2P HTPC

[R-Type]

I finished this build a month or so back and posted some pictures of it for the folding team over in the distributed computing forum. Since I've been researching software over here, I thought I'd share the build with people who value the other side of this unorthodox combination.


Specs:
Silverstone LC10B-E
Asus Z8NA-D6C
2x E5649 2.66ghz hexes
6x4GB G.Skill DDR3 1333 ram
Kingston V100+ 64gb SSD
EVGA GT430
2x Xigmatek Loki's
4x AC AF9 92mm fans
3x AC AF8 80mm fans
Samsung SH-B123L Blu-ray drive
Corsair CX430

Over the last year I have significantly ramped my computing involvement in f@h and quickly found myself with case less systems and components all over the apartment. After getting sick of the clutter (and protests from the SO) I set about finishing all of the projects out and finding a proper home for every machine. The goal here is to cram as much computing power as possible into what one could consider a 'normal' power user's pc footprint (PC for each user, server, htpc, laptop).

When I started researching HTPC cases and found Silverstone made models that supported ATX motherboards, my mind immediately went to the ridiculously dense Asus Z8BA 2P 1366 board. The resulting system generates 65k ppd in Windows (over 100k in linux), tops out at 64C folding, draws 275 watts, and thanks to the AC fans spinning below 1500 rpm's, is essentially inaudible from more than a couple feet away. I'm still working out the software loadout that will give me access to linux folding prowress with the streaming and blu-ray playback I need. Since the platform supports VT-d, I'm thinking I will just run Windows 7 with a VM folding. Suggestions on the best htpc software loadout with BD support for either Windows or Linux would be much appreciated.

You may notice some of the pictures have different ram, gpu, or rear fans; I made some changes after building the machine and didn't take pictures from all angles again.

Photos












Comments, criticisms, and suggestions welcome!

 

[W.Feather]

very nice

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/BluRayAndHDDVD

take a look there if you want to try running BluRay and HDDVD's on linux ..... however your best bet is going to be to RIP them off to a HDD/server and play the file from there.

edit: this link may come in handy as well: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats
and another one for use with XBMC http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=67420
seems i found anouther - http://themediaviking.com/2010/bluray-linux/

 

[R-Type]

Thanks Feather, I think I've decided to go the rip to server route. I'll then run linux with XMBC front end to get what I need out of it.

 

[fullvietFX]

Epic.

 

[R-Type]

Epic.

Thanks! It been a great system over the last 8 months.