Squilliam said:
greenmedic88 said:
Squilliam said:
Cypher1980 said:
Built 18 months ago as a power saving PC.
Fully loaded but with a fanless GPU and fanless CPU heatsink.
Whisper quiet and 2/3 the energy pull of my last PC. |
Ohhh details? Im curious about building a proper HTPC.
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No discrete VGA card Squil.
There are a fair number of good HTPC mini ATX motherboards with HDMI outputs and integrated video (yet still HD video capable), which means less power, less heat and less need for active cooling. I don't know about going fanless with the CPU though; stock CPU fans don't make that much noise. Unless you want to go with a really low clock single core and undervolt everything in the BIOS.
Of course if noise is a deal breaker, you could always build one of the few (maybe first) liquid cooled HTPC for totally fanless and silent operation. Too much hassle IMO.
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But I needs a discrete VGA card for HTPC, ATI has some good video accelleration/improvement technologies. Luckily the HD 5450 is fanless. I wonder if I can design a fanless PC based off convection cooling? It'd be an interesting challenge!
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You're not going to be gaming on an HTPC, at least not if it's a true HTPC. Intel G45 based mobos (like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131336) have enough GPU power for BD playback or any 1920x1080 video source, so there's no need for a discrete VGA card at all.
If you did a build based on an Asus P5Q-EM, technically the only fan you'd need would be on the CPU.
Less power, less money. The HTPC lies in the motherboard (mATX) and whatever small form enclosure you want to use.
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