# Mini-ITX HTPC



## cdawall (Dec 17, 2015)

Well I got my AM1 rig up and running. Build isn't anything to terribly powerful, but the goal is to be able to let the wife run netflix in the bedroom and occasionally try streaming games from the desktop like a steambox. Biggest things on this build were no noise, small and clean looking. I would have preferred a case in a similar size with room for a disk drive, but I couldn't find any so this will have to do.

Some of the specs might be a wee bit overkill for the overall setup, but why not.

Specs:
Asrock AM1H-ITX
Athlon 5350
2x4GB 1600 Samsung LPLV
256GB Micron SSD refurb
Wireless N M2 card I stole from an old laptop (Atheros AR5B95)
Antec ISK 110 Vesa







My biggest complaint on this case is neither of these sets of USB ports is USB 3.0






These LED's are bright to say the least, luckily the motherboard turns them off after boot.






This case has literally zero ability for cable management.






Wifi antennas stolen from an ancient compaq run to the wifi card from an acer.






This board allows some overclocking, but no voltage bumps so 115 it is.

I really do like this build, next to no noise and its faster in all aspects than the black tower behind it all while using maybe a third of the power. (Athlon X3@Phenom X3 3.4ghz, onboard 785G board, H50, 3 HDD's)


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## TRWOV (Dec 28, 2015)

That antec case was my #1 option but it's so expensive down here.


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## flmatter (Dec 28, 2015)

that's a cute little set up


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## cdawall (Dec 29, 2015)

TRWOV said:


> That antec case was my #1 option but it's so expensive down here.



They aren't really that cheap here. It was the single most expensive thing in my entire build.



flmatter said:


> that's a cute little set up



Thanks!


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## cdawall (Jan 1, 2017)

Couple of updates for this thread. I now have two of the Athlon 5350 rigs running one in my son's room and one in my master bedroom. I also added one with a little more umph for the downstairs.











Nothing too crazy, but a good improvement over the Athlons

Intel I5 6400T
2x8GB DDR2400
Samsung SM951 128GB
MSI H170l PRO AC
Antec ISK 110
stock 90w DC-DC board with a 90W Antec brick


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## Melvis (Jan 1, 2017)

Very nice little builds! and I cant wait for Zen APU's so i can update my little beast.


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## cdawall (Jan 1, 2017)

Melvis said:


> Very nice little builds! and I cant wait for Zen APU's so i can update my little beast.



I had a 7860k in that box, but it draws too much power. Can't keep the bugger stable even underclocked and undervolted. So I have given up on that endeavor and went Intel lol. I'm not a massive fan at how cut down non-z chipsets are though I must admit.


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## cdawall (Jan 1, 2017)

I need to tweak the ram some I guess. Stupid H170 not letting XMP work at full speed.


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## Melvis (Jan 2, 2017)

cdawall said:


> I had a 7860k in that box, but it draws too much power. Can't keep the bugger stable even underclocked and undervolted. So I have given up on that endeavor and went Intel lol. I'm not a massive fan at how cut down non-z chipsets are though I must admit.



Do you mean you tried it in that Antec case with the 90W PSU? I was thinking my current INWIN Chopin Case with its 150W PSU should be enough for any APU based system? what you think?


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## cdawall (Jan 2, 2017)

Melvis said:


> Do you mean you tried it in that Antec case with the 90W PSU? I was thinking my current INWIN Chopin Case with its 150W PSU should be enough for any APU based system? what you think?



I tried it with the 90w DC-DC board and a 120w Asus brick. One of the guys I work with has no issues with the inwin and the built in 150w for the same basic 7860k rig


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## jboydgolfer (Jan 2, 2017)

Melvis said:


> Do you mean you tried it in that Antec case with the 90W PSU? I was thinking my current INWIN Chopin Case with its 150W PSU should be enough for any APU based system? what you think?
> 
> View attachment 82607




 That's a sweet looking build .got a love those inwin cases


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## Melvis (Jan 2, 2017)

cdawall said:


> I tried it with the 90w DC-DC board and a 120w Asus brick. One of the guys I work with has no issues with the inwin and the built in 150w for the same basic 7860k rig



Ok cool yep. I was thinking that the 150W PSU in this INWIN case would be enough to power a high end APU System and the new Zen APU's should be alot more powerful and lower wattage, cant wait!



jboydgolfer said:


> That's a sweet looking build .got a love those inwin cases



Thanks   It is one of my all time favourite builds to be honest, I love it! I have now installed a second HDD in it a WD 1TB Black, its all ready for Zen APU's and some gaming on the go (LAN's etc)


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## cdawall (Jan 2, 2017)

Melvis said:


> Ok cool yep. I was thinking that the 150W PSU in this INWIN case would be enough to power a high end APU System and the new Zen APU's should be alot more powerful and lower wattage, cant wait!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks   It is one of my all time favourite builds to be honest, I love it! I have now installed a second HDD in it a WD 1TB Black, its all ready for Zen APU's and some gaming on the go (LAN's etc)



I actually almost went with one of those cases, but didn't want to copy my boss lol


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## Melvis (Jan 2, 2017)

cdawall said:


> I actually almost went with one of those cases, but didn't want to copy my boss lol



Haha makes sense but for the little extra in size it becomes a more flexible case. I also was going to buy the same case as your but the model before it with the fan on the side but over here there over $100 so I held off on it for a few yrs and then when I saw the INWIN Chopin I just said stuff it, its pretty much perfect and went and bought it for $130.


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## Hood (Jan 2, 2017)

I like the Asrock Deskmini 110 better; it's $60 more than this Antec, but includes the motherboard (up to 65w CPU) and a 120 watt power brick.  It also supports Ultra M.2 (PCIe 3.0x4, no SATA), so it will boot from a very fast NVMe drive like the Samsung 950/960 Pro. 
Sadly, it doesn't include the VESA mount (it's optional, $5.99), but it does include the wifi card (Deskmini 110W - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856158048&ignorebbr=1)


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## cdawall (Jan 2, 2017)

Melvis said:


> Haha makes sense but for the little extra in size it becomes a more flexible case. I also was going to buy the same case as your but the model before it with the fan on the side but over here there over $100 so I held off on it for a few yrs and then when I saw the INWIN Chopin I just said stuff it, its pretty much perfect and went and bought it for $130.



I really had no need for the Intel build. The amd build was a cheap in between that failed me. The antec case is perfect for those athlon 5350's though. 35w under max load lol.



Hood said:


> I like the Asrock Deskmini 110 better; it's $60 more than this Antec, but includes the motherboard (up to 65w CPU) and a 120 watt power brick.  It also supports Ultra M.2 (PCIe 3.0x4, no SATA), so it will boot from a very fast NVMe drive like the Samsung 950/960 Pro.
> Sadly, it doesn't include the VESA mount (it's optional, $5.99), but it does include the wifi card (Deskmini 110W - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856158048&ignorebbr=1)



The MSI board I snagged has an ultra m.2 as well. The antec case can hold 2 2.5's as well, not that I use those however.

I went with a 35w chip for a reason though I don't need anything crazy to stream 1080p.


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## Melvis (Jan 2, 2017)

cdawall said:


> I really had no need for the Intel build. The amd build was a cheap in between that failed me. The antec case is perfect for those athlon 5350's though. 35w under max load lol.



Yeah I hear ya shame it failed you as I always wanted to try a AM1 system. 

lol yes I totally agree with you cdawall, just right. 

I wanted something for now and then also in the future so I went with the Chopin. Its super fast now but just hasnt got any Graphics power.


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