Pictorial guide/worklog of modifications to 'HTPC', GAM's Home Theatre PC; Making a cheap, simple case better - Page 1

By Greig Mackenzie

Predicament

Surprisingly enough my CFO, er... lovely wife, wouldn't authorise the AU$400-1000 I'm inclined to spend on a brand new, feature rich, purpose built HTPC case, to house the PC components I had put aside for a HTPC machine--amassed after recently upgrading my main machine ;-). Naturally, as I virtually had another working, fairly recent, computer laying around in pieces, I felt compelled to spend something (sub $50) on a new cheapo ATX case.

Well, I had to collect my DQ6 motherboard from the PC retailer anyway, so I figured I'd see what they had on the shelves. Sure enough, your typical selection of cheaper Chinese imports were on display, the ones that are made of sheet metal less than a millimetre thick, all essentially the same but with cutesy plastic front panel differences. I chose one that was the plainest and seemed to have the basics for reasonable air flow modding--accommodate 92-120mm fans front and back--and hold at least four 3.5" HD's and four 5.25" devices.

The lucky candidate - Sharky brand PC case (AU$45 after negotiating the removal of the inadequate PSU)

Damn. I deliberately didn't take new pictures of the case before performing these mods because I was sure that I had taken photos of it already. It seems like I didn't do the whole job because I could only find these:

'HTPC's' Specs (Current)

Processor	Pentium D805 @ 3.3Ghz (2.66@3.3, 4-4-4-12, FSB 330@1:2 24/7 F@H)
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-8i945Pro
Memory	A-Data Vitesta 1x1GB PC4200 (was 2x, but I stupidly removed the heat spreader to reveal the 'chips' and ripped one right off the PCB!)
CPU Heatsink	Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro [previously Zalman FS-C77-Fatality]
Video card	Asus EN7600GS Silent (stock) - connected to receiver via S-Video
Audio	Onboard Realtek HD Audio - connected to receiver via digital coax (S/PDIF)
PSU	Enermax Liberty 620w
Storage	1 x 10GB Maxtor IDE (System/MCE), 2 x 250GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA2
Optical	Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-111D optical drive
Other	3.5" Fan Controller
	3.5" Card Reader
	5.25" bay Stereo Speakers (for those times when you don't want to fire up the home theatre receiver)
Front intake	PanaFlo L1a 120mm fan (lowest speed via fan controller)
Top exhaust	Artic Cooling TriCool 92mm fan (lowest speed via fan controller)
Rear exhaust	SilenX Xtrema 92mm fan (lowest speed via fan controller)
Side intake (video card)	PanaFlo (M1a?) 92mm (lowest speed via fan controller)
CPU Heatsink	Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro [previously Zalman FS-C77-Fatality]
Software	Microsoft (remote bundle)

In the beginning...

When I first got this case, I couldn't be bothered stuffing around with it too much because I was in deep with mods to 'Main' (yes, my main PC). So I simply whacked in the best of some old'ish fans and through in the rest of the hardware to get the beastie up and running.

Well, it was long before we realised that for a HTPC, this just wasn't going to cut the mustard! It rattled and hummed so loudly that we had to increase the general listening volume in the living room by a few decibels... and this was with all fans set to lowest possible speed by the 3.5" fan controller that got whacked in too. HTPC's are meant to be quiet, after all, and you certainly can't appreciate the crystal clear clarity of high-end audio equipment with 'vrrrrrrrrr' constantly in the background. The temperature in the living room also rise by a few decrees Celsius too.

Now, I should point out that this machine has an alter ego, when it is not outputting audio/visual to entertain the residents, it 'works out'... 100% CPU Folding@Home!)

So the first thing I did was purchase new SilenX 'Xtrema' fans (multiple 92mm and 120mm fans) and did some swap n go between the three machines I run. I had two PanaFlo L1's in 'Server' of which one replaced the stock TTBT 120mm fan in 'Main'. Figuring the SilenX's were going to be the best for the HTPC, I installed them there. Well, they don't like being run at reduced RPM, do they? No! They are nice and quiet at full speed, but generate a terrible whirring sound like a passenger jet's 'flaps' being extended. Not good enough.

So, the other 120mm PanaFlo L1 went into the front panel of 'HTPC'. I left the Xtrema 92mm in the back at full speed. After an hour or so of cable tidying, she was back up and running and still noisy as hell. Right then, let's rip out some fan grills and hope this helps. I also installed a 92mm SilenX Xtrema on the side panel, directed at the fanless video card and lapped and remounted the 'now known to be extremely crappy and inefficient' Zalman FC77 Fatality HSF (rash, spontaneous purchase).

Now things are starting to look up. The most significant factor from this last change was in fact the CPU HSF. CPU temps dropped by about 10°C and I could lower the fan speed too. What was more beneficial is that I realised that most of the noise was coming from the friggin' Zalman! Hmmm. New CPU HSF and more mods required.

'Twas rough'