Case: Half height or full height?

m1nder

My planned setup sofar...

Intel Core i3-2105
ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX
4GB-Kit Corsair Twin3X4096-1333C9A DDR3, CL9
PSU, to be decided
Case, to be decided


When it comes to a HTPC case, what would you recommend, half or full height? I'm going to be shopping for tv tuners, I need 2 Sat S2's and at least 1 DTT so I'm asking incase I run into trouble with those. This might also affect PSU decisions and again I'd appreciate any advice as to a good PSU to handle the above.

Many thanks.

Carter P Fly

What half height m-atx cases have you been looking at?

There are very few really nice ones on the market and the ones that are carry a hefty enough pricetag.

Here are two on dabs and TBH neither floats my boat.

http://www.dabs.ie/products/silverstone-la-scala-htpc-matx-black-120w-fanless-psu-77NH.html?refs=468030000

http://www.dabs.ie/products/silverstone-milo-htpc-black-silver-micro-atx-slimline-desktop-no-psu-77NK.html?refs=468030000

m1nder

Carter P Fly wrote: »

What half height m-atx cases have you been looking at?

There are very few really nice ones on the market and the ones that are carry a hefty enough pricetag.

Here are two on dabs and TBH neither floats my boat.

http://www.dabs.ie/products/silverstone-la-scala-htpc-matx-black-120w-fanless-psu-77NH.html?refs=468030000

http://www.dabs.ie/products/silverstone-milo-htpc-black-silver-micro-atx-slimline-desktop-no-psu-77NK.html?refs=468030000

Many thanks.
Really my question is about running into trouble when it comes to adding cards. Is a half height case a bad idea in that respect?

Also, I aint never gonna pay the premium market price for some case with a front designed to look like a VCR. I'll go secondhand or make do with an ordinary case. €40 max. Infact I might even make my own. The price of these cases sickens me.

Carter P Fly

I paid over 140 for my antec remote fusion black and I love it as its really slick looking with chrome accents and looks well in my livingroom and is a conversation piece.

I personally think half height cases are not worth it if its not sitting on a shelf with other similarly sized home audio kit

With a full height case theres no worries about psu's or cards etc so if you are putting it out of view a cheap small m-atx case is the way to go.