Dead Windows Media Center Due to Broken/Bad Cooler Master Cooler!

[GreenJelly3]

Drama:
CPU Cooler Link to NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103084]

If the link doesn't work, its called Cooler Master Vortex Plus.

The cooler's plastic peg broke and the metal cooler bracket fell onto the motherboard. The chip probably overheated, but the motherboard is fried. I am hoping to save the SSD, maybe try the memory on another machine? Its DDR3. Overall, looking at the number of people who also reviewed this product the same, or had similar issues, the Cooler Master design team should of known better. They have NOT made a friend.

Needs:
I have a Media Center (broken) and a 16TB video server that stores full HD BluRay Rips, In beautiful original resolution and quality, and multiple copy's of AnyDVD, and Virtual CD for playback and ripping. I also have a collection of FLAC's & MP3 on another machine. But now I need something to play the BR's & Music to replace the broken Media center. I am thinking, since the RIPs still contain their encryption, I would have to remove the encryption if I have any chance of trying something else (a Stick?).

Possible Free Solution:
I need to start looking at a new motherboard and a new chip, which means we will just want to do DDR4, and a Skylake i5. Its going to be around $400. Ouch, thanks Cooler Master! Thats allot for me right now.

We are thinking of possibly using a old Core 2 Duo Quad (Q9800, I believe) that we have laying around, as the machine it replaces is a Media Center that just needs a HDMI output and stream to the TV the HD Video and Sound! I'd like to run Windows 10, haven't looked at the system specs yet, as this happened around that coming down.

Question:
I was hoping for a device that could do the job of streaming from a 16 Drive, Raided Windows Home Server 2011, I would like to keep the BLURAY ISO's original and not have to decode them all. But I need to be able to play Full Quality, 5.1 channel-audio, on my TV. I have wireless, and Ethernet (cat.6) available. Will I need to buy an Intel MB replacement for My Silverstone case, or can we get away with a stick or other media player?

[redwudz]

If you ripped your BDs to a hard drive using AnyDVD, your rips shouldn't have encryption.

Most modern motherboards and power supplies simply shut down the PC when the cooler comes loose from the CPU and it overheats.
I've had it happen twice with no damage to the MB or CPU. But if the cooler physically damaged or broke the MB or shorted out a connector, then that could be permanent damage.

I wouldn't run W10 on a non-touch screen computer, but that's your call.

[GreenJelly3]

I remove the encryption, when I play it, due to issues with early BluRays having special formats that would often cause AnyDVD to crash or too rip BR in a way that would damage the image. So the ISO's I have are encrypted.

After the first plastic clip snapped, it twisted the bracket causing the second one to snap off. Since it only had two, it ended up falling on the board when the heat sink lifted up (The bracket held the heater on the chip). I have since tried replaced it with the Intel Heat sink, and the board is totally fried, the machine is unreliable and wont boot. It reports all sorts of issues and errors, then crashes restarts and does it again. It was VERY important with this heatsink design that you have fasteners that worked without breaking. I just didn't think I would have a problem as I have used Cooler Master since, well early.

The ASUS motherboard I used also had some issues, like not making a noise when it restarted. The machine made no noise, it used lots of low speed fans with an SSD. It was silent. So there was no way to know how long the peace was on the motherboard. It actually reported over voltage from the PSU, which is where the investigation into what went wrong started. When we opened it up, the cooler was off the chip, and the metal bracket was in the case on the mother boards surface. Now I can't even get the USB working to use with a keyboard. It starts to boots, but will restart, or black screen before it finishes, its just not good. Disk IO errors on a very reliable OCZ SSD? I doubt it, but I am going to test it. I have a feeling its ok, I am hoping... Keep your fingers crossed.

Its very expensive to try and buy a MB for the aged chip that is in there, though its not too old (4400). It would be a risk to replace only the motherboard, only to then find the chip and possibly the memory are also effected. It was a stream box, so its really nothing special.

I use a remote full sized Logitech Keyboard and Mouse on my coffee table. I used Media Center for awhile, but it was garbage. I really like My Movies Collection Manager, and still use that, but will probably switch to a different software (?XBMC)... I tend not to use it, and just grab the mouse and keyboard. W10 doesn't intimidate me, and I like the Library's features and the Ability to stream and the native support of FLAC.

[usually_quiet]

It is now clear that for your purposes, you need a PC rather than a media player.

If you use Windows Media Center software on your Media Center PC, it isn't supported by Windows 10. That is one of the primary reasons why I haven't upgraded to Windows 10. I need to have Windows Media Center for recording copy-once channels with my CableCARD tuner. The forced updates for the standard version of Windows 10 are another big reason, but MS may be backing down on that.

I have tried windows 10, and Windows 10 doesn't require a touch screen to the extent that Windows 8 does, however I'm not a fan of tiles in the Start Menu or Cortana or Microsoft using my PC and my Internet connection to update other people's PCs using some kind of P2P scheme.