Small form factor gaming/HTPC

[Mr47]

Well, I finally got to put together my new computer. I thought I might post it to see if anyone had any recommendations for future upgrades.
Everything stays pretty cool and most importantly quiet! I can't hear the computer over the ceiling fan in my room making it perfect for watching movies on it. I sort of took cable management to a new level compared the Core2Duo build I had in this case before.

Hardware Used:
Asus P8Z68 Deluxe Mobo
Intel i5 2500K @ 4.2GHz (max Temp of 60 degrees Celsius on hottest core)
Noctua NH-C12P SE14 heatsinc
8Gb of G. Skill Sniper Series RAM @ 1600MHz
MSI Twin FrozrII AMD HD 6870 (max temperature of 67 degrees Celsius)
HT Omega Claro + Sound card
Hauppauge hvr2250 cable card
Silverstone 750W modular power supply
Silverstone LC-17 case (modded to fit 120mm fan up front for intake and grill punched into top of case for heatsinc intake)
2x 1Tb WD Caviar Black HDD
1x Intel x25m 120GB SSD for OS/application drive

 

[count_rugen]

Hey there!

If you don't mind me asking, what was the grand total in dollars?

Thanks!

 

[Mr47]

Hey there!

If you don't mind me asking, what was the grand total in dollars?

Thanks!

Nope, don't mind at all.

It was around $1600 for everything (Give or take a couple hundred for fans and other accessories), but there is a lot of wiggle room with the hard drives for example. But I was upgrading from an old LGA775 setup so I already had the SSD, GPU, Case, and one of the 1Tb hard drives, so I ended spending around $700 for this upgrade.

Edit: Oh, and I already had the Sound card.

 

[dangerboyjtf2]

Jeese thats a tight fit but you did a great job with cable management, it looks great!

 

[Mr47]

Jeese thats a tight fit but you did a great job with cable management, it looks great!

Thanks! I can't tell you how much that means to me.
Yeah it was one heck of a tight fit. I ended up having to take the Mobo out 11 different times to get the cables run the way I wanted.

 

[rwpritchett]

I wish my wife would let me build one like that.

Nice job. That's a true no-compromise HTPC/gamer. How are the acoustics?

 

[Mr47]

I wish my wife would let me build one like that.

Nice job. That's a true no-compromise HTPC/gamer. How are the acoustics?

The acoustics are excellent especially with the Noctua fans (which I highly recommend even with the high price). I put some sound dampening foam in the case and that helped allot with HDD noise. As far as overall noise of the computer, the HDDs are the loudest thing in the case! I have them set to turn off when I am not using them (since the OS is on the SSD) and I can hear them when they turn on. I have to turn everything off in my room and really really listen for the computer to hear it at all. I still can't say that it is silent of course, but it is darn close!