Ech.Tee.Pee.Cee. :D

YoGi-Sama

YoGi-Sama

Skilled
I had an Atom based NAS for a while now, and while it was good for storage and downloading, the primary usage for that system was backing up my work. Unfortunately, over the period, my media took more space in it. As my media increased, Atom started showing it's limits while streaming/live encoding my media. After I got 40" LCD TV the need for HTPC like setup started crop up.

Finally, I decided to make the jump and build myself one those HTPC thingies. Let the pics tell the story...

As always, click on the pics for larger versions. :)

The innards...

Core i3 530 processor with on-die Intel HD graphics... for it's amazing performance-per-watt and power saving features.

Gigabyte H55M-S2H... not much options available in boards, but this one is good enough with DVi/HDMI and energy saving features.

G.Skill 2GB DDR3 Ram 1066MHz... decently fast and VFM option.

Seagate 2TB HDD x 2... 4TB of storage for all my media needs.

Corsair CX400... to power them all.

Toughest part was getting the right case. I had set my eyes on Silverstone Sugo SG02B, but unfortunately it wasn't available. Didn't like the other options that I saw (Zebronics Cube, what a piece of crap). Thankfully our resident dealer PhOeNiX came to rescue with Lian Li HTPC case. It wasn't as cheap as Sugo, neither it's as compact... but it is mindblowingly beautiful and well built. Well worth the money.

Here it is... Lian Li PC-V351

The brushed aluminum finish is so damn cool, you have to see it to believe it. The construction of the case is top notch, every damn thing in this, even the screws scream of quality and attention to details.



Another angle of the case, the optical drives sit sideways (either way). Right side has 3.5" converter bay, where you can mount your floppy drives (lol) or internal card reader etc. Below the ODD bays you can find ports for FireWire, 2 x USB 2.0, Headphone and Mic jacks.

The back breaks the black continuity with some high quality metal finish of Motherboard tray and HDD cage fan. On top-left sits the PSU.

Oh yeah... the mobo tray slides out. Given the small (not really, but yes) size of the case, working inside any HTPC case is big PIA. So the removable motherboard tray takes out most of the worries of installing stuff out of the way. While the overall construction of the case very polished and a-grade, I did come across slightly sharp edges on PSU window the mobo-tray window. Nothing deal-breaking or alarming, but it does have potential to harm you if you're highly careless.

(I was so excited that I already installed the motherboard before realizing that I had to take snaps)

Motherboard installation is a child's play thanks to removable motherboard tray. I moved my Xonar DX in this system as it wasn't much of use to me and frankly, I was disappointed with it thanks to it's lack of some convenient features that even the lowest grade onboard sound has. The sound quality is awesome, but the software lost me. So I thought it would be better used in my HTPC as I won't be fiddling with it's software as much as I did on my PC.

Inside Lian Li... at top, the HDD cage with easy to use slide-in slots. It comes with small rubber grommets, which you can screw with your HDD and just slide in and lock. both HDD cage and ODD bays have good cutouts for routing the wires. Below the ODD bay are two large 120mm fans, another fan (80mm) can be found on HDD cage window on the back of the case.

Front dual 120 fans can be seen properly here, along with front-panel connector cables.

The part that I love the most in this case?

The beautiful blue power button...

Since my router has ran out of ports, decided to get WiFi-N adapter for this. I couldn't find any good internal adapter so I opted for Belkin N (300) USB adapter.

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I installed Windows7 and XBMC on this.... here are some screens...



Music

Pictures

Movies

TV Shows

Videos

Now the only thing remaining is, IR receiver so I can use my universal remote to control XBMC and clearing up the wire mess. Can anyone advice me which IR receiver is good, tried and tested by XBMC users here?

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The damages...

Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz + Gigabye H55M-S2H : 10,500 /-

G.Skill 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM : 3000 /-

Seagate SATA 2TB Hard Drive ST32000542AS x 2 : 12900 /-

Corsair CX400W CMPSU-400CX : 2700 /-

Lian Li PC-V351 : 7200 /-

Belkin N USB adapter : 2630 /-

Overall : 38930 /-

Hopefully, I will clear up the wire mess soon and get my woofer back (gone dead, getting repaired at Logitech service center) so I can take good photos for whole setup. :)

 
Everything looks so good...The setup, pictures, assembly, final shots, decent damages :)

Congrats :)

PS : How do u take pics which look like product pics with white background and nice lighting.... White background u can get in PS i suppose but the lighting... Do u have studio lights ?
 
As usual, neat and classy. Brilliant setup for the ultimate viewing experience. :)

Forgive me for asking, but how much did the Lian-Li cost?? I urgently need one for my HTPC. And also how many drives can you fit into that? I've got 4. Also, is squeezing in a GPU possible?
 
very neat setup and i love the htpc case but i wish i could move to bigger house for extra space and comfortable soon for myself :(

and is this XBMC is free open source website or is this boot able version

p.s did your quit gaming due to retired of much :|
 
I am gonna call you to take pics of my show-off from the next time :p This is the roper way to show off :)

Congrats. That blue button really looks cool.

Sei said:
As usual, neat and classy. Brilliant setup for the ultimate viewing experience. :)

Forgive me for asking, but how much did the Lian-Li cost?? I urgently need one for my HTPC. And also how many drives can you fit into that? I've got 4. Also, is squeezing in a GPU possible?
Click to expand...

I'll help you out here :p The V351 cost Rs 7200/-. As of now we are out of stock, but i'll be getting loads of different HTPC cases in my next lot. They are all the flat type HTPC cases, and the range will be from Rs 8000 to Rs 19000.

It can fit 2 x HDD's out of the box, and 3 if you are willing to spare one of the 5.25" slots of the 2. IIRC it can fit Big GPU's as well.
 
@Ronnie_Gogs: Thanks mate... :). The white background was achieved with bit of white paper sheets and PS, for the lighting it's just some simple trickery with bouncing flash and slight overexposure with slow shutter speeds.

@Sei: It's got space for two drives and third one in 5.25" drive bay with minor adjustment. You can put two drives in 5.25" bays with little more adjustments. As well as there is enough space near front fans to keep another drive lying around. Not a very elegant solution, but the case has enough space if you wish to do so.

@Arun.P: No mate, I still haven't got out of gaming yet, in fact since the time I got 40" LCD I've been playing on bigass screen. :D

@PhOeNiX: Anytime mate. :)

@Fah33m: Sure mate, let's meet up at my place... anyways it's been quite some time we had a Mumbai meet. :hap2:

Thanks everyone. :)
 
Christ, that setup looks kick-ass! :O

Congrats yogi bear! :D

PS: O love slim HTPC enlosures over this big square dabbas. :p
 
@Gannu: Well, I wanted slim one too, but the problem was with HDD space and price. Ones with decent price had only one HDD bay and ones with 2 or more were too expensive. While this case is slightly larger than wanted/expected, it makes it up with great looks and more than great build quality.

Guys... I need help getting IR adapter for PC which can support universal remote, any HTPC owners around to help out?
 
iGo said:
@Ronnie_Gogs: Thanks mate... :). The white background was achieved with bit of white paper sheets and PS, for the lighting it's just some simple trickery with bouncing flash and slight overexposure with slow shutter speeds.
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining.... If you have time do make consider making small tutorial to achieve shots like that for chaps like me... I never like to use flash as I can never control my flash... Its looks too artificial and overexposed to me even when I try using it even in minimum o/p....
 
Really cool setup, though like Desecrator, I prefer standard design models. But the removable mobo tray floored me! That + the Lian Li finish by itself makes the cabby drool worthy :)! Congrats on the purchase and the beautiful presentation!
 
Holy :O

I liked the pics more than the products :D Your show off stands out just because of those jaw dropping lively pics. :D

Killer setup man :D The dabba looks awesome and so does the screen :D
 
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