HTPC Case Design

Hey guys, i just spent a few hours designing this fairly compact HTPC Case. Im planning to do a larger model with more stuff in it, but let me know what u think of this one.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/HTPC0100.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/HTPC0101.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/HTPC0102.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/HTPC0103.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/HTPC0104.jpg

Any feedback would be great :) ive only just started to design stuff, and im always open to ideas!

Looks a lot like a Lian Li V350, which is one of my favorite small cases, so I like it.

I like it, looks like a mini mountainmod.

It looks good but there are a few things that bug me.

It looks like you could make the MB compartment shorter so the case is a little more compact, but that might limit heatsink height. If you need the height maybe make the rear fan bigger since there is extra space, maybe even room for 2.

The PSU power plug is on the side of the case, which is odd.

Is the hole in the top a window or is that a spot for a giant fan?

Thank you for your feedback guys, appreciate it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oats

It looks good but there are a few things that bug me.

It looks like you could make the MB compartment shorter so the case is a little more compact, but that might limit heatsink height. If you need the height maybe make the rear fan bigger since there is extra space, maybe even room for 2.

The PSU power plug is on the side of the case, which is odd.

Is the hole in the top a window or is that a spot for a giant fan?

---

I purposely left the MB compartment quite high exactly for the reason that many people have quite large CPU heatsinks, and also i thought it looked a bit nicer this way as the windows become quite short if the top is minimized.

The PSU i put on the side mostly because i realised that if anyone has a large or extended PSU, such as the Thermaltake 1500W (massive), then it has room to extend as far as it needs into the case. whereas if i rotated it so that the power plug was facing out the back, then it was restricted by the HDD cage.
- in my larger model, i will probably face it backwards, as there will be less room constraints.

The hole in the top is a space for a 200mm fan. i couldnt find a pre-made 200mm fan design, and the program i use cant stretch out the 120mm fans neatly, so i just left it for now.

thanks for your ideas Oats, cheers.

looks good. i have one question tho is there enough room to stick a double rad where the 120mm fans are? other than that looks like a nice little case

looks like a typical MM case

if you had to get a nice HTPC .. either make it 3-4feet tall .. or just plain flat desktop types

getting in between two is just plain weird .. especially when you're placing in your living room for aesthetique purposes ... designs of the HTPC is hard .. as you might need to non-computer users to provide decent views .. since they're the ones who really see what's exterior looks like

for us .. most of us are just too interior extravagant .. beside getting the exterior right .. not just the shape exterior must match the mobo, and the components + cooling etc
the exterior must also match your living room .. especially the furniture!
you wouldn't want to have a huge metal casing sprout out of nowhere in your classical interior design living room .. would you? if there's such british houses :D

You might want to consider the amount of noise the two large fans will make. Even the air flow from the fans will cause the sound playback to be distorted!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr_Mike

looks good. i have one question tho is there enough room to stick a double rad where the 120mm fans are? other than that looks like a nice little case

---

yes, there is :), i could even probably fit a 3rd 120mm fan in there if i wanted, so a tri-rad would be a possibility.
EDIT: Scratch the 3rd 120mm fan. but yeh, theres enough room for a dual rad.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Serpentarius

looks like a typical MM case

if you had to get a nice HTPC .. either make it 3-4feet tall .. or just plain flat desktop types

getting in between two is just plain weird .. especially when you're placing in your living room for aesthetique purposes ... designs of the HTPC is hard .. as you might need to non-computer users to provide decent views .. since they're the ones who really see what's exterior looks like

for us .. most of us are just too interior extravagant .. beside getting the exterior right .. not just the shape exterior must match the mobo, and the components + cooling etc
the exterior must also match your living room .. especially the furniture!
you wouldn't want to have a huge metal casing sprout out of nowhere in your classical interior design living room .. would you? if there's such british houses :D

---

i think about 90% of the stuff you said was stupid, so im not gonna properly reply to it. - oh, and take some english lessons pls

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chinaguy

You might want to consider the amount of noise the two large fans will make. Even the air flow from the fans will cause the sound playback to be distorted!

---

what two large fans? you mean the 120mm ones? they wont be that loud, especially if they are high quality ones, or on low voltage. i was planning to put in an integrated fan controller :)
oh, and maybe some anti-vibration material between them and the case could help :)

thanks for the comments guys, liking it!

I like. I think there is a huge gap in the HTPC case market. I want a Htpc case that looks nice like a piece of av equp. but be able to install a reel Water cooled system like a 3x120mm rad. MM had a Idea with the platue but I hate the visable screw heads and the cheap fan grills.

I FREAKING LOVE IT! That's a great htpc case and if it was on the market I would buy it in a snap and trash my thermaltake bach.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by l33t p1mp

I FREAKING LOVE IT! That's a great htpc case and if it was on the market I would buy it in a snap and trash my thermaltake bach.

---

Hey l33t p1mp could you do me a little favor and tell me the interior measurement front to back along the pci slot end. I want to know if I can fit a 360rad. in the Bach Thanks Chris!