First post - another x15 build

[GrantCarlson]

Hi all,

Have been checking out this forum on and off for the last couple of years - have always been a video/hifi/pc junkie, and thought I’d post now since I’m close to embarking on my first HTPC build.

My current A/V setup is a Neuston MC-500 connected via a wireless 11g network to an old PC for xvid and mp3, along with a Strong SRT-5390 for digital TV and PVR functionality, and a PS2 for DVD.

Have just recently got rid of all the remotes by buying a Harmony 880, now it’s time to get rid of all the playback hardware by building a HTPC.

So I have the following shopping cart saved and ready to go (with EYO):

1x Origen HTPC Case, X15e, Black, w/IR Receiver/MCE Remote, No PSU
1x 450 watt ATX power supply e-Power/Topower EP-450P5-L1 better than fanless
1x Asus S939, A8N SLi Premium, nForce4 SLI, Dual-PCI-e
1x AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+, Dual-Core 2.0Ghz 1MB Cache S939
1x PQI DDR-SDRAM 400MHz PC3200 Turbo Dual Channel 1GB (2x512MB)
1x Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT, Silent-Pipe II, PCI-e 256MB DDR2 HDTV DVI
1x FusionHDTV DVB-t Dual Digital TV Card, Two Channels, PiP, Power Up
2x HDD SATA2, Western Digital Caviar SE SATA 3Gb/s, 250GB, 8MB
1x MS O/S Windows XP Media Center, Software only, OEM w/hardwar
1x ThermalTake K8 Silent Boost CPU Cooler, A1838


All of the choices I’ve made from reading these forums, the choice of the MB being the hardest. I chose both the MB and the Gigabyte 6600GT based on their cooling configurations more that anything else – they both seem to be the best in terms of quiet cooling.


I chose the X15 for the flexibility of controlling the system via the touch screen, and of course the fact the it's damned cool (and will look great sitting on top of my soon to be purchaced Yamaha RX-V2600B).


So before I part with my $3K any feedback would be much appreciated!

Cheers,
Grant.

[benneh]

Looks like it will be a nice build, only a couple of suggestions:

That power supply I have read some bad reviews on such as here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article277-page5.html main problems being it is not ATX 2.0+ compliant and that the fan is very noisy and of low quality. I would suggest a seasonic s12 500W instead

Also the x15 g2 stock case fans are run on a full 12v and can be pretty noisy, I would look at either replacing them with 3 x 80mm silenx fans as or a trimmer/motherboard fan headers connector cables.

Oh and if that mobo has the same northbridge fan as the a8n-e, I would look at getting some kind of passive northbridge cooling like a zalman, as the little fan runs at about 5000RPM and makes a lovely whirring noise.

Oh yeah, and no DVD Decoder software nor DVD Drive?