Four Terabytes of Storage Powers Jeff Kaiser’s HTPCylon Creation

When case modification pro Jeff Kaiser read about Hitachi Global Storage Technologies introducing the world’s first one-terabyte drive, he realized that this technology was something he needed in one of his creations. He was not only impressed with the vast storage size of the Hitachi Deskstar™ 7K1000, but a review of the drive’s specs and a thorough demo of several units convinced him that he could get amazing performance and near-silent operation into one of his leading-edge PCs.

To help keep his machine at the leading edge, Kaiser designed his latest PC with not one, but four Hitachi 1TB drives.

Kaiser calls his latest creation HTPCylon – a name derived from a combination of HTPC (Home Entertainment  Personal Computer) and Cylon, the evil robotic civilization in the Sci Fi channel series Battlestar Galactica. As he puts the finishing touches on the PC’s modified case, it’s easy to see that the name fits this creation.

The outer case of this one-of-a-kind PC is completely covered in spaceship chrome and mirrors. The front of the unit is a replica of a Cylon helmet. Open either side of the 11-inch by 11-inch encasement and you’ll find enough data storage, processing power and bleeding-edge technology to take any gamer to the outer reaches of player bliss.

But, as a multiple PC modification award winner, Kaiser knows that the look of the machine is only a small part of its overall beauty. His biggest challenge on this mission was finding a way to pack all of the performance he wanted into such a small footprint design. His final objective was to build the ultimate home entertainment system – one that would allow him to play sophisticated games at lightning speed, burn CDs and DVDs, store videos, photos and other digital data, network with other gamers and play hi-definition moves – all at the same time!

Kaiser knew from the start that a critical consideration to accomplishing this mission was storage. He wanted a single home entertainment system that would allow him to hold and immediately access one hundred or more games. It also had to have enough storage for a big collection of home movies, personal photos and high-definition DVDs. Enter Hitachi GST and its 1TB Deskstar drive.

“If there is one thing we’ve learned  over time, it’s that there is never enough storage space,” said Kaiser.

“In the last decade, the size of a single game has increased from several hundred megabytes a piece to an average of 5 gigabytes – each ‘save’ requires an additional 300 to 400 kilobytes. Add to that new technologies,  such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD, and it’s easy to see that demand for storage will only increase. Sure, four terabytes is more than enough – but than again, it’s never enough.”

Jeff is hoping that his HTPCylon garners him another trophy for his mantle. His goal is to complete thesystem in time for PDXLan, a bi-annual gathering of 500 gaming enthusiasts  from around the country. He’s confident that no other system at the event will have the chrome-plated robotic-style casing as his Cylon. He’s also pretty sure that no other small form factor system will have the storage capacity of his 4TB dream machine.

“At least, not this year,” said Kaiser. “Today’s cutting-edge technology is tomorrow’s standard and terabyte storage will certainly be a major buzz at this year’s event.”

HTPCylon Specs

Case: PCDesignLab Qmicra V2
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R
CPU: Intel QX6700
RAM: Crucial BallistiX Tracer DDR2-800
Hard drives: 4 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 (SATA300)
Graphics card: Nvidia 8800Ultra
Watercooling: DangerDen Maze5 CPU and full coverage block
Power supply: Corsair 620HX
Optical drive: LiteOn BluRay
LCD system monitor: Matrix Orbital GX Typhoon MCE Tricolor
Monitor: iZ3D 22” 3D
Keyboard: Logitech Edge
Mouse: Logitech MX Air