Case recommendations

sinkers · **1st July 2009, 07:14 PM**

Time to build a new HTPC and looking for some case recommendations.

Mostly looking for something that will hold a reasonable number of drive bays and be quiet. Prefer in black to match other equipment though will be in cupboard.

Perfer something reasonably easy to work with for upgrading.

What have people had good recent experiences with recently?

nikko1974 · **1st July 2009, 08:21 PM**

HTPC (desktop/vertical style) or ATX/midi tower? I'm assuming the former as you've professed a desire to have it match with items that are visible.

How much you want to spend UP TO for the right case?

Got a PSU or does that need to be sourced too?

VFD & other fancy stuff needed/desired?

You might wanna pop the dimensions of the space available up unless there's plenty of room....

SumG33k · **4th July 2009, 08:11 PM**

Depends what you want and how much space you have etc.

I'm using an Antec P180 and I find it excellent. The trade off for having a highly upgradeable unit, is the behemoth size required. When you start adding big video cards you will need the space. These cases are also good cfx/sli.

Cooling is excellent as the hdd bay [with silicone hdd grommets] and PSU [not included] are situated in a chamber below the rest of the gear.My E8400 is overclocked using stock fan, so cooling is important for me.

The thing is pretty quiet too.

But it is big, and its heavy. I use my system for everything though, so I dont mind its size because of the number of options it gives me.

I would not call this unit discrete though. Lian Li would also be another of these types of cases.

Cheers

sg

gargereck · **5th July 2009, 10:06 AM**

Seen some atx tower cases with side out motherboard trays for easy upgrades. Plenty of hard drive space in it, Haven't found one on a media center style case yet.

TiggerK · **5th July 2009, 07:48 PM**

Hi sinkers,

For HTPC shape, big fan of the Silverstone LC17.

For tower case, I'd look no further than Coolermaster T05, Antec Solo or Antec P183, in order of price and quietness.

Cheers
TiggerK

nikko1974 · **6th July 2009, 05:43 PM**

Sheez, rookie members who post asking for help.......you reply asking them to clarify so you can give them proper specific advice and they can't bring themselves to post a reply in nearly a week.

OP, pls don't waste our time if you can't make the smallest effort yourself, yeah - we get no nothing from helping you so is kinda ironic we're making all the effort and you reap all the benefit.

I'll leave this one to others to help with. :-/

sinkers · **6th July 2009, 09:38 PM**

Hi there - apologies for not replying that quick, I actually had written up my reply but got distracted by my 1 yr old driving cars across my laptop and lost it!

Basically I am looking for something that will fit OK with my other AV gear but doesn't have to have any special features as it will be in the cupboard.

Given that it doesn't have to be that flash I don't think I would go for anything over $300 so will assume I will need a PSU to go with that.

I have had a look around and the Silverstone LC17 does look like a good option for what I am after. Any recommendations on a PSU?

Thanks

dgaust · **6th July 2009, 11:36 PM**

No worries sinkers, with a one year old, you'd be lucky to get time to come back at all.

If it's going to be hidden, I reckon the Antec NSK2480 (silver) or NSK2480B (black) could be an option. It's cheap, quiet and and comes with a reasonable PSU for around $170. mATX though, so you need to keep that in mind.

It's a smaller case than the LC17 and only has room for 2xHDD & 2 optical drives (you could use one of the optical drive bays for another HDD), but it comes highly recommended as a budget HTPC case.