AS instructions -- note heat sink is "tinted" per AS

[Joe_Miner]

How do you like the remote? Does it have a back button that will take you from the current channel to the one you were on last?

I like it, but my intention is to use the infrared USB to program into my Harmony. The remote does work well but I need to program the Harmony because my wife dislikes multiple remotes, she really dislikes multiple remotes, she's not really happy about multiple remotes, did I say she doesn't like multiple remotes

[Joe_Miner]

Looks like a nice HTPC. My experience with I3-2100 have been very good and is a great processor for HTPC as well as servers. I am sure you will be very happy with especially as an HTPC. If you want to post pictures, the easiest way for now is use something like imageshack post the pictures there and paste the link in the board and they will show up. Good luck with your HTPC.

I was/am using Photobucket. Don't know the issue but the Forum was giving me all kinds of errors -- then I come back and I can post the pictures with no problem -- sunspots?

I'm really liking the i3-2120.

Congrats. Nice to see people excited by their creations. Good job I-gor!

Thanks! It's aliveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[jmwills]

That's a great little case. I love mine. Just make sure you get a modular power supply. Cable routing can get difficult otherwise.

[ikon]

I've never seen those Arctic Silver instructions before. Thanks a bunch - they should make mounting CPU's easier in the future.

BTW, I know your temps are pretty good already, but I'll bet if you went with an AS cooler for you CPU you'd get even cooler, specially under load.

[Joe_Miner]

That's a great little case. I love mine. Just make sure you get a modular power supply. Cable routing can get difficult otherwise.

Very good point -- the SS-400SL was great in that regard and it has been really rock solid though for this configuration though the 400W is overkill.

[pcdoc]

Nice build and glad you are happy with it. Hard to go wrong with Silverstone for HTPC.

[Joe_Miner]

Recent developments – after moving my new HTPC build [GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 (Rev. 1.0)] to the Family Room and attaching to my Samsung 850…

I started getting flashes of “snowy” screens when I would do display switching – the Samsung 850 has 4 HDMI ports. This would occur whenever I switched from the HDMI input that the Z68MA was plugged into to another HDMI input (such as my Comcast cable box on #1 or my Play Station 3 on #3) and back to HDMI the Z68MA was plugged into (I tried it in #2 and #4 with the same effect -- #2 was where my Acer AR3610 had been plugged in for the last 2 years trouble free and #4 is the port I use to plug in my Acer 1810T when I want to play content or view power points from my laptop – also Trouble free). I would also get “snowy” screens when I did a restart on the Z68MA – sometimes In the BIOS post and sometimes in the OS boot.

I then updated all of my drivers to the latest from Gigabytes board. That helped some. Then I flashed the latest BIOS (F12) which helped a LOT – my original BIOS had been F2. The Z68MA was a lot more stable but I was still getting the “snowy screens” sometimes during display switches (via my Harmony One) or about 1 out of 7 restarts – this was severely impacting the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).

I next completely rebuilt the my setup on the SSD and HD by erasing everything and reinstalling the OS with only the bare minimum in Drivers just in case some of the fooling around I had been doing before in VM’s etc. had messed up my drivers or OS. I also suspected that some of my not-so-graceful crashes of my VM’s when my OS had installed new updates and had done a reboot may have caused me problems.

The Z68MA does seem even more stable after this rebuild but I still get the “snowy” screens which is killing my WAF rating.

My latest “snow” was when installing Adobe Flash last night – when the screen flashed to display the Administrator screen for me to OK the installation my Samsung went to Snow – I did a power on/off on the Samsung and got my desktop back and was able to finish the install and even watch several TV shows off the internet without further incident.

I’m beyond the point of believing this was a Driver or BIOS issue and suspect it is a HW issue – especially since my Board is Rev 1.0 and Rev 1.3 is out there. I’ve been in contact with Gigabyte throughout this saga so we’ll see what they say/do.

[ikon]

It's sad when we're let down by the things we love

[no-control]

Have you tried updating the firmware on the TV? Swapped out HDMI cables?

Edited by no-control, 03 November 2011 - 10:15 AM.

[Joe_Miner]

Have you tried updating the firmware on the TV? Swapped out HDMI cables?

Very good points.
The HDMI cable being bad was my first thought -- especially since it was a new purchase for this build. I tried 4 other calbes that I knew were working with the same impact.
It seemed pretty obvious that since the issue would even occur at OS boot and BIOS Post that it wasn't a driver issue but either a HW issue on the Samsung or the MB. I'm still pursuing the Samsung firmware possibility.

Though, something interesting happened yesterday. While reviewing the Intel board for similar issues with HD2000 I found a lot of cases where problems occured due to grounds on the MB -- I don't know why I did it but just for grins I unplugged the HDMI connector on the back of the HTPC (after powering it off) and gave the entire back a good shot of compressed air -- especially into the HDMI port. I plugged the HDMI cable back in and powered up and have yet to experience a snowy screen! Is it possible that some foreign material was causing an intermitent ground within the connector?

I'm not sure if this is fixed yet but I certainly have some more testing to do this weekend. (OK, I know I've listened to way too many BYOB podcasts when I could hear PCDoc say "that's interesting!?!" last night after spraying compressed air across the back of the HTPC and getting no snowy screens in my subsequent tests )

[no-control]

Its quite possible I store all my spare HDMI with plastic covers. I've had grounding issues with my receiver where the screen would flash on and off intermittently for no apparent reason.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

Very good points.
The HDMI cable being bad was my first thought -- especially since it was a new purchase for this build. I tried 4 other calbes that I knew were working with the same impact.
It seemed pretty obvious that since the issue would even occur at OS boot and BIOS Post that it wasn't a driver issue but either a HW issue on the Samsung or the MB. I'm still pursuing the Samsung firmware possibility.

Though, something interesting happened yesterday. While reviewing the Intel board for similar issues with HD2000 I found a lot of cases where problems occured due to grounds on the MB -- I don't know why I did it but just for grins I unplugged the HDMI connector on the back of the HTPC (after powering it off) and gave the entire back a good shot of compressed air -- especially into the HDMI port. I plugged the HDMI cable back in and powered up and have yet to experience a snowy screen! Is it possible that some foreign material was causing an intermitent ground within the connector?

I'm not sure if this is fixed yet but I certainly have some more testing to do this weekend. (OK, I know I've listened to way too many BYOB podcasts when I could hear PCDoc say "that's interesting!?!" last night after spraying compressed air across the back of the HTPC and getting no snowy screens in my subsequent tests )

Well, hopefully that resolves your problem. But isn't it amazing with all of the technology that exists today, something that has been around since the beginning of time can still cause such problems.

[Joe_Miner]

Well, hopefully that resolves your problem. But isn't it amazing with all of the technology that exists today, something that has been around since the beginning of time can still cause such problems.

We'll see. I'm cautiously optmistic at the moment.

I should of thought of a possible intermitent ground before -- grounding issues are the root of many problems. Though blasting the back of my build with compressed air is more of a SWAG than anything based on sound technical judgement.

On the plus side -- I've been able to meet many nice people at Gigabyte, Intel, and Samsung.

[pcdoc]

There are some issues with HDMI hand shaking on many boards but most of the time is boils down to the TV/receiver and your HTPC. I found that running my HDMI via a remote based HDMI switch or an HDMI receiver has always worked for me and others. You might try a switch as a way to at least trouble shoot.