1U HTPC Build

[tad]

In order to consolidate things in my rack, I have decided to try to reduce my HTPC down to a 1U chassis, using as many of my existing components as possible.

I currently have a 3u rackmount chassis with the following:
- Intel i5 3570k
- ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX Motherboard
- Audio breakout Board (I need dual digital audio outputs and I'd rather not use a splitter).
- 2x3.5" HDDs (3.5TB)
- 1x2.5" SSD
- Lots of wasted space

New 1u rackmount chassis:
- Chassis: Undecided; ideally 1u front-mount only (I currently only have a 2-post rack).
- Stick with the same i5 3570k if possible - I need to investigate cooling options
- Switch to a comparable mini-atx or ITX motherboard
- Ditch the audio breakout board and find a motherboard with both coaxial digital and optical toslink onboard, if possible
- Switch to a single (4TB 3.5" HDD)
- Keep the 2.5" SSD

I don't want this thing to be screaming loud, but it's in the basement so noise is not a primary consideration.

If anyone has done something similar, I'd be interested in hearing about your experience.

I'll be updating this post as the build progresses.

[tad]

Tentative plan:
- Chassis: Supermicro CSE-512F-350B SC512 F-350 (1u, 14.5" deep, space for 2xHDD, 350w power supply) -- will be tight...
--> Breakout cables for non-supermicro motherboard; mounting adapter for 2.5" HDD
--> Note, the I/O backplane will recur some custom cutting for the non-supermicro motherboard
- Motherboard/CPU: Use what I have
- HSF: Dynatron K-199 or K-2 (cpu is 3570k--77w TDP--and never under full load, so this should be fine)
- HDD: 1x4TB (undecided) and 1x128GB SSD

I'm a bit worried about airflow since the ram slots on my motherboard will block the case's cooling fans, but with an active cooler on the cpu i'm not sure i'll need the case cooling fans. I would also consider getting a single slot fan to put in the expansion slot, which will be unused.

[wally007]

I've yet to see 1U Server not to be super loud (although i never custom built one, I cant imagine 40mm/50mm fans moving enough air and stay quite at the same time)

I've got 3U storage box and 3U Sever plus backup server. I regret not going 4U, since with 4U you can pretty much set up any consumer heatsink fan combo in it.
I've got my servers in garage so noise is not an issue but I cant imagine 1U server in there. Those things are loud.

[tad]

3U ALL-IN-ONE HTPC BUILD

After kicking the idea of a 1U build around, I decided to go in the opposite direction. I will be sticking with my 3u rackmount chassis and fitting as much external equipment as possible inside.
The primary goal is to make the whole setup neater and more self contained.

Here is what I currently have in my HTPC:
Case: Athena Power 3U rackmount (RM-3U3035S40)
Motherboard: ATX Z77 something or other
CPU: i5 K series
Hard drives: 2x3.5" and 1x2.5" SSD

These are my external components (current housed in a rats nest of cables on shelves in my rack):
1x Dolby Digital decoder (converts digital audio from HTPC to analog to feed home audio distribution system)
1x Microsoft USB infrared receiver (with a blaster from my Xantech IR distribution system on the front)
2x Ceton Echo media center extenders
2x Dolby Digital decoders (converts the digital audio from the Echos to analog to feed home audio distribution system)

ALL of this will be going into my 3u case.

The Ceton Echos will live in the unoccupied 3x5.25" drive bays. I will be installing a 120mm fan at the front of the drive bays to keep them nice and cool. The dolby decoders will be housed in the unoccupied bays for additional 3.5" hard drives. The big challenge will be keeping all of the cabling organized.

I started working on modifying the case last night. Here is what it looks like so far:



As you can see, the backplate is pretty intense. From left to right, you will see:

• 2x lighted switches to toggle power to the Ceton Echos (in case I need to do a hard reset). The echos will be wired to the 5v line in the PC (through these switches).

• 2x extra ethernet jacks to provide network connectivity to the Ceton Echos. I used panel mount ethernet cables. http://www.amazon.com/CablesOnline-Shie ... t+ethernet

• 3x 3.5mm for IR passthrough. On the outside, these jacks will be connected to ports on my Xantech IR distribution hub. On the inside, IR blasters will control the IR receiver for the HTPC and the 2 echos.

• 6x RCA for analog audio out from the dolby decoders (I didn't have any red jacks on hand, so I had to use orange).

• 2x HDMI for the Ceton echo output to my HDMI matrix

• Digital audio output from HPTC (this will be moved internal to feed the dolby decoder for the HPTC)

This is the case I am working with.



I will continue to update this thread with progress. Let me know if you have any questions or comments! I'd love to hear them, good and bad. The biggest downside to what I'm doing is the complexity involved when a component fails... but I think it's going to be pretty sweet!

[IownFIVEechos]

Utt Ohh you are not using the glorified supplied USB ceton almighty power cables?

[tad]

Utt Ohh you are not using the glorified supplied USB ceton almighty power cables?

Oh I'll use the cable, just hack off the end. That counts, right?

[barnabas1969]

Just make sure you ground the shield on the USB power cable. I'm betting that the Echo needs the connector shell grounded for a lower resistance path to ground.

[Crash2009]

currently housed in a rats nest of cables on shelves in my rack

I was thinking about having a contest. Who's got the worst Rat's Nest?

Nice build BTW. I assume the pair of HDMI's below/above/beside the toslink are for your Echo's.

[barnabas1969]

I was thinking about having a contest. Who's got the worst Rat's Nest?

Wow. Now I wish I had taken pictures before I cleaned up my wiring closet. It was a mess! In addition to my network cables, all my security camera cables run to that closet too. I put it together in a hurry, and it was really bad. I've since cleaned it up considerably. I spent one day taking everything out, routing cables neatly, and putting everything back in neatly. It was a lot of work, but it's organized and easy to get to everything now.

[tad]

currently housed in a rats nest of cables on shelves in my rack

I was thinking about having a contest. Who's got the worst Rat's Nest?

Nice build BTW. I assume the pair of HDMI's below/above/beside the toslink are for your Echo's.

My rats nest was TERRIBLE (actually, it still is). Two things really helped recently:
1.) Switching from a standalone original HDHomerun + HDHomerun prime to the HDHomerun Prime 6 tuner rackmount (from ebay)
2.) This project. Pics in the next post.

And yes, the pair of HDMI ports is for the Echo's. That is actually a dual serial port expansion bracket that I mounted a couple of panel mount HDMI cables in. It came out great.

[tad]

I finished putting everything together on Sunday. So far, things are working well. Given how packed it is, I plan to keep an eye on case temperatures for a while. I added a 120mm fan in front of the echos to hopefully keep them nice and cool. There are also two 80mm intake fans in front of the hard drives. I also try to keep 1u clear on the top and bottom of most of my equipment.

Here's what I started with:


As you can see, there were quite a few things I wanted to fit inside this case. I got rid of all the separate power supplies since everything runs on 5V. I wired the two echos to the lighted switches I added to the rear of the case (grounding the shield on the USB cable, as Barnabas suggested).



I mounted the microsoft ir receiver to the underside of a bracket meant to hold additional 3.5" drives. The extra slack in the USB cable is mounted underneath. I could have just cut off all the slack, but there was space to coil it neatly. It is connected to an internal USB port using a USB header-->female USB A jack that I buried in the case (after I removed the mounting bracket). A Xantech IR blaster is attached to the front window and connected to one of the 3.5mm pass through ports I added to the rear panel.



I mounted the two Echos using adhesive velcro to the underside of the 5.25 drive bay bracket. I cut a couple short pieces of 1x2 to space apart the echos and allow ventilation from the 120mm fan i added to the front of the 5.25 bay. Next to the echos, I attached the two dolby digital analog to digital decoders used with the echos.



And finally, here is everything mounted inside the case. Yes, there are a lot of wires. Believe it or not, but the wiring is all actually relatively neat (although it doesn't look it in this picture). Given the limited space inside the case, it was basically impossible to get things any more organized. That said, I'm thrilled with how it came out and shocked I was able to get everything to fit. Now hopefully I can keep it running smoothly

One other concern I had was cycling power to the echos during reboot and shutdown. In the past, I had an echo lose its configuration when I removed the USB power cable (without shutting off the echo with the remote). I discovered that during a reboot, power in the system stays on (the echos stay on, they just temporarily lose their connection to the media center). Of course, during a shutdown, everything loses power. To minimize the chance of corrupting the echos again, I plan to shut each down with the remote before shutting down the HTPC (which hardly ever happens). In case you're wondering, yes, this is all on a UPS.

[barnabas1969]

Well, when you first mentioned doing this... my first concern was the ability to power cycle the Echos. I'm glad you added the power switches on the back of the case. But... I have to throw in my $0.02. Everyone knows that I'm not a fan of the Echo... but I have to say how disgraceful it is for the Echo to get "corrupt" just because power was lost while it is running. This doesn't happen with any other extender. In fact, that's how my HP extenders have always been powered off... they're connected to a smart power strip that turns power off to the extender whenever the TV is turned off.

[IownFIVEechos]

Looks awesome, I envy your skills. One question, is it okay to use the wood? I would think over time with the heat; the wood would dry out and potentially leave a risk? Why not use other metal brackets from old cases etc... to make dividers/spacers? Or is it a non-issue?

[IownFIVEechos]

I found this article that covers my question about using wood. Looks like people do it to an extreme without concern so I answered my own question I think. Looks great!

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24355 ... -made-wood

[barnabas1969]

If anything inside a computer case gets hot enough to ignite wood or paper, you've got a big problem anyway. In my old HTPC I made air ducts out of cardboard. Worked great.

[IownFIVEechos]

If anything inside a computer case gets hot enough to ignite wood or paper, you've got a big problem anyway. In my old HTPC I made air ducts out of cardboard. Worked great.

This project is a beast so perhaps it will create more than usual heat? Wonder what will make more heat, this box or an xbox

[barnabas1969]

Paper ignites at 451 degrees fahrenheit. That's almost halfway to the melting point of aluminum. Pine wood ignites at 800 fahrenheit. If the PC gets that hot, you've got serious issues.

[tad]

If anything inside a computer case gets hot enough to ignite wood or paper, you've got a big problem anyway. In my old HTPC I made air ducts out of cardboard. Worked great.

This project is a beast so perhaps it will create more than usual heat? Wonder what will make more heat, this box or an xbox

I just logged in remotely to check on the temperatures. Everything is idling between 75-85 deg F (motherboard sensor temps and cpu temps). All the fans in the front really help, but air flow is still pretty poor due to all of the wiring.

[barnabas1969]

The i5 3570k CPU has a max temp of 67.4C. Those temps are too high.

EDIT: Never mind, I just noticed that you were talking Fahrenheit not Celsius. 85F is only 29.4C.

[tad]

Still running strong *knock on wood*