Silent ITX Build

[Zindaar]

I need me some help.

My brother-in-law has asked me to build him a Home Theatre PC. The only specs i have are:

• Silent (so passively cooled if possible)
• HD (so Blu-ray Drive and HD output - UHD if possible )
• Excellent Sound
• Look good

I'm pretty good with actually building the thing, but getting the fancy bits (passive cooled and ITX) is where I need the help. I actually have no idea of where to start looking.

If you guys could help I would be very grateful.
(Resellers are welcome to weigh in with a pm quote\link)

 

[Munk]

Are you wanting people to suggest items to sell you (that they already own) or are you asking for advice on what would be a good combo of hardware to meet your needs?

 

[crackOlicious]

Are you wanting people to suggest items to sell you (that they already own) or are you asking for advice on what would be a good combo of hardware to meet your needs?

Think he's just asking for advise on parts but if anyone has any offers , he will consider.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[Zindaar]

More of the suggestion of hardware and where to find it.

I first have to give a quote of build cost. Then I can start shopping for him.

 

[Zindaar]

ok... Lets start small then.

Anybody got a good idea for a Passive Cooled case?
I've managed to find 2 likely candidates
Fanless Computer Case - HDPLEX INC
GS-L01|Fanless case|serener

but for the life of me i can't find anything similar for sale in RSA, or somewhere that will ship to RSA.

Can anyone help with a similar suggestion that is available in RSA. If you have something for sale, PM me some pics and maybe i can start buying so long.

 

[Munk]

Mate you are going to have to tread through the massive database that is Silentpcreview(dot)com. Passive cases are rare in general, even less likely to find one in this part of the world. You are most likely going to have to settle for something with at least one intake/exhaust fan (120mm is as small as you want to go).

Some options you can find locally:
Coolermaster Elite 110
Fractal Design Node 304
Antec ISK 300-150
Antec ISK 310-150
Antec ISK110 VESA
Antec ISK600

Those are the smallest m-itx cases that I've seen for sale in RSA.
SilentPCReview can tell you which is the best for your "silent" needs.

 

[Zindaar]

Thanks [MENTION=22168]Munk[/MENTION]

I'll have a look at your suggestions

 

[Munk]

My pleasure dude/dudette.

Keep your needs in the front of your mind when working through the cases and you should pick a good one. Then you can use reviews + youtube videos to see what kind of hardware you can fit into your chosen case. That should significantly narrow down viable parts and making the final selection much simpler.

I can give tonnes more advice but need to do "some" work too . Swing your questions, I will try answer.

 

[Zindaar]

Looks like we've decided on the Antec ISK600, which is great because it seems to be one of the bigger options.

Next questions:
PSU:
Is something like this available in the country?
SeaSonic SS-400FL2 Active PFC F3 400W 80 PLUS Platinum Fanless ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

BluRay:
is there a slimline blu-ray drive that I can get? because those things seems to be rare as chicken teeth.

 

[el3venth]

For the fanless PSU, I managed to get mine from sybaritic.co.za.

 

[johnny_h]

For the fanless PSU, I managed to get mine from sybaritic.co.za.

Do you have a link to that psu? It'd be perfect for my htpc as well

 

[Air]

Looks like we've decided on the Antec ISK600, which is great because it seems to be one of the bigger options.

Next questions:
PSU:
Is something like this available in the country?
1. SeaSonic SS-400FL2 Active PFC F3 400W 80 PLUS Platinum Fanless ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

BluRay:
2. is there a slimline blu-ray drive that I can get? because those things seems to be rare as chicken teeth.

1. yes (believe importer is in PTA somewhere) Someone on forum bought this one to, just search function.
2. yes (ebay)

 

[ian_stagib]

This is what I'm gonna get for my next htpc purchase. It ticks all my boxes in what I want and I don't think you'd build a decent htpc for much less (only a microserver kinda competes in price)

Xtreamer Ultra2 Announcement!

 

[fx22]

Looks like we've decided on the Antec ISK600, which is great because it seems to be one of the bigger options.


BluRay:
is there a slimline blu-ray drive that I can get? because those things seems to be rare as chicken teeth.

Yes, I recommend you import the Panasonic UJ 265 from ebay. Delivery only took 4 days for me. I'm using it on the Ncase M1

 

[Zindaar]

Yes, I recommend you import the Panasonic UJ 265 from ebay. Delivery only took 4 days for me. I'm using it on the Ncase M1

The 265 is the slot loader?

Does this case require slot because it looks like tray to me.

Also I prefer tray because it's less likely to break in a way that it becomes inoperable, right?

 

[fx22]

The 265 is the slot loader?

Does this case require slot because it looks like tray to me.

Also I prefer tray because it's less likely to break in a way that it becomes inoperable, right?

I have the slot load version, I thought the UJ265 comes either in tray or slot load, my apologies if mistaken.

Oh, remember that you probably need a special sata connector for power on a slim optical drive. I made a mistake of not buying one.

 

[Zindaar]

ok, next up.

I've got a case, psu and blu-ray sorted, thanks for all the help so far.
I also found this little beauty flirc.tv - Your TV - PC Remote Companion (there is a RSA supplier that's selling them for R265 ex shipping, pm me for details)

next up:
motherboard & cpu.
the case (ANTEC ISK600) seems roomy enough for just about anything, SO I'm looking for something with HD onboard. Preferably UHD.

I'm kinda looking at this one ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+
yes, it's a bit overkill but my brother-in-law wants the option to expand to UHD and the FM2+ socket gives him that.

I was thinking of a AMD A6-6400K cpu in it for now.