Hi every one,
I just want to share my XP of building on the great Antec Fusion chassi, but first my setup:
CPU: C2D E6600
CPU cooler: Thermalright XP-120
CPU Fan: Noctua NF-S12-800, 120mm Fan, 800RPM, 8 dB(A), 35CFM, just removed.
Mobo: Asus P5B-VM G965 (with the X3000 graphic chip)
Case: Antec Fusion HTPC
Case Fan: 2 x Noctua NF-S12-1200, 120mm Fan, 1200RPM, 17 dB(A), 48CFM.
Video: MSI GF 7600GT Passive cooled
Digital Tuner: 2 x Floppy/Fire DTV DVB-T (Firewire)
RAM: CORSAIR DDR2 KIT 2X512MB 533MHZ CL4
HDD: SAMSUNG 320GB SATAII NCQ 7200RPM 16MB
Input device: MCE remote + Keybord
DVD: Optiarc AD-7173 (new collaboration brand from Sony and NEC)
WLAN: Netgear Rangemax 801.11g USB stick
Sound: Asus S/PDiF Digital Audio Out
OS: MCE 2005
Codec: Power DVD 7.2 Ultra and Nvidia Pure Video
Display: LCD Sony KDL46W2000, Full HD (1920x1080)
There is a lot of good tips on how to install and what components to buy, so I will instead tell you what to think about.
My learnings:
Graphics: I wanted to have a quit system so I invested in the a a passisvely cooled graphics card. I discovered that the heatpipes on the MSI makes the card about an inch higher with the effect that you will have to force on the top of the case and you can´t put anything on top of the HTPC due to the "bump" thanks to the heatpipes. Make sure that you buy a card that fits. Some of you my ask why I didn't use the X3000 graphic, two reasons: 1) the drivers are still in development. 2) I wanted to make sure that I could see 1080p h.264 material.
CPU Fan: Totally unnecessary the CPU is cool enough with my setup.
Mobo: On the specs. it looks good but obviously there are some OC issues with this Mobo and it is quit costly. One irritating issue is why in hell haven't they included a S/PDIF digital out! (probs. with many m-ATX) So if you want to connect this Mobo to your receiver you must by a S/PDIF out.
Digital tuners: The graphics card takes up one extra PCI, the digital out takes up one PCI, so you have only one PCI left for the tuner card, great i have two cards!
Well I solved this by placing one of the cards where the other HDD can be placed. I can also place it on top of the PSU.
WLAN: Why did I go for a USB stick? Well the simple answer is I didn't have any place for it inside the case, but I managed to solve it by placing it on the back with the included velcro, at this point I really started to hate the Fusion case!!!
Case Fans: As I have alreday mentioned I wanted a quit system and that is why I changed the stock fans. In all my readings about the Fusion case, most people use the fans on the lowest setting. So I choose the Noctua fans which are quiter and can move more air than the Antec Tri cool fans, but I had to install a Zalman fanmate 2 on the case fan I put into the CPU fan socket (otherwise boot warning for missing CPU fan) otherwise it turned to fast (around 1250-1300 rpm) with the effect a irritating sound, you can probably change some settings in the BIOS to solve this issue.
Display: Sony W2000 series is one of the few (at this moment) that can handle 1080p by the HDMI interface, thank to this I now have 1:1 pixelmapping
. Think about this when you buy a new flatscreen.
Now the upside:
Case/Case Fans: Very good air flow in this case, one of the best I think and it is so quite. The Noctua fans on about 1000rpm is almost silent I can't hear them even at night when everyone are in bed. The temp is about (ambient temp 20-22C): system 36C, CPU 37 (idle) under stress: system 38C, CPU 52C, Ohh now I started to love the Fusion case
. Another thing of importance is that the case was to deep to put in my bookshelf so I put it vertical and put some feet underneath case for the air intakes. It works splendid, I even think it is better for the airflow because the fans are on on the top.
Graphics: I don't have any issues when playing 1920x1080p h.264 encoded material, everything just look lovely.
Another upside is that we have TV harmony at the moment at home due to the fact that the kids don't have to go up 06.30 in the mornings to see "Beyblade" we can just record the series! (three boys between 3.5-7 years).
I made some mistakes, but I'am very happy with my first HTPC, it is quite with enough power for the most demanding resolutions. The Antec Fusion case is just simply great (even with the issues). I hope you have found some good learnings in this reading and you may laugh at my basic mistakes, my friends did! That is ok, really
Regards,
Joakim
can you give us a rough idea of the cost of that DIY project, excluding TV of course ! Im always interesting in hearing how much people can make quality rigs for when they DIY 
