Extended ATX HTPC case?

BigEejit

Anyone aware of a nice HTPC case that can take a 12" by 9.6" motherboard? ... I'd prefer a silver case, but i'm getting desperate so would consider anything ....

I'm on attempt #2 at making a silent (or very close to it) HTPC ... I've got a dual P3 700 (both fanless, only 18 watts each) with a gig of ram a nice quiet samsung hd too and a very quiet psu (modded myself with papst fans) ... the only problem is that the motherboard is extended atx and that severely limits my choice of cases ... In fact, I can only find one case that says it will support extended atx mobo's and thats the SST-LC13 ... which is too flipping tall aaarrgghh .. the space it has to go into is about 5.5" tall and this unit is about 6.5 ...
Only thing with a fan left on it is an old 9700 non pro that I have lying around the place that will be doing my TV out ... just have to get a zalman heatsink for that and I'm sorted....

As an aside, I'm going to use two Twinhan DVB-T's mini Ter's for TV (record on one while watching the other - they also dont run too hot) only just ordered one and will try it out with some of the different flavours of HT software (2005MCE, media portal, GB-PVR and maybe some of the linux based ones as well) ....

I know that a mini or micro atx mobo and moderm cpu can be nice and quiet .. and be far more powerful/capable than what i have ...but I just want to use whats at hand and not buy new stuff ... WAF (wife acceptance factor) dictates that I dont buy much other (or expensive) new equipment for this project ...

BigEejit

I found one ... took a bit of research though .... Coolermaster Cavalier CAV-T02 ...nice looking case, takes up to 12 x 9.6 mobos... only downside is that it has a proprietary power supply that does not have active pfc ... but i dont think I'll be loading it too much so it shouldnt be a problem .. has space for 3 HD's if you dont install a floppy drive (which I wont be, starting with only one samsung spinpoint 120GB) and two optical drives (only using a NEC DVD burner) ... bought from pixmania ....

RicardoSmith

Let us know how it all works out. I'd love to try something similar myself.

Though while I appreciate the case is a looker. I wonder how the costs will work out compared to just buying a machine off Dells outlet store and sticking TV cards in it.

BigEejit

It would most likely work out cheaper buying a 2nd hand dell and modding it a bit to make it quieter .... but I have all these bits at my disposal and depending on temps inside the case I'll be removing the case fans as well most likely so the only fans running with be a papst one in the power supply

BigEejit

Its a lovely case, a bit bigger than I thought it would be (normal ATX desktop case in size) ... the action of the door is very nice though (little gears slow it down when it falls open) ... Loads of space, strange place for mounting a hard disk at the side of the 5 1/4" bay (outside of it) .. its strange as in you most likely must have an extra ide controller to use it.

Apart from teething problems with the Twinhan DVB-T mini ter tuner it is all working beautifully ... getting noise down is the next project ... the fan on the 9700 pro (I'd forgotten that i had soft modded it ages ago :P) has to go ... the powersupply has to be modded too ... but all in all it is pretty quiet already

The things that annoy me are: the VU meter (dial meter) does not move a whole lot ... have to have a look into that to get it going full range (more likely 3/4 range) at reasonable volume levels... The two blue leds on the front are really really bright, I had to put white insulation tape over them to bring them down to an acceptable brightness (cut out little circles of it to cover them)...

Overall ... 5/5 for looks, but technically its 3.5/5

RicardoSmith

How are you going to use it? I was thinking of having a HTPC upstairs in a spare room (my office) and then getting one of those DVD Players that can stream from a network and putting that downstairs.

BigEejit

I have it under the TV .. its a bit on the big side (compared to DVD and freeview box) but I'm getting used to it ... the wife has not grumbled too much either since she recorded a show and found how handy it is .... I was considering using a media MVP from Hauppauge but decided against it, my thinking being that if I can get this silent enough it wont bother me being under the TV all the time ...

I'm trying to calculate what the power usage is for the system to see if I'll leave it on 24/7 ... I'd migrate my email/collaboration server onto it (currently running on an old laptop thats under a chair in the corner)....
The problem is getting a reasonably accurate idea of the power usage...... I suppose I'll have to break into the power lead and put a multimeter inline to measure current