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Modding Media PC Reborn (Picture Heavy)

Discussion in 'Modding' started by Warrior_Rocker, 2 Aug 2006.

  1. Warrior_Rocker

    Warrior_Rocker Holder of the sacred iron

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    View the updated project log on my personal site, XodusTech.com

    Media PC Reborn's spec's
    AMD Athlon 1.4ghz socket 462(A)
    Compaq ECC server ram 256mb x 2 = 512mb
    IBM TravelStar 20gb notebook HD
    Nvidia GeForce 4 440mx 64mb AGP8x
    Evga NVTV MCE Tv tuner PCI
    Linksys WMP54G Wireless-G Wifi card
    Sparkle Power 200watt flex atx PSU
    HP Remote and Receiever


    My original Media PC had a little failure, and by little I mean the fans stopped running due to a wire that wriggled loose somehow, and it eventually overheated and the power supply fried, problem with the case is it is so small, and heat will always be an issue with componets so close to each other. With that being said it was now time to redesign some cooling options inside the case, and to secondly locate a new powersupply that will run a little cooler, and possibly provide more power than the last one did, I had noticed some fluxuations on the 12v rail while at load, so any instability in power can lead to problems down the road.

    After about 5 hours I had modded in an old Shuttle SV24 power supply however after all that work, it turns out its 12v rail does not have as much power, funny when the original power supply was rated at 100watts and the SV24 was rated at 150, I guess dont believe wattages, make sure you check the amps on the 12v rail :duh:

    So it was off to ebay, sometimes to complete a low budget mod you actually have to buy something :shiftyeyes:, I ended up buying a Shuttle replacement powersupply for the higher end models with the P4 processors inside, with the additional atx12v plug, anything with an atx12v plug would naturally be able to handle an athlon 1.4, even if you dont use the plug, its nice to know that the power supply is designed to handle a little bit more load. What was nice is the power supply was 200watt, and from what I heard it ran pretty cool for its size.

    Unlike with the last two Powersupplies I put inside Media PC, I decided to leave the untit as much in its orginal case as possible, and preserve its original cooling, this worked out great because the fan on the back of media pc lined up nearly perfectly to the fan that 'was' on the back of the powersuply, I chopped the last inch or so off it, where the original power connector had been. also the top fan on media pc blows down into the powersupply further cooling it, making sure it stays nice and cool, and not burned up like the last one :worried:


    Just a pic of the old insides for reference:
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    Now onto the new pics of Media PC Reborn:
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    2 points for the first one to name that movie playing in the first 2 pics
     
    Last edited: 26 May 2012
  2. crazydeep74

    crazydeep74 What's a Dremel?

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    Fast and the furious? Points for?
     
  3. scifi3018

    scifi3018 Minimodder

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    points crazydeep74, points...

    Nice HTPC. I like a bit.
     
  4. Warrior_Rocker

    Warrior_Rocker Holder of the sacred iron

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    nope, not fast and the furious, good try though :D

    its hard to see, as its in the lower corner and the camera blurred it
     
  5. kbates666

    kbates666 What's a Dremel?

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    Nice Clean HTPC, good project

    I'll take a wild stabe and say Star Wars 2 Attack of the Clones.
     
  6. Warrior_Rocker

    Warrior_Rocker Holder of the sacred iron

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    thanks, The case was built about 2 years ago but is ongoing, since become alot better at fabrication, as it shows on some parts it leaves alot to be desired, but sometimes the most important thing in a mod, is that you actually complete it, or at least attempt to. :dremel:

    the movie playing is The Fifth Element, hard to make out


    If anyone has any ideas for playing music on the box, I find that MCE2005 leaves me a bit wanting.... Although I like that it can organize the music by album, sometimes I just want to fire up winamp and play some music, any ideas for using an HP remote (official MCE) with winamp?, being able to start and close it with no keyboard or mouse input would be nice, other than that, cant complain, seems to run flawlessly

    just wish I could figure up a way to turn it on via the remote, it can be put in standby, but it does not make it be any quieter or use any less power...
     
  7. dragon2309

    dragon2309 techie

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    If your remotes any good it should have a few programmable buttons, if not then investigate assigning normal buttons to different actions. If you want winamp to open on its own when you start the PS you can always add it to the startup items... If you wante it to open at a set time each day, you can investigate scheduled events...

    dragin2309
     
  8. Warrior_Rocker

    Warrior_Rocker Holder of the sacred iron

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    well, most mce based stuff isnt really user editable, i found some plugin that will allow control of winamp, but most of the time you will want to do things on the fly, not just when you turn on the computer or at a certain time each day... but thanks for the suggestions, in the mean time I am working on a custom temperature controlled fan controller for the box, no need for the fans to always be running at full speed, (hoevermost are undervolted already to 7v.
     

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