Mini ITX cases for Sage clients

[wayner]

A recent thread on Netflix started to veer into discussion of SFF cases for mini-ITX cases. I am looking for a new very small case for a client. Anyone have any suggestions? I plan to use a Sandy Bridge CPU with onboard graphics so I don't need a graphics card. I will use a SSD which will be the only hard drive and I don't need an optical drive.

The Antec ISK 100 looks nice but it gets bad ratings.
The HDPlex H3.S looks great - it is fanless and very small but it is expensive at over $200.
The M350 looks like a good option but it is kind of ugly to me.
There is the Lian-Li PC Q09-F but it is much bigger than I need.
And then there is the Wesena ITX-7 which is also on the expensive side.

Anyone have any other suggestions to add to the list?

[panteragstk]

Have you checked out any of the barebones itx packages?

Of the ones you picked I like the antec and the hdplex. Lian Li is good, but as you said it is too big.

EDIT: What about this one? Or this one?

[Fuzzy]

suggested it in the other thread, but I am very pleased with my hec 8K series (I've got the 8K01). Newegg has stopped carrying hec though, and I'm not sure of any other major US retailers. They are, in my opinion, the perfect size. Not too cramped to be a pain to work with, but still small enough to disappear. The have simple, yet not plain looks. They support a slim optical drive, so they don't waste space on a full-height drive.

EDIT: looks like directron is still carrying them: http://www.directron.com/8k01bba12.html

[stevech]

I have a mini-ITX enclosure/motherboard. It's a gen-1 Intel Atom. The Intel video chipset is far too slow and/or has no Microsoft DXVA capability (when running Win7).

What mini-ITX motherboard has a suitable chipset for DXVA with low CPU usage and able to do at least 1080i? Zotac? Asus? Intel seems to be out of the running now.

I usually purchase via newegg.

[wayner]

Several manufacturers make mini-ITX mobos for socket 1155 - even the slowest processors of this Sandy Bridge generation are plenty fast enough for Sage, DXVA, etc. If you were building a system today I don't know why you wouldn't use a Sandy Bridge processor such as an i3-2100 which is about $130 at Newegg.

Even socket 1156, which was the previous generation, was good enough for what you need.

The only issue can be cooling the CPU in a very small enclosure without generating too much noise. But these processors are also fairly power efficient.

[wayner]

FYI - there are some interesting reviews at SPCR that are applicable to this thread:

A review of the HDPlex H3.SODD case
A review of the Sandy Bridge i3-2100T and i5-2400S CPUs
A review of the Asus P8H67i Deluxe mini ITX mobo
A review of the Zotac H67-ITX mini-ITX mobo
A review of the Antec ISK 100 case

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by stevech

I have a mini-ITX enclosure/motherboard. It's a gen-1 Intel Atom. The Intel video chipset is far too slow and/or has no Microsoft DXVA capability (when running Win7).

What mini-ITX motherboard has a suitable chipset for DXVA with low CPU usage and able to do at least 1080i? Zotac? Asus? Intel seems to be out of the running now.

I usually purchase via newegg.

the atoms and such GMA were only built for web browsing and kiosk apps (as that what the atom processor was designed for). The i3, on the other hand, is designed for full mainstream PC's, and the built in GPU is MORE than enough to handle anything sage will throw at it (client side).

[stevech]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

the atoms and such GMA were only built for web browsing and kiosk apps (as that what the atom processor was designed for). The i3, on the other hand, is designed for full mainstream PC's, and the built in GPU is MORE than enough to handle anything sage will throw at it (client side).

Since I have an HD300 extender w/HDMI->TV, there's no need for (but would be nice, if not a power hog) a hot graphics GPU in the PC that is the always-on Sage server. The Sage client software is infrequently used on my office PC and that's a full-up PC, albeit needing updating. With Win7 the H264 decoders are Microsoft's.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by stevech

Since I have an HD300 extender w/HDMI->TV, there's no need for (but would be nice, if not a power hog) a hot graphics GPU in the PC that is the always-on Sage server. The Sage client software is infrequently used on my office PC and that's a full-up PC, albeit needing updating. With Win7 the H264 decoders are Microsoft's.

This discussion was about making a mini-itx client pc, instead of an HD300.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by stevech

Since I have an HD300 extender w/HDMI->TV, there's no need for (but would be nice, if not a power hog) a hot graphics GPU in the PC that is the always-on Sage server.

IMHO there is no need for a discrete graphics card in any system unless it is to be used for gaming or you want to drive more than two monitors. The onboard GPU with Sandy Bridge processors is more than enough for pretty much all non-gaming tasks and it uses very little power. Hopefully in the future the SageTV Transcoder will also support the Quick Sync feature of this CPU to speed up video transcoding.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by wayner

IMHO there is no need for a discrete graphics card in any system unless it is to be used for gaming or you want to drive more than two monitors. The onboard GPU with Sandy Bridge processors is more than enough for pretty much all non-gaming tasks and it uses very little power. Hopefully in the future the SageTV Transcoder will also support the Quick Sync feature of this CPU to speed up video transcoding.

Actually babgvant's dvrmstoolbox supports quicksynch so I would recommend using that

[wayner]

True but internal Sage support for Quick Sync should also facilitate Transcoding for Placeshifter clients.

[valnar]

I have one of these from A-Tech Fabrication.

Yes they are expensive, and they only support very specific motherboards, but if you only want to build one, nice, small HTPC, it's something to consider.

[wayner]

I really like the STPC-300 from these guys but it is crazy expensive when you add in the options like the Heatsync cooling system, IR receiver and remote, feet, etc. My estimate is that you would be at about $600, even without USB and pci-E card.

That is much more expensive than the HDPlex H3.S but much more the size I am looking for. The HDplex systems seem to have several more heat pipes than the A-Tech systems. They are also a lot cheaper at around $230 including heatpipes which makes it about $300 less than the A-tech which is $380 +$140 for heat pipes, at least for the STPC-300.

[clayfree]

Originally Posted by stevech

I have a mini-ITX enclosure/motherboard. It's a gen-1 Intel Atom. The Intel video chipset is far too slow and/or has no Microsoft DXVA capability (when running Win7).

What mini-ITX motherboard has a suitable chipset for DXVA with low CPU usage and able to do at least 1080i? Zotac? Asus? Intel seems to be out of the running now.

I usually purchase via newegg.

I built my main htpc from a Zotac ION when it forst came out. Once configured properly there was not a single file I could not play with it. BR discs, BR Rips & 1080 mkv. I loved the size and low power requirements. The ION is the key because the atom itself does mot have the power.

From what I could tell the video was sharing system memory so I had installed the max 4gb ram.

My man htpc was in a slightly larger case with an optical drive but I also built another version using the M35 case and I loved the size, just a little larger that my Logitech remote.

[Fuzzy]

At this point, I'd much rather run an i3 than an Ion system. The i3 graphics AND cpu are considerably better than the atom+ion solution, cost just a bit more, and don't really use that much more power.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

At this point, I'd much rather run an i3 than an Ion system. The i3 graphics AND cpu are considerably better than the atom+ion solution, cost just a bit more, and don't really use that much more power.

Second that as well as atom. I wouldn't build either of those over a i3.

[DMT]

I recently built, for testing purposes, an i3-2100T in a Habey EMC-800B chassis along with a 2.5" hard drive and slim blu-ray. Loaded with Win 7 x86 it achieved 20 watts idle (measured with kill a watt).

[wayner]

Did you use the stock heatsink for the i3-2100T? If not what did you use for a HS and if you did how is it noise-wise?

[bjterry62]

Gigabyte makes some nice itx cases. I have an MIB-T5140 and have been very happy with it. It can be somewhat hard to find though. They also have the smaller MIB-T3140 (slim ODD) which is currently available here.

I have an Athlon II X2 in mine and it can run warm if the door to the cabinet is closed. In an open cabinet it is fine. Most are using i3 or AMD Fusion in their ITX cases. I also have the fanless Asus mATX Fusion board in a bedroom Sage client. Completely silent.

BT