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[maxxsid]

Hi,
My HTPC is housed in a D-Vine 5 Ahanix case - it's quiet but not quiet enough for me.
So, I got this idea to move the CPU box away (in some larger silenced enclosure) and have only a smaller break-out box in my AV rack.
One doesn't need the whole thing.. Only the DVD drive, power button, a couple of USB and firewire connectors, USB-UIRT and keyboard/mouse sensors. Maybe an lcd/vfd status display. What else?
All this can be housed neatly in a SFF-type enclosure with a couple of cables running to the CPU box.

Is there anything wrong with this idea?

--max

[benn600]

That's a very unique and interesting idea.  I'm going to be building multiple HTPCs in the next few months or so to outfit our entire home--one at each TV.  I'm not worried about fan noise that much, though.  I have a HTPC right now and it has two 120mm fans plus the power supply fan.  I cannot hardly hear anything!

How loud is it?

Running all those cables would get to be a hassle.  You will probably be better off with a USB DVD drive and with the Keyspan remote I use, you can turn it on (standby) from the remote.  So with the USB receiver, USB DVD drive, and possibly a USB mouse/keyboard receiver, you should have everything.  Have it enter standby after 5 minutes of inactivity or so.

Unfortunately, I'm still trying to get it to work properly.  Exiting standby doesn't work all that well and seems to crash a lot for me...but I'm using older computers.

[maxxsid]

benn600:
Of course I was talking about USB DVD. So, basically, in that brake-out box there should be a powered USB hub, a couple more wires for the Power button plus some voltage to power, say, the vfd display (USB too).
Can be very compact...

My current HTPC goes to standby after some time of inactivity, also I can put it to sleep and wake it up with my remote control. However, I still think that a front panel power button is needed.

Don't you have a CPU fan?

The loudest in my case is the power supply - it's micro-ATX and supposed to be an ultra-quiet one.
It's not very noisy - I can only really tell it's making some noise when I switch the thing off - SILENCE...

[NickM]

I have been running Mac mini's as HTPC's for a while.  Although they have a fan, they run almost silently. I remove Mac OS, install WinXP, add the bootcamp divers, install AVG, and MC.  That's it...  ( Then Ghost it so the next one only take 5mins to create. )

I would have thought the additional headache with external DVD drives, remote relayers, etc would be more than just finding a quiet machine !

[benn600]

You can get fan-less machines for a higher pricetag.  I think I've heard of them before.

Yes, it has a CPU fan too...forgot about that.  But the case is a little larger and spread out.  Plus, in my case it's several feet away from the listener.  And if you have anything playing it helps block out the sound--but YES, it's nice in the quiet scenes to hear nothing vs. all these fans whirling (projector, computer, etc.)  Funny how most if not all home receivers are fan-less yet they get VERY hot (higher end ones).  So they figured out a way for silent operation.

[jmone]

I now use a Shuttle SG33G5 and find it is quiter than the LG USB DVD Player that was all I had on display previously...bloody noisy thing it was (main PC was mBTX based Dell and was very quite).

[benn600]

Our HTPCs will have a DVD drive but I'm expecting that it won't be used much at all.  Right now, all our DVDs are on the server and I plan on keeping that model because under Video, every single DVD we own is listed.  And I have sufficient space for about 60% more movies than we have now.

[RiderFan]

I actually do something very similar. I got really tired of hearing my PC so I put my 2 HTPC's (1 Server for downstairs, 1 client for upstairs), and my 3 satalite boxes in an old stereo stand in my furnace room. Now I don't care how noisy they are. Then I put DVD drives via USB, IR remote receivers, IR keyboard receivers, upstairs and downsairs. I run my HD TV via a long VGA cable, and the other through an RF modulator. Now my whole house has access to my HTPC functions. The SFF breakout box would be the logical next step.