GALLERY! Show off your HTPC!

Dang, Tuppu. Looks nice.

Did you also DIY those subs? (not an insult, they look nice)
 
TESLA said:
That's a great space overall, but what really draws me in is your AV "cabinet" solution.

Wood panels separated by stacked bricks? Very cool looking, sturdy, and functional. I like it!
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Thanks. Those are cheap IKEA Prägel kitchen countertops. :)

LeninGHOLA said:
Dang, Tuppu. Looks nice.

Did you also DIY those subs? (not an insult, they look nice)
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Thank you. Yes, the subs are also DIY, SVS dB12.2 drivers and Hypex DS4.0 plate amps. Here is the project gallery: http://www.dvdplaza.fi/galleria/showgallery.php/cat/1112/page/1
 
TESLA said:
That's a great space overall, but what really draws me in is your AV "cabinet" solution.

Wood panels separated by stacked bricks? Very cool looking, sturdy, and functional. I like it!
Click to expand...


What's nice about that cabinet is that you can reconfigure it depending on the space and/or any additional AV components that you add. It can (fairly) easily be made bigger or smaller.
 
^^ Tuppa, very creative way to create a AV cabinet. Good job..

Is it heavy since you use a lot of bricks to make it?
 
Yes, it's heavy. You can't move it without tearing it down. Propably something like 150-200kg. :D
 
Wow, some great pics that have been posted here the past few weeks or so while I was MIA! :cool: My HTPC hasn't changed since I upgraded its HDD from 300 GB to 1 TB last Dec. I'm thinking of replacing its ATI 4550 video card with a 6450 the next time it comes on sale.
 
I also upgraded my htpc you can see in the earler posts, Win XP changed to Win 7 Ultimate, it got a Terratec TV-reciever PCI card, and today I will fit a passive cooled HD6570 graphic card.
 
My HTPC. (2.9Watts during 1080p/5.1Dolby Playback of The Avengers BluRay Rip)
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Serving OTA HDTV to my Windows Box
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I thought I post my HTPC as its mostly done. I have been laboring on it on and off for about a year due to waiting for parts to be released and then mod them plus with a new baby its been hard to find time to do anything. Anyway here it goes.

I built this HTPC for the sole purpose of traveling with me to work along with a headphone DAC & Amp so I can enjoy my FLAC and high rez music at work uncompressed. I also can use it to play DVD and blu-ray rips, etc in my main system when I want to.

I thought I would start by updating and listing all the system components I am using right now. There may be some changes but nothing major hardware wise. The system components are below:

Interface: XBMC streaming FLAC and hi-rez audio, Pandora, etc
Headphone DAC/AMP: Audio GD NFB-5
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT-770 32 ohms

Here are some of the roadblocks I have to getting things to work:

Controlling playback:

My ability to control the computer without a monitor was dependent upon the XBMC remote app being used on my iPhone. The app requires both devices to be connected to the same wireless network and it then works flawlessly. I have tested it at home and it works without any issue. It’s a pretty neat app. There is a wireless network at work that my iPhone connects to as well as my computer. The issue is that it’s got some sort of security setup that is blocking the iPhone and the computer from talking to each other. This requires me to use the Windows Media Center 7 remote and IR sensor I have to control music playback. That said I all I can control without a monitor is skipping forward and backward on songs. I have no way to browse my library at all.

I am researching options for getting around this. The main one I have found is simply to use a small 7” USB touchscreen monitor which would allow me to see everything that I am doing with the Windows Media Center remote and browse the library etc. I know XBMC has some issues with remotes so I am deep in researching what the guys at the XBMC forum are using for playback and what modifications they have made to XBMC to control them. The optional “Rosewill” dongle is supposed to be able to work with XBMC and also turn the computer off and on according to someone using the same motherboard as I have. If I go with that I will use that USB Dongle instead of the much larger IR Sensor I am using now that is connected internally using a internal USB motherboard header to USB adapter.​

Volume control:

Currently I am planning on at work using the Audio GD NFB-5 headphone amp rather than the Meridian Explorer. The Meridian is ULTRA portable and super nice, but it requires you to control the volume via the computer. The Audio GD has an actual volume knob and is a lot more powerful than the Meridian. The Audio GD can also be used as a digital pre entirely on its own as its RCA outputs can be fixed or variable. This is nice because if I ever wanted to use something like AudioEngine A2’s at work I could use the volume knob on the Audio GD to control the volume.

The issue I am having is that after installing the Meridan drivers I have been having trouble getting the NFB-5 to work again. I haven’t had time to invest in looking hard into why but I am sure I will get it figured out pretty quickly.
​
Here are some of the things I am quite proud of:

Noise level:

This computer is SILENT in a normal working environment. Not only is it silent but it also runs VERY COOL. I am a HUGE fan of Noctua fans and while they are 2 or 3 times the cost of decent fans I personally think given their low noise levels in all their fans as well as their lifespan they are well worth it. I have been running 5 P12 120mm fans in my main system for 5 years 24/7 and they have had no issues. I just replaced the only non Noctua fan this month as it died. I replaced it with their newer line that now have a rubber mount built into them and its lowered my noise floor significantly in that system. So with this system by buying only the best Noctua parts and even modifying the CPU heat sink to make it work as well as keeping cables clutter to a minimum the entire system runs very efficiently and dissipates heat quite well.

I have also installed Silverstone noise dampening foam over all areas of the case possible. I don’t like this material nearly as much as the AcouticPak stuff I used in my main system, but it was cheaper and I just used a couple layers as I had a bunch.

​

Some area’s I am still looking at upgrading parts for and or needing to work on:

Power supply: I am still looking at power supplies to make sure I have the best of the best in my system. I know that by going USB to my DAC I am taking the possibility of getting noise from my computers power supply out of the equation, but I didn’t start this system to be anything other than no holds barred.

I/O Shield and GPU slot: I have a contact in Cincinnati who is going to powder coat the silver I/O shield and GPU slot cover to satin black so that they fit the color scheme I am going for.

Wireless: I am debating cutting a slot in the GPU cover to allow for the wireless card to be pulled out a bit to get better signal. I have found that the internal location I have it works great with most home systems and allows me to connect and control the device with my iPhone, however at work the signal is low enough I have to be able to pull it out and mount externally.

Exhaust: I am debating because I am OCD buying another 80mm Silverstone fan filter to go on the exhaust like I have on the intake
​
So here are some pictures of the system as its built now:

Top view with the HDD cage removed
*Note the cable management. I may replace the red zip ties with black ones at a later date as it drives me batty to have red ties sticking out like that*



Side view:



Closeup of IR sensor casing and overall cable management:



Notched Hard drive cage covered in foam. The remaining part hanging at the bottom will allow for another 2.5” HDD to be mounted at a later date if more storage is needed.






Hard drive bracket installed:


Top cover with foam and fan filter installed:



Exterior view:


 
Sorry for crappy pics. Shot with cell phone as I cannot find the power charger for my camera.

HTPC:
Dell Dimension c521 slim.
200gb HDD
Sapphire AMD HD 6450 1gb low profile gfx card for HDMI out
6gb ram.
Win7 Pro 64bit

Runs PLEX media client.




HT-Server
Dell PowerEdge T605
Two AMD Opteron 2214 2.2ghz dual core CPUs
8gb ram
120gb OS drive (Win Server 2008 R2 64bit Ent.)
1.5TB media storage raid array.

Run host to PLEX media server (and a few other things).

Server is grey box under my main rig.

 
RoadKill, how loud is your Sapphire AMD HD 6450 video card? I'm thinking of upgrading my HTPC's Asus ATI 4550 with another low profile (and preferably quieter and less power consuming) video card.
 
beowulf7 said:
RoadKill, how loud is your Sapphire AMD HD 6450 video card? I'm thinking of upgrading my HTPC's Asus ATI 4550 with another low profile (and preferably quieter and less power consuming) video card.
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Never hear it. My slim ps3 makes more noise than my HTPC box. HTPC is near dead silent.
 
RoadKill said:
Never hear it. My slim ps3 makes more noise than my HTPC box. HTPC is near dead silent.
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Very nice to hear (or not hear) that. :) I may pull the trigger on a 6450 the next time it goes on sale (typically $20 AR). It'd be quieter, faster, and consume less power than my 4550. :cool:
 
Just some upgrades from the i3 550

ASRock FM2A85X + A8 5600K
GSkill 1866

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Dual graphics 6670
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Looks nice Jester. Do you know the name of the manufacture for TV stand in the pic. I have the same stand in black that I bought from Target 5 years ago for my new plasma back then. Now I am getting ready to buy another plasma and want the same stand again for a 50+ inch screen and having a hard time finding one online.
 
Just a classic/quick hack-n-mod of a Dell 580s case. Just the Dell case, this is NOT a Dell. I use this to watch Amazon Instant, watch DVDs, play Steam games (big picture mode) and have emulators launched via Steam (with banners and all) to play my classic favorites. This boots directly into Steam Big Picture Mode as the shell with a registry edit.

Modifications include:

  • removed HDD cage and replace with two 92mm fans (intake)
  • lengthen front panel power led and switch leads to reach mini ITX board headers
  • replaced HDD activity LED with IR receiver
  • modified Xbox wireless controller receiver for internal mounting
  • taller rubber feet to allow DVR below it to breathe
As it sits below the TV:



Hard to see, but the left of the mic jack is the IR receiver (formally the HDD activity LED):



And tucked behind the 3.5" bay door is the Xbox 360 wireless controller receiver:
 
I didn't get a new range but I did get a new Heat sink to quiet it down

Silverstone NT-06 Pro

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Are any of you using windows media center on these? If so, what apps are you using for remote control?
 
Same here, I used Even Ghost to trigger activities from the Harmony 650 remote. Works well enough, but as it has already been said: a pain.

Small update: made a few changes to my main box, upgraded the graphics from a 7750 to 660ti and put it all in case I made:









 
Nice job on the case. I use a Harmony 650 also. No software is required for XBMC just the IR receiver and its good. The only thing I don't like about the Harmony 650 is if you drop it. It forgets where it is.
 
beowulf7 said:
^ That looks pretty clean! :cool:
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Thanks you! It would be even cleaner without the optical, but that was the scrap piece I had left over. Going to have a few more of these cases made in the near future without optical.
Jetster said:
Nice job on the case. I use a Harmony 650 also. No software is required for XBMC just the IR receiver and its good. The only thing I don't like about the Harmony 650 is if you drop it. It forgets where it is.
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Thank you!

Yes, the 650 is an oddly finicky remote. The remote help/assistant always pops up on ours, and one slight drop or jar and it gets very confused and does just what you said: forgets where it is, lol
 
I have bought 4 690s on ebay since they no longer make them.... best IR/RF remote I have used. High WAF factor..... we have been using 2 in the house for 6+ years
 
ibqQEYXLdELLys.JPG


Had some extra parts laying around so got a slim case and ssd.

i7 750, 4gigs RAM, GT640, and 64gig SSD running OpenELEC.

I'm using my iPAD as the remote.
 
H-Money said:
http://i.minus.com/ibqQEYXLdELLys.JPG

Had some extra parts laying around so got a slim case and ssd.

i7 750, 4gigs RAM, GT640, and 64gig SSD running OpenELEC.

I'm using my iPAD as the remote.
Click to expand...
LOL your "spare parts" are better than my main rig...I'm getting behind the times!
 
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