CPU
Most if not all processors these days are fast enough to decode HD videos and do some sharpening if supported by a recent GPU. Running at least one virtual machine adds a bit to the envelope. Also the machine was to be able to rip and re encode Bluray titles along the way. Getting a processor that is clocked higher usually does not mean it runs hotter. Those are merely the samples that tested to be of a better quality. We did not want to overclock the system as this ofter means a higher thermal envelope.
In the end we opted for an Intel Core2Duo Wolfdale E8400 E0, Dual Core, 3.0 GHz, 6MB, FSB1333. This is certainly fast enough even for the more demanding jobs.
CPU Cooler
This is highly dependant on the case I think. As you will see below, we decided to get an OrigenAE S16V case. It almost seems that the Scythe Ninja Mini has been tailored specifically for that case. The PSU fan as well as the 80mm fans on rear suck out air from the case through the Ninja.
Scythe Ninja Mini
In past projects the Ninja has proven to be very effective with low airflow setups such as this. I can say it works really well having the processor idle at about 40°C.
Mainboard
Gigabyte with its GA-E7AUM-DS2H and Asus‘ P5N7A-VM were the only Intel boards with the new Nvidia GeForce 9400 and 9300 chipsets respectively that looked promising for using in a HTPC setup with HDMI. Most other boards with HDMI had trouble with decoding Bluray material or with sound output across the HDMI cable. From what I found on the net, lots of hope was put into the new Nvidia chips for that and we were not diappointed. Gigabyte simply had a Firewire port to add to the envelope that seemed more useful than Asus‘ Display Port connector. So we opted for this board. So far it has proven rock solid and was a pleasure to work with.
Gigabyte GA E7AUM-DS2H
The Nvidia chipsets do get quite hot though. Speedfan is reporting between 73°C and 74°C when idle and goes above 80 when decoding a video. By adding a fan to the side of the Ninja, temperatures dropped by about 5-7°C. It’s quite interesting to see that even a tiny bit of indirect airflow can have such a big impact.
RAM
DDR II RAM these days is dirt cheap. We went for 4GB Kingston Value RAM. Because we are using the 32bit version of Windows Vista, we only get to use about 3.4GB.
Optical Drive
The same LG GGC-H20L Bluray combo drive I have in my system is used in his. See below why the choice of the optical drive is not trivial.
PSU
Silentpcreview highlighted the Enermax Modu82+ PSUs as being one of the quietest they’ve ever had. Because the short cables are not an issue no, better yet, desirable in the OrigenAE case we went ahead with it. I can say it truly is very quiet. Even by a solid margin to the already fabulous Corsair HX520W PSU that I am using in my server. The smallest 385W version was used in the system. Anything bigger would be a waste. Nice in that particular setup is the configuration with 3 SATA connectors on the same cable. This allows us to only run one cable to the drive cage with the 3 disks.
Disks
2 Western Digital GP 1TB disks are used in the System as well as a 500GB WD GP. The latter is used for the System and temp files and whatnot while one of the 1TB drives is used for the actual media data i.e. videos, music, recordings etc. The second disk is being used to backup the contents of the first regularly. Once decent SSDs become a bit cheaper it would certainly be a neat option to run the system off one of those and have the big disks sleep when they are not in use.
The Western Digital Green Power disks were chosen for their low energy consumption as well as their low noise. I’ve had Samsung disks that were just as quiet if not even quieter than the WDs while seeking. However Samsung disks tend to vibrate a bit more than the Western Digitals. In the Antec P180 I use for my system, this is not much of an issue because the soft silicone gommets do a fantastic job of isolating vibrations. The OrigenAE case however uses harder gommets that are not as effective, hence the lower vibrations of the Western Digital models come in handy. In addition the Green Power Caviars use less power by a good margin. Even though everyone talks about green computing more important than saving electricity at this point is that less heat is produces that we need to get out of the system. If we can have 3 disks using 15 watts total vs. 30 watts, thats an additional 15 watts that we do not need to cool.
Case
We were looking for a nice looking case with space for at least 3 disks. OrigenAE S16V seemed to offer everything we needed. Support for Full ATX components, 3 disks in a cage with rubber gommets. Unfortunately they are not as soft and effective as the silicone ones on the Antec cases. An additional disk can be mounted on top of the optical drive. However that one will not be cooled very well sitting in its own juices. In the future for a fast SSD for the system this might be an option.
Origen AE S16V case silver
While a nice feature – the second version of the case the S16T that has a small 7″ touchscreen – it seemed too expensive. It would certainly be nice to have every once in a while to select music and quickly schedule a recording. The blue VFD display on the S16V is hardly usable. For one blue is a bad color for any sort of display because of the nature of blue light. It tends to scatter heavily making it hard to read. Secondly the letters are too small to be read from more than a meter away.
ichbinleise.ch recommended a case dampening set made of some sort of special heavy acustic foam and a bitumen lining for the lid. Installation is simple – all of the foam pads are pre cut and have a very strong adhesive surface. The acoustic signature improved significantly with the lining in place. Aluminum cases tend to vibrate easily unlike steel that stays quiet.
With the kit its up there with the best silent steel cases.
When we installed the Gigabyte board and the Ninja cooler, we could see that it was going to be a tight fit with the optical drive. Because of the height and depth of the Ninja there is only a gap of about 15mm between the installed optical drive and the CPU cooler, barely enough to hoock up power and SATA cables. Almost all other Bluray drives from either Sony, Pioneer or Plextor are deeper and would not even fit in that combination.
Fans
All fans are installed. That includes a 92mm fan on the side of the case as well as 2 80mm fans on the back. Include the 80mm fan on the CPU cooler and the PSU fan that makes for a system with 5 fans. Not exactly very few. The fans are models that ichbinleise.ch produces in china to its custom specs. Given their price of just over 6 swiss francs I was surprised how quiet they are and how smooth they run.
I would have opted for some Scythe or Noctua fans but these would have been much more expensive by a factor of 2 or 3 easily.
However all the fans are models with a very low rpm rating. The system is virtually inaudible even from 1 meter away. I can also report that all temperatures stay within sane levels. We will double check again in the summer once it gets up to the 30s outside.
Mission accomplished.