Due to decreased WAF for the old MythTV box, I’m looking into building a quieter one. I’ve decided to do a couple of things differently:
- Use HDHomeRun for capture cards. That way, I won’t be stuck to a particular bus architecture. It also means the capture cards won’t be generating heat in the case.
- Use a pair of 5400 RPM hard drives (maybe a 2.5” one for the OS, and a 3.5” one for the recordings? Need to have fans on all of them to cool them down.
- Replace all the fans with FDB or maglev bearing fans
- Use an external PSU like the PicoPSU or something like that. Here’s an adapter to make it fit in a standard fan bay. (This might also be a good idea for ham radio PSUs…)
- Use an HTPC case or at least a quiet PC case
- Probably end up with an nVidia video card.
- I think I want a core2 duo 3.1 MHz or so motherboard/ processor combo
- Does the Pico PSU mean I won’t be able to drive a DVD player? Maybe another external one (eSATA?) Am I going to end up with a bunch of individual set top boxes?
The CPU cooling fans, video card and hard drives should generate most of the heat (and noise). Need to figure out how much power a video card uses.