Thursday, May 27, 2004
Additional Components identified and ordered
Since the HTPC will be located in the main viewing/listening room, a primary objective is "QUIET" -- closely coupled with quiet is "COOL" as in not hot. Generally, I can quiet the machine by lowering fan speed or eliminating fans where possible -- hence, the added emphasis on "COOL" Quiet but Cool becomes a balancing act.
I finally located some 120mm Papst case fans and ordered a couple of them. These are arguably the quietest fans available with good performance. I found them at Directron for about $36 for the pair. One of these will replace the factory case fan that comes with the Antec case. The case has a place for an optional front 120mm fan and the second fan is for that if needed.
I mentioned earlier that I was researching 200GB SATA drives. There are only 3-4 manufacturers that have them available now. I selected a Seagate Barracuda 80GB for the system and application drive primarily for it's quiet operation. Seagate has announced a 200GB SATA, but I have been unable to locate one anywhere. Finally, I came across Insight in Arizona who had them in stock for $174. I jumped on a pair of those and they are enroute. These drives will be for video, music, and image storage.
I will implement them in a RAID configuration, and am trying to decide on RAID 0 or RAID 1. Redundancy, or Capacity ... hmmm that's the question.
The case and base components from Newegg have shipped and should arrive either Friday or Monday. The quiet 400W PSU and the Papst fans should be here tomorrow.
I'll get some component pictures before I begin assembly.
I finally located some 120mm Papst case fans and ordered a couple of them. These are arguably the quietest fans available with good performance. I found them at Directron for about $36 for the pair. One of these will replace the factory case fan that comes with the Antec case. The case has a place for an optional front 120mm fan and the second fan is for that if needed.
I mentioned earlier that I was researching 200GB SATA drives. There are only 3-4 manufacturers that have them available now. I selected a Seagate Barracuda 80GB for the system and application drive primarily for it's quiet operation. Seagate has announced a 200GB SATA, but I have been unable to locate one anywhere. Finally, I came across Insight in Arizona who had them in stock for $174. I jumped on a pair of those and they are enroute. These drives will be for video, music, and image storage.
I will implement them in a RAID configuration, and am trying to decide on RAID 0 or RAID 1. Redundancy, or Capacity ... hmmm that's the question.
The case and base components from Newegg have shipped and should arrive either Friday or Monday. The quiet 400W PSU and the Papst fans should be here tomorrow.
I'll get some component pictures before I begin assembly.
