Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 563

Thanks for clearing that up.

Did ATI / AMD fix awake video card from S3 sleep?
I don't have any S3 issues with NV GT 240, but I have blank screen for HD 6770 all the time.
Only option for my HTPC is to use S4 (hibernate) and that is inconvenient

Can those 6450 and 6670 wake up from S3 Ok and S3+S4 can be used as well?

thanks.

I'm building a htpc, and I want to recycle some parts to tide me over until I see some of the newer proc/mb's (lanio) I have a older asus with a amd2 64 4400 proc that I would like to reuse, but I have to replace 4 blown caps first.. (really do not want to buy another board for this older proc) Do you think it would have enough power to tide me over? The board has embedded graphics, but only VGA out..
What do you think?

Thnx.. I'll ony be playing recorded TV and streaming from the net.. I haven't played with online content yet, so I really do not know what all is available...thats why I wanted to wait a bit on a new mb/cpu... to see what is out there and if I will really bother to play any games... Do you think the AMD lanio might be worth waiting for over the current i3 2100?

For RAID, if I get 6x2TB, let's say 2 Hitachi, 2 Samsung and 2 WD Green. If one fails, must I replace it with the exact same model?

AFAIK it is only a matter of the drive having to match the size, which wouldn't be an issue with all 2 TBs, but I'm trying to be as sure as I can before I purchase spares incorrectly and/or unnecessarily.

I was thinking of using Zacate but I dont think the CPU part will be powerful enough but I figure if I use a more powerful CPU and gpu that will screw up my plan for power savings so I can't leave it on all the time. I was hoping Zacate would provide that balance andperhaps llano will, but until then a beefier combo is necessary for me.

I dont think you went over this but now with the power savings of higher end gpus, at some point do you think it would be better to just plug in a gpu ore at least a more powerful gpu, then shoot for using an aggressive sleep mode?

Also, what are your experiences with sleep mode as far as power draw and waking from recording tv?

Now that Samsung is selling its hard-drive business, what's the next best recommendation for an HDD? Seagate or Western Digital?

Hitachi 2TB Deskstar 5K3000 soon to be Western Digital.

I use 7MC and set a power profile to hibernate in 15min. It wakes to record and wakes sometime early morning to update the guide data and defrag the hard drive. It works very well. I did have an issue that some win7 systems seem to have where the power profile would keep reverting to sleep = never. I found that creating a new power profile, as opposed to just modifying the default, and setting it to what I want seems to have resolved that issue.

Can you share with me how did you set up the recording, update guide and defrag? Mine just sleep or randomly wake up it's own...

Not a lot to configure. take the powerprofile and select "create a new power profile based on an existing one" Check sleep in 15 min, I allow hybrid sleep, I do not require a password on resume. I also changed the allowable times for 7MC updates to "12:00AM - 6:00 Am and I changed the time for the defrag task to 12:30 AM.

I found this guide to be helpfull.
http://babgvant.com/blogs/andyvt/arc...ome-sleep.aspx
unlike the author I have used Hybrid sleep without issue and because I do not have any extenders I disable all the wake on LAN stuff.


If you have issues with the PC waking at random times
You first need to understand what asked it to wake.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=18551

My experience with 7MC is that if you have a scheduled recording it will always wake to record the show as long as you have checked "allow wake timers" in the power profile.

I'm looking for a slim, wireless keyboard (don't need mouse). I have been using a very basic $10 Logitech 350 for a while and would prefer to keep this layout: http://i.imgur.com/Lo6ot.jpg

I see these two as good options:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16823126194
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16823176011

Just need one that I can sit with in my lap and use some feet away if possible. Appreciate any recommendations, thanks.

I am typing this response using a Iogear GKM561R keyboard. Smaller sized but with a full sized keyboard layout. RF instead of IR making less problematic when typing with the feet up.

Has a built in trackball, mouse buttons, and scroll wheel supporting full mouse functionality without having to balance a mouse on your leg. Been a nice addition to the HTPC.

hey renethx

i have a dec i3 build with the stock cooler - i have a heat issue, my temps are still hovering are 55c

i have tried all sorts of case fans, but i still cannot get the CPU temps down, would a better and quiet CPU cooler work?

Just asking but are you sure the pins are secure? I had the same issue after everyone said the stock cooler was fine. When I would put one in the other would come out. Turns out I was turning them the wrong way doh.

Just something to check for sure.

Wow! Well, guys!
That's a whole lot of info that I didn't even think I'd need.
Never even thought about HTPC, not knowing what to do lol

Thank you so very much.

I agreed with what renethx just replied. I've 13 2100 with stock cooler and hovering around 43C 2 days ago without any additional fan. Today, I changed a case with only one 90MM case fan next to the CPU stock cooler and now it drops to low 30c when idle and low 40C when playing BD.

Hi Renethx, I just got the april abridged guide and I really like the Mini-ITX standard system with intel iGPU that uses the i3-2100, but I want to house it in a case that can take at least 4 3.5" hard drives.. the only case I found so far that looks good is the lian li pc-q08b. it's ok if it won't fit on a shelf I'm just going to put it on the floor below my tv stand. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112265 is this a good case? are there better ones I should be looking at? For instance, will the asrock or gigabyte mini-itx motherboards you recommend fit in a microatx case?

edit: I like small/lower power. I'm currently using 2 2TB 3.5" western digital green drives now, but plan to get two more full size hard drives in the future

The Silverstone LC10 also holds 8.

hehe oh well I gave up on the 4 drive mini-itx idea and I'm just building the mini-itx standard intel igpu build. and I'm replacing the tricool fan in the isk 310-150 with this quieter fan. Hope it makes it quieter. Scythe S-FLEX SFF80A - 80mm Silent Fan - 1000 RPM - Sleeved (SFF80A). parts should be here by friday! the i3-2100 will be my first cpu over 3ghz that I didn't have to overclock

edit: this new htpc is replacing one I gave to my sister. That one was also one I used renethx's guide for.. intel e5200, 4gb ram, zotac geforce 9300itx-wifi, apex mi-008, western digital 640gb 7200 rpm 3.5" drive from when the guide was still kind of new

Moneual 312


i have tried 2 different sets of tripple 40mm fans (noisy) and taking the 2nd HDD out and removing the PSU from the case and adding a 80mm fan

i tired blowing air into the case and sucking air out of the case, by far sucking air out works the best.




im going to take a look at the stock cooler this morning and reseat it to see if that helps