Good/cheap HTPC case?

[Fallengod]

I want to either buy or build a htpc for my home theater. Not exactly sure what is needed but, any recommendations for a case? Whats some good cases out there in the budget friendly area?

 

[techietechnics]

Try out a fractal core 1000. How much is your budget though?

 

[artvscommerce]

If you're looking for something in the AV Receiver looking form factor, I would recommend the Silverstone ML03B. If it's not going in an AV rack, Silverstone has a lot of nice and inexpensive cube chassis, like the SG05 for example.

If you don't need any front I/O, optical, or 3.5" HDD bays, the Lian Li PC-Q05 is really cool too. I have a i7-3770S in mine and it is incredibly quiet.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Not enough info to make recommendations? Do you want MicroATX case or Full ATX? Do you want slim case, or are you OK if it's a little bulky? And how expensive is too expensive?

Personally I'm using Silverstone GD07. It's a real pain to work inside, but when I looked it was the only full atx case that looks good. It was around $130 which is about average for HTPC cases, you can find them cheaper, but generally HTPC cases are sold at premium because no one wants to have an ugly case sitting in a HTPC rack.

 

[Alan G]

I've done two HTPC builds with a Lian Li PC Q-27B: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112400 It's on sale at Newegg right now for about $65 + shipping. Takes a mini-ITX MoBo and you can slip a Gigabyte H77N-WiFi in there just fine!

 

[Fallengod]

Ya thanks for suggestions. Its hard for me since I have little experience with mATX and HTPC's.... And the tougher part is, I am not in my new house yet and dont have the setup to know exactly what I need or where its going to go, thus I dont know if I have space restraints yet. I know I want to be able to have a quiet computer in my living room so I can play movies etc though. Heh.

To answer some questions. I am not looking to spend more than $70 or so on a case. I had actually already been seriously looking at the fractal core 1000 for $36. Not sure how good of a case it is, It looks kind of "open" which might lead to more noise coming out of it and more dust going in but.....for the price. Thats also a full fize mid tower case though, not sure I want that.

I think it will be going on an AV rack or shelf, not sure yet.

 

[artvscommerce]

good filters + a positive pressure cooling design makes maintenance MUCH easier. The SG05 has this, but it's a little over your budget. On the other hand, it includes a good quality PSU so it probably won't cost you any more than your other options when you compare apples to apples.

 

[Alan G]

If you are just going to play movies you don't need much. The Lian Li case that I mention above uses passive cooling (no case fans) and you cannot hear any noise at all. Warm air is exhausted by the PSU (Seasonic G360) and I'm running the Intel stock cooler on an i3 (you can get by with a Pentium if money is an issue). CPU runs about 3C above ambient room temperature and I use on board Intel HD4000 graphics which are perfect for HTPC.

 

[piasabird]

Helps to have measurements.

Might want to know:
1-Overclocking
2-Gaming or high end video card
3-Drive requirements.
a. No optical drive
b. Need BluRay/DVD.
4-Using a movie browser?
5-Encoding?
6-Preferred Format to rip to?
7-Number of drives to use? HD's? SSD's?

The idea is you need a case to hold your gear but not too large so as it will not fit where you want to put it.

The new Cooler Master Elite 130 with the black mesh front will be coming out soon.

How large is too large and how small is too small

Think about ?
CPU Cooler Size
Water cooling
Fans
Noise or super quiet.

 

[Fallengod]

If you are just going to play movies you don't need much. The Lian Li case that I mention above uses passive cooling (no case fans) and you cannot hear any noise at all. Warm air is exhausted by the PSU (Seasonic G360) and I'm running the Intel stock cooler on an i3 (you can get by with a Pentium if money is an issue). CPU runs about 3C above ambient room temperature and I use on board Intel HD4000 graphics which are perfect for HTPC.

Yeah I am kind of realizing that. I do want an i3 probably just to reduce heat and power consumption. But its just gonna come down to where I am putting it and what I want out of a case for the htcp.

Helps to have measurements.

I dont have any yet. I think I am actually going to hold off on this idea. I need to have my crap setup first before I start thinking about an HTCP.