FAO spartacus93 RE your HTPC setup.....

SouperComputer

Macros42 posted this and was looking for some info on your setup, I moved it from the "post your setup" thread:

spartacus93 wrote: »

Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
Antec Fusion 430 Silver, 430w PSU, HTPC,

Hope you don't mind me bumping an old post but this was the one that led me to my purchase. I bought these two parts also. I've two problems with the case - 1 is fixable but the other I'm not sure. Maybe you can help.

First problem is the sata power cable - there's only 1 with two connectors. Unfortunately I bought a sata hard drive and a sata dvd drive - no way to stretch to power both. So I'll have to buy a Molex to sata adapter. Pain in the ass but not unsurmountable. My other option is to take the IDE dvd writer from my gaming pc and use that. I'd hoped to avoid a big ribbon cable tho.

Other problem is bigger and I'd love to know how you got around it. The sata cables that came with the mobo just don't fit. The ports are right at the edge of the board and the cables go in parallel to the board - sticking out from the board. When I put in a straight connector they're pressed right up against the hdd section. So much so that I can't even get in all the motherboard screws (4 will go in). They also cause the mobo to be pressed up against the back of the box too so I can't get in a PCI card! The angled cable that came with it is angled downwards so the board won't go down fully in the case either. Did you buy other sata cables that fit better or did you get them to fit anyway?

Thanks,

Orion

Apologies for that - I used spartacus93's profile to find the post - didn't realise it was a sticky.

SouperComputer

Macros42 wrote: »

Apologies for that - I used spartacus93's profile to find the post - didn't realise it was a sticky.

No apology needed. It wasnt a sticky when you posted, but since it was bumped it reminded me to sticify it. Then I just copied your text into a new post.

So really, you did us all a favour

mediacentre.ie

SouperComputer wrote: »

First problem is the sata power cable - there's only 1 with two connectors. Unfortunately I bought a sata hard drive and a sata dvd drive - no way to stretch to power both. So I'll have to buy a Molex to sata adapter. Pain in the ass but not unsurmountable. My other option is to take the IDE dvd writer from my gaming pc and use that. I'd hoped to avoid a big ribbon cable tho. [\quote]

I had 3 sata devices as well but had a spare molex adapter. it is the only way to fix the issue.

Other problem is bigger and I'd love to know how you got around it. The sata cables that came with the mobo just don't fit. The ports are right at the edge of the board and the cables go in parallel to the board - sticking out from the board. When I put in a straight connector they're pressed right up against the hdd section. So much so that I can't even get in all the motherboard screws (4 will go in). They also cause the mobo to be pressed up against the back of the box too so I can't get in a PCI card! The angled cable that came with it is angled downward so the board won't go down fully in the case either. Did you buy other sata cables that fit better or did you get them to fit anyway?

Thanks,

I have this issue with EVGA mobos. the sata connectors are parallel. I have to connect them before the mobo goes in and then position the board correctly. It is very tricky and tight but It doesn't stop me from inserting PCI devices. sometimes the metal brackets on the PCI devices have to be bent slightly at the bottom for me to fit them. this is more to do with the case than the mobo as it had small slots for them to slide into. I had to do this with a recent 9600gt fresh out of the box.

you can't even use the sata cable that turn at a 90 degree angle as you can only fit two as they will block the other two. the only way it to make them fit.

you might be able to find some sata Cable's that have slightly smaller connectors but this would be very hard to find and measure.

Orion

I'll only need to - no other sata devices will be going into this box. The disk is only 160Gb - I'll be sharing my media over NFS from a fileserver elsewhere in the house. I'm heading to Maplin at lunch to see if I can get a right-angle SATA cable that angles upwards instead of downwards. Another option is to run the cable under the mobo - that might work too.

Orion

I picked up two sata cables in Maplin. They're right-angled at both ends and each end is keyed differently (left handed and right handed for lack of a better term). And they're quite short too. So hopefully they'll do the trick. I'll find out tomorrow night when I get to try them.

Orion

Just an update - those cables were perfect. All up and running. Have Mythbuntu installed and done some basic testing with some avis and mkvs. Haven't hooked it up to the tv or digibox yet - maybe tomorrow night

spartacus93

Hey buddy. Only saw this thread now. Glad you got sorted ok. Yeah it is very very tight, especially with that motherboard. I actually had some of them right angled cables lying around, no idea where i picked them up. I don't have that case anymore. My current build is in a much bigger case. I'm waiting delievery of another Fusion case, it's the best one i've ever used...

I should be on this forum more now so gimme a shout if you need a hand with anything else. Hooking up the digibox shouldn't be too much hassle. You may need to tweak the guide a bit but apart from that it should be straightforward enough. Likewise if you have a LCD just run a HDMI cable and you'll be up and running in minutes.

Brian

Orion

Thanks. I've an LCD TV which I'll be hooking it up to with HDMI. atm it's just on an old CRT monitor for software installation and configuration. Should get it hooked up to the tv this weekend.