Home theater computer hardware

[zahc]

I hate when I need new PC hardware because I don't stay on top of newest technology, so it takes a lot of research.

I just want a micro-ATX motherboard, and a low-power processer, for as cheap as possible.

I have a micro-ATX case, a nice Seasonic power supply, hard drive, and decent fanless Nvidia graphics card. I basically just need a motherboard to put the video card in.

I already have an old micro-ATX mobo/memory, and a 90-Watt single-core AMD that won't fit in the case because the huge heatsink hits the power supply. I'm debating slicing part of the heatsink off, but I don't know what happens if you cut heat-pipes.

Since the old mobo/processor won't fit, I thought maybe I should buy a new one that is lower-power. This thing will be on 24/7, so maybe I should get a new 45W or 20W processor. Part of the problem is that this type of processor is easir to find soldered onto mini-itx and nettop stuff.

[charby]

I already have an old micro-ATX mobo/memory, and a 90-Watt single-core AMD that won't fit in the case because the huge heatsink hits the power supply. I'm debating slicing part of the heatsink off, but I don't know what happens if you cut heat-pipes.

Don't do that.

[zahc]

Why, what happens? If I don't figure out a way to use this old hardware, it's just going to get tossed anyway. I think I might be able to bend the heat pipes out of the way instead of cutting them.

[charby]

Why, what happens? If I don't figure out a way to use this old hardware, it's just going to get tossed anyway. I think I might be able to bend the heat pipes out of the way instead of cutting them.

Theoretically the chip will overheat and cook itself.

There has been a really big change in computer tech in the last 18 months, you may just want to bite the bullet and spend a little money on new hardware.

[zahc]

It might cook itself, but the question is really if my big Zalman cooler, minus a couple heat pipes, is still just as good as the lame stock cooler. It might work worse, but it should still work as well as the stock cooler.

If I could buy a new processor and drop it in, I would. But the sockets have changed, so I have to buy a new Mobo. And guess what, all the new mobos are DDR3, so I have to buy new memory, too. So I'm looking at $120 at least. Is it worth it?

90W * 24hrs * 365 days * 15 cents / 1000 = $120/year in electricity. Upgrading to a 45W processor will save me $60/year--thats assuming my HTPC processor will be cranking at full power all the time, which is not the case.

I should probably just buy one of these, but it makes me nervous to buy such a non-upgradeable unit:

http://www.zotacusa.com/products/mini-pcs/zbox

[charby]

I deal mostly with Intel and I'm loving the Ivy Bridge alot.

[Marnoot]

I built my HTPC with a a 35W Intel Core i3 processor, microATX motherboard, "green" variable-RPM hard-drive and high-efficiency PSU specifically to keep power consumption to a minimum since it's on most of the day. I use the onboard graphics that are on the i3, it has no trouble rendering HD video. I've never actually plugged it into the Kill-a-Watt to see what it's actually using, I should do that.

[GigaBuist]

There has been a really big change in computer tech in the last 18 months, you may just want to bite the bullet and spend a little money on new hardware.

If he does, I'd like to toss out a suggestion:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119073

Dual core Atom processors, HDMI output, and $114.99.  I run a very similar model for our cash registers and I'm using this exact same one (with a slightly different case) for the new ones I'm building this year.  You have to add the HD and memory though.

Warning: It's a desktop but it takes laptop RAM.  I screwed that up when I ordered memory the first time.

[zahc]

Well, I butchered my heatsink. I was able to do it without bursting any heat pipes or really removing any surface area. The problem now is that the old 320GB hard drive is way too noisy. I could get an SSD, but I'm thinking maybe I should just netboot since my media will all be on the server anyway. Then again, setting up netboot might be too hard for me.

[GigaBuist]

Well, I butchered my heatsink. I was able to do it without bursting any heat pipes or really removing any surface area. The problem now is that the old 320GB hard drive is way too noisy. I could get an SSD, but I'm thinking maybe I should just netboot since my media will all be on the server anyway. Then again, setting up netboot might be too hard for me.

A "netboot" is really only useful when you've got a bunch of boxes on the same network and you don't care about their individual storage.  I use PXE booting to launch stuff like CloneZilla (to make a new register) or memtest86 to test a new box.  I've also got an image for Gparted to resize disk images but that's just to supplement the CloneZilla work.

If you're only dealing with one box you're probably best off going the SSD route -- although that doesn't have to mean a real HD replacement SSD.  A thumb flash drive would work just as well.

Of course, getting a proper bootable image is probably the biggest problem.  No idea what OS you're going for here.  Once you have the image how you load it is just details.

[zahc]

I'm running linux. Possibly something like myth or SMBC, but just as likely not.

What I used to do is boot normally and then mount /home from my server with NFS. That's dandy, but I'd like to be able to spin down the hard drive completely, and I guess I can't do that since I still need to play video and stuff. SSD is probably the easiest thing.

[zahc]

Is 50C hot for a CPU?

My bios says that my CPU is 50C and my north bridge is 57, just with the system sitting there. I'm thinking maybe I should re-apply heatsink compound to the CPU, but I'm not sure what I can do about the north bridge.

[RocketMan]

Be careful in applying the thermal compound to the CPU and heatsink.  More is definitely not better in this case.  Follow the directions carefully if you are not already.

[zahc]

Yeah, the CPU had thermal compound on it, but I took the heatsink off and re-installed it at least 6 times in the process of 'reconfiguring' the cooling fins, so there isn't much left on it. I told myself that people always say too little is better than too much, but in this case I think I might actually have too little.

By the way, heatsink compound reminds me an awful lot of anti-seize lubricant.

[lee n. field]

By the way, heatsink compound reminds me an awful lot of anti-seize lubricant.

Hmm.  Interesting.  It's certainly cheaper.  I might actually try that on a scratch junk built computer. 

[Regolith]

Is 50C hot for a CPU?

My bios says that my CPU is 50C and my north bridge is 57, just with the system sitting there. I'm thinking maybe I should re-apply heatsink compound to the CPU, but I'm not sure what I can do about the north bridge.

Yeah, just a bit. Mine runs at around 34C at its hottest. It may not be enough to cause immediate damage, though, but it will probably reduce service life.

[zahc]

My $1.99 microcenter heatsink compound dropped CPU temps from 50 to 42C. If I cranked my fans up it might be lower but I'm trying to be quiet.

I bought a $50 SSD. Amazing. Big fan of these things. I should buy one for my netbook. I'm so used to the ticktshtickwhiirrr hard drive sounds, no matter how quiet, that the SSD is just a little weird. I tried to set up systems to run off flash drives and compact flash cards and it was always just a little flakey.

[zahc]

Well, I found out that it's not 2006 anymore.

I installed Ubuntu 12.04 and XBMC, and my system won't smoothly play DVDs at 1920x1080 using XBMC. Everything else about the software stack is making me pretty happy, except my CPU runs at 70%, and memory similarly used up. I had to create a swap file (something I haven't done in years) to prevent running out of memory!

This is what I have:
8400GS passive video card
AMD single-core 2.2GHz 90W
1.5GB DDR 400 ram
OCZ SSD

All the new CPUs seem to come with on-chip graphics. If I upgrade to Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge I get bundled Intel graphics. Intel is usually great with Linux, but I'm not clear on if those graphics would be better than my 8400GS.

If I go with AMD Llano or Trinity or whatever, I get bundled ATI graphics. I haven't had good luck with ATI graphics on Linux, so I would be using 8400GS no matter what if I buy AMD.

Any suggestions welcome. I also don't now what kind of ram or how much, I should be getting nowadays.

[Regolith]

Any suggestions welcome. I also don't now what kind of ram or how much, I should be getting nowadays.

As much as you can afford. At least 3-4 GB. I think the standard is DDR2 now, though they may have started doing DDR3 (which the last time I checked into it they were only using on video cards).