Arctic White HTPC (LOG)

superneat

Hey guys, I'm going to post my build log here for my latest PC.

I'm constantly doing new builds but never done any logs as such, so I might do one this time.

I love building (who doesn't?) and taking pictures of my rigs. I always spend ages on cable management (it's a labour of love for me), touch of OCD I'd say!

Hopefully you like the build and it somehow helps others in getting ideas or info for future builds.
I always find it helpful when choosing parts, to see them in rigs and to read other peoples first hand experience with them before I splash my cash.

I will update as I go along, as I'm still waiting on parts from different e-tailors to arrive

The main use for this system will be as a home theatre and casual gaming pc for the living room.
It will be hooked up to a 42" 1080p TV and a Logitech 5.1 surround sound and I will play most games with an xbox 360 controller, except for RPG's, of course.

Windows 7 HP is the OS I'm using with XBMC as the media front end. I'll have that synced up to nearly 3TB of movie and bluray rips and Navi-X for some streaming stuff.
Controlled with a cheap VRC-1100 MCE remote.

For browsing, I'll be using my phone over wireless with RemoteDroid, it lets you use an Android device as a touch screen keyboard and mouse, it's pretty slick and best of all it's free!

THE PARTS

CASE
Bitfenix Prodigy Arctic White
My second time using this case, can't fault it, expansion galore and I love the looks.

CPU
Intel Core I3 3225
Ivy bridge dually with enough grunt for games but really low power consumption.

COOLER
Cooler Master GeminII SF524 120mm PWM
One of only a few, top down style HSF, that doesn't block the PCIe lane on the mobo.

MOTHERBOARD
ASRock Z77E-ITX
Top notch build quality, loads of bells and whistles.

PSU
be quiet! Pure Power CM BQT L8-CM 430W
Quality modular power supply.

RAM
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9
2x4GB dual channel White memory

GRAPHICS
Sapphire HD 7850 1GB Dual X
The 1GB beats the 2GB in lots of games and it was cheaper, win win.

SSD
Samsung 830 128GB
Great drive, this is my third one at this stage.

HDD
2TB + 1TB mechanical

CABLING - ALL WHITE
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved 24-Pin ATX
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved 4-Pin ATX
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved 6-Pin PCIe
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved Molex to 4 x SATA Power
1M Pulse Modding 4mm Dense Weave Cable Braid
1M Pulse Modding 6mm Dense Weave Cable Braid
600mm 6.4mm Heatshrink 2:1
600mm 12.7mm Heatshrink with 2:1

FANS
BitFenix Spectre PRO 140mm White
BitFenix Spectre PRO 230mm White

I want a mostly white theme so I will be doing some braiding of the smaller cables in the case to go with the Bitfenix prebraided cables.

I hope to update with pictures by the end of the week.

PogMoThoin

superneat wrote: »

Hey guys, I'm going to post my build log here for my latest PC.

I'm constantly doing new builds but never done any logs as such, so I might do one this time.

I love building (who doesn't?) and taking pictures of my rigs. I always spend ages on cable management (it's a labour of love for me), touch of OCD I'd say!

Hopefully you like the build and it somehow helps others in getting ideas or info for future builds.
I always find it helpful when choosing parts, to see them in rigs and to read other peoples first hand experience with them before I splash my cash.

I will update as I go along, as I'm still waiting on parts from different e-tailors to arrive

The main use for this system will be as a home theatre and casual gaming pc for the living room.
It will be hooked up to a 42" 1080p TV and a Logitech 5.1 surround sound and I will play most games with an xbox 360 controller, except for RPG's, of course.

Windows 7 HP is the OS I'm using with XBMC as the media front end. I'll have that synced up to nearly 3TB of movie and bluray rips and Navi-X for some streaming stuff.
Controlled with a cheap VRC-1100 MCE remote.

For browsing, I'll be using my phone over wireless with RemoteDroid, it lets you use an Android device as a touch screen keyboard and mouse, it's pretty slick and best of all it's free!

THE PARTS

CASE
Bitfenix Prodigy Arctic White
My second time using this case, can't fault it, expansion galore and I love the looks.

CPU
Intel Core I3 3225
Ivy bridge dually with enough grunt for games but really low power consumption.

COOLER
Cooler Master GeminII SF524 120mm PWM
One of only a few, top down style HSF, that doesn't block the PCIe lane on the mobo.

MOTHERBOARD
ASRock Z77E-ITX
Top notch build quality, loads of bells and whistles.

PSU
be quiet! Pure Power CM BQT L8-CM 430W
Quality modular power supply.

RAM
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9
2x4GB dual channel White memory

GRAPHICS
Sapphire HD 7850 1GB Dual X
The 1GB beats the 2GB in lots of games and it was cheaper, win win.

SSD
Samsung 830 128GB
Great drive, this is my third one at this stage.

HDD
2TB + 1TB mechanical

CABLING - ALL WHITE
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved 24-Pin ATX
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved 4-Pin ATX
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved 6-Pin PCIe
BitFenix Alchemy Sleeved Molex to 4 x SATA Power
1M Pulse Modding 4mm Dense Weave Cable Braid
1M Pulse Modding 6mm Dense Weave Cable Braid
600mm 6.4mm Heatshrink 2:1
600mm 12.7mm Heatshrink with 2:1

FANS
BitFenix Spectre PRO 140mm White
BitFenix Spectre PRO 230mm White

I want a mostly white theme so I will be doing some braiding of the smaller cables in the case to go with the Bitfenix prebraided cables.

I hope to update with pictures by the end of the week.

White, unusual, subbed

Andy!!

Make sure that mobo is compatible with your cooler and cpu size/placement. It might not be, for me it would have blocked a tall cooler if I had a GPU in. So I had to go with an Asus board, more expensive which was a pain but lots more features so I guess its a trade off. I know you are going with an LP cooler but that processor slot is very close to the PCIe....

U_Fig

Sounds awesome.. Personally if I was going white case I'd use blue led fans and cables but that's me.. All white seems cool too.

superneat

U_Fig wrote: »

Sounds awesome.. Personally if I was going white case I'd use blue led fans and cables but that's me.. All white seems cool too.

LED's are a no because it's a living room pc, if I were going that route, I would use white LED fans and the Bitfenix Alchemy LED strips, they look unreal.

Future additions will be a 140mm all white PWM fan replacement for the CPU cooler, 2 white PSU bay covers and if I get the time... a window mod on both sides. :cool:

superneat

Thanks Mr. delivery guy!

superneat

..Minus the a few things from specialtech, still waiting on the Pulse sleeving + heatshrink and the Alchemy sleeved sata power cables.


Looking forward to seeing what the Pulse weave is like, if it stands up in quality to the Alchemy cables.

If it doesn't, I have a basket ready on mdpc-x for the good stuff (in other words the expensive stuff).

superneat

CPU


Mobo


Cooler


HD 7850


RAM


230mm Fan


Cables


Wifi


PSU


Everything

deravarra

Looks fab! Where did you order? And if we can be so bold, how much did it cost?

I'm on the lookout for a solution to replace my media pc which is an asus nettop running atom with nvidia ion and 2 gb ram...

Andy!!

Was your prodigy in good nick when it arrived? Mine came broken, the top handle clips snapped off, really annoying. Havent got it back yet either.

superneat

Andy!! wrote: »

Was your prodigy in good nick when it arrived? Mine came broken, the top handle clips snapped off, really annoying. Havent got it back yet either.

Yours is a story known all too well, by lots of prodigy buyers my friend.
I've seen numerous cases (no pun intended) of it around the world.

This is my second one and I'm thankful to say both times they were in perfect nick.

I reckon it's the shipping companies fault when it happens, so there's nothing you can do about it really.

It happens, thankfully it can be resolved but it takes time, sometimes money and a lot of patience.

Hope you get it back soon, it's such a fun case to work with!

superneat

deravarra wrote: »

Looks fab! Where did you order? And if we can be so bold, how much did it cost?

Cheers pal!
Some parts from hardwareversand, some from pixmania, waiting on stuff from specialtech and possibly mdpc-x in the next week.

Also I want a few more bits and another 140mm fan but dunno where i'll buy those yet, wherever it ends up being the cheapest.

All in I reckon around €900. :pac:

superneat

Andy!! wrote: »

Make sure that mobo is compatible with your cooler and cpu size/placement. It might not be, for me it would have blocked a tall cooler if I had a GPU in. So I had to go with an Asus board, more expensive which was a pain but lots more features so I guess its a trade off. I know you are going with an LP cooler but that processor slot is very close to the PCIe....

I posted this in your thread

superneat wrote:

The CPU socket placement can be a killer blow for some people though.

Water cooling negates that problem, but that may not be possible if you are travelling with the system.

Air cooling will have limited options but I will run you through a few good ones.

All of the below will enable use of the PCIe slot.

I'm using the Cooler Master Geminii S524
Others include
Prolimatech Samuel 17
Noctua NH-L12
Thermalright AXP-140
Scythe Shuriken Rev. B
Xigmatek PRAETON LD964
Zalman CNPS9900 MAX

This was one area I did my research in, as I hate the sound from the stock intel cooler when it revs up, so having a CPU cooler with a 140mm fan on top was essential and should make this build super silent!

Andy!!

How can the ASRock be twice as fast with boot up... isnt SSD supposed to make things much much faster anyway? What numbers were you getting with the Asus board?

superneat

Andy!! wrote: »

How can the ASRock be twice as fast with boot up... isnt SSD supposed to make things much much faster anyway? What numbers were you getting with the Asus board?

The ASRock boots up from a cold start in 15 seconds, the ASUS does it in 25 seconds.

The difference in speed is implemented in the UEFI, when using SSD's, they both take 5 seconds to start once the windows loading screen starts.

So from power button to windows loading takes 10 seconds w/ ASRock and 20 seconds w/ ASUS.

Not a substantial difference but nonetheless, tangibly twice as fast.

If you are still stuck choosing a motherboard, which can be the hardest decision, mainly because there is mostly so much choice, then it has to come down to the one that gives you everything you need or will need in the future, in terms of Sata ports, USB ports or audio I/O.

If both your choices do the same then the cheaper has to be the option to go for.

If you can't decide between those two then have a look at the other alternatives, some aren't out yet so you might need to wait for prices.
ZOTAC
GIGABYTE
EVGA

superneat

Off today, so I thought I'd put this sytem together.
The only way to spend a Sunday really, knee deep in computer parts!

Hopefully I'll receive the rest of my sleeving tomorrow so I can really finish it off.
It will complete the look once all the cables are white.

This will be picture heavy, you have been warned! :P

Case Front

Case Back

Top/Side

First Look

Drive Bays

Disected

230mm Fan and Motherboard Backplate installed

CPU

RAM

superneat

CPU and RAM installed for testing








Testing Complete - Time to clean off the CPU -99% Isopropyl


The Cooler Master Geminii S524






The finish on the base is not too bad


Samsung 830


Alchemy Braids

superneat

The biggest issue I had was choosing a CPU Cooler for this build because I was set on the ASRock motherboard. There were a few options, and the Geminii got the nod, as I could use a 140mm fan and not block the PCIe lane, but the retention plate interferes with components on the underside of the board. There are diodes it sits on and is offput by the mSATA slot also.









The best option here was to use nylon spacers instead. The board is so small that there is no flex under the weight anyway so not having the backplate isn't a big deal.







More to come tomorrow...

superneat

Here is the Cooler installed in the case









Plenty of room for the GPU



That Cooler needs more white!









Back in the case

dwighet

Looking good mate:cool:

dwighet

Im using the same fans in my 600d but in red led...The 230 can be a bit whinney @ max rpm. I solved that by putting in a noctua resistor(i think thats what its called) to slow it down a bit..I think its running at 9 volts and no whine..

superneat

The Cooler poses one problem with this case, the exhuast fan won't fit on the inside now, so it has to be mounted outside.
I may get a slimline 120/140mm for the inside or just pop another Spectre pro 140mm on the outside. We'll see.



Handy little passthrough for the cable.



Sapphire HD 7850



Plastic off



7850 installed

superneat

dwighet wrote: »

Looking good mate

Cheers pal!

dwighet wrote:

Im using the same fans in my 600d but in red led...The 230 can be a bit whinney @ max rpm. I solved that by putting in a noctua resistor(i think thats what its called) to slow it down a bit..I think its running at 9 volts and no whine..

I know but it's so big that you wouldn't need it at max, unless you have a monsterous case. I have mine running on a 5v adapter so it's whisper quiet but still pushes quite a lot of air, I love the size of it!

superneat

Side panel on

dwighet

Dude that is so cool...I want one

superneat

Cable side











The rat's nest



No post yet today, so I'm still waiting for the Bitfenix Alchemy White Sata Power extension cable, which should clean up the rat's nest a bit.
I'm going to do the fan cables in white along with the front I/O cables, the Sata data cables and the USB 3 cable.
It will look a lot nicer when it's all white I reckon.



C'mon Mr. postman!

superneat

dwighet wrote: »

Dude that is so cool...I want one

It is ya, I think I might use this case in my next build again, usually I never use the same case twice, I always like to try out the newest ones.

The next build would have to be a watercooled beast though, dual loops for the CPU and GPU. Plenty of room in this case for rads, res and fans.

dwighet

superneat wrote: »

It is ya, I think I might use this case in my next build again, usually I never use the same case twice, I always like to try out the newest ones.

The next build would have to be a watercooled beast though, dual loops for the CPU and GPU. Plenty of room in this case for rads, res and fans.

That what I was thinking:cool:
That would be awesome..

Andy!!

Are you going to mod the case to have a plexiglass panel? Not much point in worrying about the aesthetics of the inside otherwise right?

superneat

Andy!! wrote: »

Are you going to mod the case to have a plexiglass panel? Not much point in worrying about the aesthetics of the inside otherwise right?

I will do one on the I/O side for sure, trying to find the time will be the thing.
I would only mod the GPU side if it was watercooled though, and as this is only a HTPC, that would be overkill. :P

Andy!!

superneat wrote: »

I will do one on the I/O side for sure, trying to find the time will be the thing.
I would only mod the GPU side if it was watercooled though, and as this is only a HTPC, that would be overkill. :P

Your modding the I/O side? But isnt that where youve hidden all the ugliness with the wiring etc? Also arent there SSD bays there?

superneat

It won't be ugliness when all my cabling will be white, that's the part you want to see, along with the white RAM and CPU cooler.

Doing the other side is messy unless you are watercooling. With an air cooled GPU, if you put a window there, the graphics card has nowhere to pull cold air in from, unless you put perforations in the glass/plexi. Not an easy option.

As for the SSD bays, I won't be using them, there are places all over the case to mount them, in the drive bay, on all sides of the PSU, the roof, the floor or in the OD bay.

Andy!!

Im planning on mounting mine on the door, then tearing out the ODD, flipping the flexcage up and mounting it in its place and hopefully mounting my HDD there, to improve airflow. Wondering if it would be a good idea to remove the ODD bay cover for extra ventilation and let the meshed cover keep out the dust...

Andy!!

Haha, I just tried that and it doesnt actually work, if you were wondering ;P Sucks that they put the fan so low instead if in the centre; they should have made it mountable in the centre at least!

superneat

Andy!! wrote: »

Haha, I just tried that and it doesnt actually work, if you were wondering ;P Sucks that they put the fan so low instead if in the centre; they should have made it mountable in the centre at least!

Which fan is that? The 120mm front intake? With all the holes in the front you can mount the fan in any position, doesn't need to be screwed in the intended holes, I have my 230mm fan dead center but I could lower or raise it by an inch or so using different holes in the front.

Andy!!

Yeah I ended up raising the front fan. Do HDDs or SSDs get hot at all?

superneat

Andy!! wrote: »

Yeah I ended up raising the front fan. Do HDDs or SSDs get hot at all?

HDD's can get hot if they are constantly in use, the green, low power drives would be cooler than the faster 7,200rpm or higher spinners.

SSD's produce very little heat at all, and if windows is installed on one, it will be doing most of the reads and writes, so then I wouldn't worry about airflow to either drive.

superneat

My order from specialtech arrived this morning, not bad, 5 working days with the cheapest shipping option.



Few small bits







Sleeving





Not the most dense but I'll be covering the black cables with white tape beforehand to stop any color bleeding through.



Heatshrink





I'll see how I get on with this stuff, hopefully I'll have some time today. I will need more to complete all the cables inside, if it looks a bit off I'll go ahead and get the mdpc-x stuff and redo the lot.

Charlie-Bravo

Excellent thread Superneat. It's great to see what you've gone through to get to here. Looks like you haven't encountered too many headaches - a bit of forward planning goes a long way I see. I'll look to build my own HTPC at some stage. Completely jealous!