Silverstone Sg01

Joe_Soap

I've decided to try and build my own HTPC for mostly media viewing/listening. Unfortunately the majority of the HPTC cases are too deep (more than 38 cm) to fit nicely into my unit under the TV so I've decided to go with the SILVERSTONE SG01 case to sit beside the TV. I understand that this takes a mATX mobo but I'm a bit lost as to what other components would fit nicely into this case. Anyone got any recommendations?
Cheers

8T8

I own one which is my HTPC so any questions fire away.

The case can handle a wide variety of components;
mATX motherboards
Any standard issue PSU
Graphics card single or dual slot
2 5.25" bays
2 3.5" bays

As for what to put in it well how about;
mATX P956 from MSI - nice thing about this is the SATA ports don't get in the way of the graphics card even the long ones.

A Core 2 Duo E4300 or E4400 - as the CPU should handle everything.

An ATI Radeon 2400 or 2600 GPU - not out yet but soon, offers UVD for full decode of HD-DVD/Blu-ray + AVIVO for DVD decoders, passive cooling, HDMI output.

RAM any DDR-2 1GB or 2GB is more than enough.

DVDRW Samsung SATA - get one of these as it's SATA cable management will be a lot easier without IDE cables getting in the way. It's a quiet drive too.

As for power supplies Tagan or Seasonic - both high quality and quiet in operation.

CPU cooler one of these Zalman 7700 or a 8000 - the 7700 should fit I just never installed one in mine as I had an 8000 spare. This is essential as you can dial down the fan speed for the cooler, as the stock one is variable in speed but the Zalman will be quiet(er) at all times.

Joe_Soap

Great info 8T8, much appreciated!!

Failing getting my hands on an ATI 2400 or 2600, which other GPU would you recommend?

8T8

This 8500GT should be more than enough it doesn't have HDCP or native HDMI support but HDCP is not a problem with AnyDVD HD.

You'd be better of waiting a few more days for the 2400 or 2600 cards anyway as they are much more suited to HTPC's.

Joe_Soap

Grand, I'll hold on for the cards so.
Cheers 8T8!

Joe_Soap

Just looking pictures of the ATI Radeon 2400 and 2600.

Where is the HDMI connection?

8T8

They come with a special adapter that converts the DVI into HDMI plus they have a built in digital sound chip in the GPU so no need to re-route the audio.

Off the shelf DVI-HDMI converters will work but wont enable the audio you need the one that comes with it.

{Note that UVD is not working at 100% in the latest drivers but that is just a bug as earlier drivers had CPU usage at 5% with HD-DVD's on a AMD Sempron CPU.}

Joe_Soap

Ahh I see.

I see dabs will have the 2400 and 2600 in a few days.

mathias

Actually see the note in the link for the cards above ,

2 The ATI Radeon HD 2400, ATI Radeon HD 2600, and ATI Radeon HD 2900 have full support for HDMI and HDCP (including HDCP keys) built into the processor itself; availability in consumer products is determined by the specific solution provider (board partner, PC manufacturer or notebook vendor). The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2300 can support HDCP and HDMI with additional components. Purchasers of ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2300 products manufactured by third parties should inquire whether the manufacturer has enabled HDMI and/or HDCP in such product.

Source: AMD

It will depend on the Card supplier whether or not the HDMI socket will be on the board , so check before you buy , all the cards have the HW support , but not all will have the socket, if it is on the board its usually slightly more expensive and on the left or right side. There would be way to many pins/lines to bring out on an adaptor.

Its usually component that comes out on the S video like adaptor , not HDMI ( or any flavour of digital ).

DVI and HDMI are pin for pin compatible but DVI is just missing the audio pins, so a DVI to HDMI cable is all thats needed.

8T8

Practically all 2600 cards should come with the HDMI adapter & most 2400 cards should from what I hear.

Talisman

As a matter of interest where did you buy the case? I'm looking to get rid of my Shuttle box and transfer the contents to something which can be upgraded and the black Silverstone Sugo SG01 looks the part.

L31mr0d

I too had the same issue when I was building a HTPC for my parents. I considered the SG01, but I eventually settled on the Antec NSK1300 as it had a perfect depth and all round better look imo. I've listed the dimensional differences between these 2 cases below

Antec NSk1300: 201mm (H) x 335mm (D) x 269mm (W)
Silverstone SG01: 216 mm (H) x 393 mm (D) x 263 mm (W)

Joe_Soap

Talisman wrote:

As a matter of interest where did you buy the case? I'm looking to get rid of my Shuttle box and transfer the contents to something which can be upgraded and the black Silverstone Sugo SG01 looks the part.

I haven't had the time to get around to buying the components and case cos I'm up to my tonsils in works. Hopefully, I'll have time in a few weeks.

Talisman

I've ordered the barebones from Afterhours.co.uk

SilverStone Nitrogon NT06-Lite CPU Cooler
SilverStone Element ST50EFPlus 500W Short Cable Edition PSU
SilverStone Sugo SG02 Acrylic Gloss Black

I chose the SG02 because I think it looks better with the front ports hidden and it's also about 15STG cheaper than the SG01. Shipping was 27STG plus VAT. The other UK stockist that would ship to Ireland is Scan but their shipping charge of 67STG plus VAT is complete robbery.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the other components!

Samsung SH-D163A 16X DVD-Rom SATA Black
Samsung SH-S203 S-ATA 20x20 Dual Layer DVD-Rewritable Black
ASRock 939NF6G-VSTA GeForce 6100 (Socket 939) PCI-E mATX Motherboard
XFX nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB DDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out (PCI-E)

I really went overboard on the graphics card, it had been my intention to get the 8500/8600 but I kept choosing the next card up because it was only a few pound more and before I knew it I had reasoned that the 30 pound hike from the 8600GTS to the 8800GTS was well worth it if I ever use the system for gaming.

The RAM, CPU and Hard Drive are being salvaged from the current system.

L31mr0d

what cpu are you putting that system?

Talisman

CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+
RAM: 2Gb DDR PC3200 Dual Channel OCZ Performance Kit
Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint SP2504C 250GB SATA2

youcancallmeal

Talisman wrote:

I've ordered the barebones from Afterhours.co.uk

SilverStone Nitrogon NT06-Lite CPU Cooler
SilverStone Element ST50EFPlus 500W Short Cable Edition PSU
SilverStone Sugo SG02 Acrylic Gloss Black

I chose the SG02 because I think it looks better with the front ports hidden and it's also about 15STG cheaper than the SG01. Shipping was 27STG plus VAT. The other UK stockist that would ship to Ireland is Scan but their shipping charge of 67STG plus VAT is complete robbery.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the other components!

Samsung SH-D163A 16X DVD-Rom SATA Black
Samsung SH-S203 S-ATA 20x20 Dual Layer DVD-Rewritable Black
ASRock 939NF6G-VSTA GeForce 6100 (Socket 939) PCI-E mATX Motherboard
XFX nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB DDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out (PCI-E)

I really went overboard on the graphics card, it had been my intention to get the 8500/8600 but I kept choosing the next card up because it was only a few pound more and before I knew it I had reasoned that the 30 pound hike from the 8600GTS to the 8800GTS was well worth it if I ever use the system for gaming.

The RAM, CPU and Hard Drive are being salvaged from the current system.

Nice spec, I'm going to building pretty much the same spec htpc as this with my left over s939 components. Let me know how the m/b works out, I'll be getting the same one.

Considering how many people I know who are doing the same kind of thing, turning s939 based PC's into htpc's after upgrading, its strange that s939 micro ATX boards are so hard to come by?

Joe_Soap

8T8 wrote:

Practically all 2600 cards should come with the HDMI adapter & most 2400 cards should from what I hear.

Just opened the box for the Sapphire HD 2600 pro and no DVI - HDMI adapter. :mad:

Got it from dabs.ie. Did anyone else buy this card and get the adapter?

8T8

Bugger, I checked over Sapphires products on Dabs and only the XT comes with the HDMI adapter the Pro's don't so the 2400XT and 2600XT are the ones that have it.

However on Komplett the Club3D 2600Pro comes with HDMI.

You could return it but if you decide to keep it at worst all you lose is the audio functionality the card will work with any regular DVI->HDMI cable.

Joe_Soap

I called Sapphire's Tech Support number and they told me that I can get the adapter from here. Just ordered one, so fingers crossed it works.

Talisman

youcancallme>al wrote:

Nice spec, I'm going to building pretty much the same spec htpc as this with my left over s939 components. Let me know how the m/b works out, I'll be getting the same one.

There were a few issues with Afterhours.co.uk, namely they repeatedly told me that the order was ready to ship and then it didn't for whatever reason so I cancelled the order from them last week and placed the order with Scan on Friday when they got the NT06-Lite CPU Cooler in to stock. I ended up paying £26 for shipping which is a massive discount on the £67 + VAT I was quoted a month ago.

The SilverStone components arrived yesterday evening so I assembled the system in the wee small hours last night after the little people had gone to bed. Very impressed with the case, it's somewhat larger than the shuttle but that's a good thing. The installation instructions are a breeze to follow unlike the instructions for the NT06-Lite CPU Cooler.

I would certainly recommend getting a short cable PSU if you intend to put two optical drives and two hard drives in the case as there won't be much room for the excess lengths of cable. The ATX12V cable in particular will be an issue given the power connector location on the motherboard.

The fan from the 8800 GTS practically sits on top of the SATA3 and SATA4 motherboard connectors so I had to do a fair bit of wiggling to plug in the cables as I had already fitted the graphics card.

I have to tidy up the spaghetti cables with a few tie-wraps and then I'll be ready to start the OS install.

Joe_Soap

I'm now looking for a TV card to record off a Sky STB. Will a standard card fit the SG02 (went for the SG02 instead of the SG01) or does it need to be a low-profile card like this one?

Talisman

A full PCI card will fit in the case without any problems.

Joe_Soap

Finally got around to building my HTPC at the weekend. The only thing that is bothering me is the lack of smoothness of lines while watching a ripped movie or recorded tv show, and the presence of horizontal lag in areas of the screen. I'm not sure if its the graphics card or the TV. I have one of those Dell w26 HD ready TVs that were around a couple years ago, and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 pro graphics card. Maybe its the refresh rates of the TV and card that are out of sync. I put any setting I could find in the card to quality over performance. I tried setting the vertical sync on the card to "always on" but still no difference. Anyone got any experience configuring/tweaking the card to optimal settings? Any suggestions?

I have Vista Ultimate installed.