New ITX build...I was bored

[charged3800z24]

Parts arived today, gonna get it up and running and see how things go.
I saw this board and thought it looked like a nice setup and it says it supports x6 CPU's.. not that I will have one on it




Edit: the Pics.. I know, I am not a professional...

Came with some rubber feat so you can mount it on the side if you have a squeeze of space
Or you can put them on the bottom.
The little white carpet hair is an additional cost....


Came with 2 antennas for the Wireless N setup
3 SATA cables and a DVI-VGA adapter as this board only has DVI and HDMI out as you can see below in another picture...


The rear panel has..
2 USB 3.0
4 USB 2.0
DVI
HDMI
LAN (1000Mbs)
3 Audio Jacks
PS2 connecter for those who can't give up their old Bage, 5 pound keyboards...
Antenna connections for the Wireless-N (I would move the bottom Antenna Lead to the third hole
It kinda helps with the Antenna arrangement (you'll see in the last picture below why)


Board has 2 DDR3 Slots, AM3 Socket that Zotac says supports x6 CPUs
You'll see the Wireless-N adapter in the Mini-PCI-E
1 PCI-E x1 slot that could be used for a tuner or in my case, HD capture Card
There are 4 SATA 3 ports
2 USB 2.0 Headers
CPU fan and SYS fan connections on the left side near the DIMM slots
Board has removelable BIOS chip, which may come in handy for those who like to play...
Now you might be wondering how this board has room for all the features...


"We can't fit everything on top..., hey look, we can use the bottom too..."
There are also 4 rubber pads to help keep clearance from the chassis


Yep... that is a tight squeeze.... Hope the 3ghz Athlon II can keep cool..
The PSU has only one fan on the bottom and the vents on the back, which is pretty normal
There is about 1/4 inch of clearance above the stock CPU cooler, so don't count on a lot of cooling options
It also isn't ideal for extreme cable management, so I did what I could.


Here is where the Antenna issue came in. I know it is a lot to ask to have off-set antennas so they could both be upright... but it would be nice.
It will be hard to keep the antenna out of the the way of the USBs etc...


The hauppauge colossus hd-pvr
This card supports HDMI, Component and S/PDIF input
I am going to play with getting this to work in Windows 7 MC
Tech support told me the beta drivers will work and allow remote control functions also

[imamage]

Parts arived today, gonna get it up and running and see how things go.
I saw this board and thought it looked like a nice setup and it says it supports x6 CPU's.. bot that I will have one on it

You got this case too?
It isn't good for ventilation

[crazydiamond]

which case is it

[charged3800z24]

which case is it

This one

Apex MI-100

I just put everything together. I took some pictures along the way. I may try a mini review of the system...

[crazydiamond]

looking good man, i usually just have an overkill full desktop hooked up to it (usually my last hardwares) but ive been wanting to get a dedicated pc for my home theater. maybe when llano comes out do you have a file server?

[charged3800z24]

looking good man, i usually just have an overkill full desktop hooked up to it (usually my last hardwares) but ive been wanting to get a dedicated pc for my home theater. maybe when llano comes out do you have a file server?

My Living Room Has a Raid 1 for Data where Pictures, Movies etc are stored and shared. It is a Phenom II x2 550 Unlocked to 4cores. I have my main rig, the Bedroom is a Zacate (E350) and now this system. All run Windows Home Premium 64bit. I have only used a PCs for my TV entertainment for atleast 6 years..

[FlanK3r]

nice Charged. Time to show some photos and results later (but before Bulldozer time :-D)

[Daveburt714]

Looks nice Charged!
I like the looks of that case, but it doesn't look like it has much ventilation.

Be sure to post some pics and let us know how it goes!!

[charged3800z24]

I updated the 1st post. I have windows loaded and all drivers and updates.
The system isn't running to bad heat wise. I have CnQ enable and it ins't in a inclosed area. like a entertainment unit.

[Daveburt714]

I like that capture card!
You'll probably have to use component in to capture off a cable box though (DRM )...

Be sure to let me know how that works out for ya. I'll been looking at the external one for the last year or so, didn't even know there was a card available!

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Let us know how you like the board.

I have an intel atom on a lian li spider that I'm not too happy about. I have an x3 that'll have no home soon, so this might be a good upgrade path.

[charged3800z24]

I like that capture card!
You'll probably have to use component in to capture off a cable box though (DRM )...

Be sure to let me know how that works out for ya. I'll been looking at the external one for the last year or so, didn't even know there was a card available!

Yeah, I will be using Component; I just hope it works like I want it to. I also looked at the external one, but saw this and Hauppauge said it should work the same.

Let us know how you like the board.

I have an Intel atom on a lian li spider that I'm not too happy about. I have an x3 that'll have no home soon, so this might be a good upgrade path.

So far it works great and I like the Wireless-N that comes with it. No issues Playing HD off air recorded TV from my Main box either. I might throw in the 1100t and see how it handles it. This weekend is busy, I will try to get some more use of it and let everyone know.

[Vicey]

I am very interesting in hearing how the Colossus HD-PVR works out. I'm thinking about buying one. Will you be using 64-bit version of Windows 7 and will you be using and will you be capturing 1080i with it?

Looks like an interesting build!

I'm wondering if that card would work on Windows Server 2008 R2.. maybe I could hook it up to my server and have the feed streamed to other computers in the house over my local network.

[charged3800z24]

I am very interesting in hearing how the Colossus HD-PVR works out. I'm thinking about buying one. Will you be using 64-bit version of Windows 7 and will you be using and will you be capturing 1080i with it?

Looks like an interesting build!

I'm wondering if that card would work on Windows Server 2008 R2.. maybe I could hook it up to my server and have the feed streamed to other computers in the house over my local network.

I do have 2008 R2 and might see if it works if I get time. And yes I am using Windows 7 64bit. I will be trying to capture 1080i from a Satelite Receiver.

[imamage]

Hello Charge,
How's the temp when Full load your ITX ??
I didn't use the stock fan with this case , I have replaced it with GELID Slim Silent AM2 , the HSF have more clearance with the overhead PSU
But the Full load temp stays around 65C

[Vicey]

I do have 2008 R2 and might see if it works if I get time. And yes I am using Windows 7 64bit. I will be trying to capture 1080i from a Satelite Receiver.

Wow! if you were able to check that for me I would be seriously grateful

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Charged, I might have to pick one of those zotac boards up if I can sell enough stuff. I'm liking the look.

There is a higher end model w/ copper sinks. Why did you go with this board over that one, other than being $25 less?

[charged3800z24]

Hello Charge,
How's the temp when Full load your ITX ??
I didn't use the stock fan with this case , I have replaced it with GELID Slim Silent AM2 , the HSF have more clearance with the overhead PSU
But the Full load temp stays around 65C

I will try to test the idle and load temps this week, been a crazy weekend..

Charged, I might have to pick one of those zotac boards up if I can sell enough stuff. I'm liking the look.

There is a higher end model w/ copper sinks. Why did you go with this board over that one, other than being $25 less?

Honestly, I didn't see that one... was it on newegg? That is where I ordered. I came accross this one by accident
Edit: I see it now... I might have picked that one, but the cost of this one is more appealing.

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

I will try to test the idle and load temps this week, been a crazy weekend..



Honestly, I didn't see that one... was it on newegg? That is where I ordered. I came accross this one by accident
Edit: I see it now... I might have picked that one, but the cost of this one is more appealing.

Besides the bling cooling, and 890 vs 880 (is there really a big difference?), its the same board.

I think you made a better choice of spending since you were "bored."

[NEOAethyr]

Cool, I like .
To bad it doesn't have a 16x slot though, for those low profile cards.

I really don't like the idea of using an atx psu on a m-itx board, I don't like that.
But it's all good anyways.

At least they put a mini pcie on there.
Some usb 3 ports, and they got rid of the vga, awesome .

It's got a fiber hookup, not sure if it's an in or an out.
We need coax lol, bleh most board's don't have those anyways except for dfi.
I liked coax, a single heavy duty rca cable and bam, full on digital audio multi channel's.

Interesting case there, takes a full sized card, and an atx psu and squeezes it into a reasonable size space.


You're not using a wd black though are you dude?
That might last a year or 2 like that, but that's not a good idea I think.
If it is a black, try putting a 40mm fan beside it or something to cool it.
Just saying, you don't want your drive to get loud, or die on you someday .

[Particle]

"Here is where the Antenna issue came in. I know it is a lot to ask to have off-set antennas so they could both be upright... but it would be nice."

They're doing you a favor, honestly. Multiple antennas work much better when they're not angled the same.

[charged3800z24]

Besides the bling cooling, and 890 vs 880 (is there really a big difference?), its the same board.

I think you made a better choice of spending since you were "bored."

The one I have says it is for 95w CPU
The higher priced one supports 140w CPU.. so depending on your needs...
I would want to cram a 140w CPU in a ITX case though

You're not using a wd black though are you dude?
That might last a year or 2 like that, but that's not a good idea I think.
If it is a black, try putting a 40mm fan beside it or something to cool it.
Just saying, you don't want your drive to get loud, or die on you someday .

Yes it is a 750GB Black drive, I will be replacing it with a SSD drive soon. All my data is stored on the Main HTPC.

They're doing you a favor, honestly. Multiple antennas work much better when they're not angled the same.

I undersatnd, I just pointed it out that it is in the way of the I/O header.
The only other option is sticking out the side of the case... I would prefer to them both up and in a V.

[charged3800z24]

Athlon II x2 250 Stcok (3.0ghz), with Stock HSF
In hardware monitor,Temps reached
56*C Core readings
52*C CPUTIN readings
While running wPrime 32M

[imamage]

The one I have says it is for 95w CPU
The higher priced one supports 140w CPU.. so depending on your needs...
I would want to cram a 140w CPU in a ITX case though



Yes it is a 750GB Black drive, I will be replacing it with a SSD drive soon. All my data is stored on the Main HTPC.



I undersatnd, I just pointed it out that it is in the way of the I/O header.
The only other option is sticking out the side of the case... I would prefer to them both up and in a V.

ASUS 880G ITX board have lousy layout
but nice feature , it's WiFi Antenna is "not blocking"

[AlleyViper]

Just out of curiosity now that you might try the 1100T, does the board allow to lower max multiplier on a beefier 125W CPU and still retain CnQ up to that limit via bios to keep pwm from blowing up? That would be great for slapping older CPUs. Thanks!