HTPC cases: help me pick the top 10! :)

[jalyst]

Okay, back to this for the 1st time in yonks! This is a continuation from this thread.
It's focus is to pick 10 from the 30-odd I've sifted from hundreds of makes/models, using my criteria.

I will post that final list of 30 (give or take) very soon....
But 1st I want to get your thoughts on whether I've covered every major OEM:

3R System (few HTPC style cases, all look fairly crappy & don't meet basic requirements anyway)
Ahanix
Alutek
Antec ....... (nothing really except some decent rackmounts, fusion remote max discontinued it seems)
AOpen ..... (none for ATX mobo's, and all aesthetically sterile anyway)
Apevia ..... (the X-Master 500 range -avail. in 4 colours- meets all basic requirements, but it's just hideous)
Athenatech (utter crap, nothing suitable)
ATech Fab. (two beautiful cases, the 7000 in particular can be tweaked to fit all requirements, but it's extremely $)
BroadwayComCorp (utter crap, nothing suitable)
Chieftec .... (Hi-Fi series: HE-xx & HM-xx, in Europe only apparently)
Coolermaster (no desktop form-factor cases)
Fortunetec (seems to be a OrigenAE reseller not a case OEM, have some nice rackmounts & 19" racks/cabinets)
GMC ......... (none for ATX mobo's, & no standard format PSU's)
Lian Li
Moneual
nMedia
OrigenAE
Silverstone
Thermaltake (inc. their Luxa 2 range)
Vidabox.... (offers cases on their store, mostly Origen but one of their own brands too, alas no good)
Zalman

Any I've missed? Please let me know....
I've decided to forget about true rackmount enclosures...
I'll only look at enclosures with "rackmount-like" dimensions, but "HiFi aesthetics".
Thank-you.

[jalyst]

**edit**
Ah FFS this forum doesn't do tables...
Rather than post my list here, here it is at AVS
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post18733362

Thanks everyone!

[subtec]

HFX

Karma/Aumro

[skeyo]

I love that karma case it is so minimalistic.

[Johnny87au]

What about the SilverStone GD04 , beautiful case..
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4072/s...ol-not-quiet/2

[jalyst]

HFX

Karma/Aumro

The only two that come close enough to meeting my base requirements are:

(1)
It seems karmadigital & aumro are one & the same, the latter is just the name of their EU branch.
http://www.karmadigital.com/tf11_htp...e_pc_case.html
http://www.aumro.co.uk/tf11_htpc_case.html

(2)
http://www.hfx.at/index.php?option=c...121&Itemid=136

Sigh, my list is getting bigger, just as I really need to make it much smaller!

[Johnny87au]

i think your over thinking dude, a htpc is meant to be low cost and hardly touched, go with whatever suits your needs and is the best price..

[jalyst]

You're right I probably am over-thinking, not sure I agree 100% with the low cost & rarely touched point
I do have something singled out which I think best suits all my needs...

But the end point is getting some opinion on whether my logic in ruling cases in/out makes sense, & there's common agreement with the case I've chosen.
Others may prefer a different case on my blanket list, or another one I'm not aware of that meets -or gets very close- to my criteria.

I obviously haven't been clear enough to you guys what my criteria is, I will re-list my criteria in a brief and clear manner in this thread.
Hopefully that'll make it easier for you to agree with my conclusion or make an alternate suggestion.

Thanks for your input!

[Kingcarcas]

+1 i'd put more thought into what movies you plan on watching tonight

Seems like the criteria is messed up if nothing really meets those standards, anything from Lian-Li or Silverstone is the tidiest for sure! Thermaltake is just.......ewwwww

[jalyst]

I'd agree most TT are ewwww...
But the two I've listed, like many other makes/models on my blanket list, did come close to meeting all my criteria.
Build quality/materials/finish probably aren't their strong suit though, compared to some other makes.

[Johnny87au]

If your budget is 700$ for a case i'd get a Lian li case as they have beautiful aesthetic features!, but still thats quite alot just for a nice case, The best Lian li i've seen doesnt even cut $400 for a htpc case..

[DexNfX]

+1 for Lian-Li's. They always look sexy.

[jalyst]

Okay in the past week I've been coming to my final conclusions.
I realised that my finalist list was based on my original blanket list, which is now almost 9-months old!
So I decided to formulate a new blanket & finalist list in one hit.

But rather than go through every case OEM site like last time in order to formulate my blanket list.
I've decided to look only at case OEM's that made it to my previous finalist list.
Plus a few extra: Antec, Luxa2, Chieftec, nMedia, GMC, yuhanhitec, HFX, Karmadigital

I also realised that many cases in my old finalist list could've been whittled, if I'd applied all my criteria.
Plus I suspect one new/extra criteria has made a "critical difference" in whittling things down further:
*The case must take at least 1x 120mm or at least 2x 92mm fans.

Without further adieu, based on a smaller subset of OEM's I perused this time, here's my final blanket list:

Alutek 7520
Alutek 7620
Alutek 7510
Alutek 7610
Antec Fusion Remote Max
Chieftec HM-01
HFX Classic
Karma TF11
Lian-Li PC-C32
Lian-Li PC-C33
Lian-Li PC-C34F
Moneual 832
Moneual 932L
nMedia HTPC 2000
nMedia HTPC 6000
OrigenAE S16V There's a S16T which is same but with 7" LCD, prefer small screen
OrigenAE S21T
OrigenAE X11
Origen AE X15e
Silverstone CW02
Silverstone CW03-MT
Silverstone LC16M
SilverStone LC18
Thermaltake DH103
Thermaltake DH104
Zalman HD135
Zalman HD160
Zalman HD160 Plus
Zalman HD160XT
Zalman HD160XT Plus
Zalman HD503

By using my criteria (inc. the new one), this list can be "chopped down to size" dramatically!
For many of the cases below, I've omitted at least one other criteria it doesn't satisfy...
But the idea is to demonstrate at least one reason why a case must be struck from the list.
Can you see which case from the list above, isn't singled-out for not meeting my criteria below?

Alutek 7520: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated
Alutek 7620: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated
Alutek 7510: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated
Alutek 7610: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated

Antec Fusion Remote Max: no built-in reader & nowhere to put one, aesthetics/bq quite ordinary

Chieftec HM-01: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated, doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans

HFX Classic: 4x 3.5" bays needed to fit my SSD's/HDD's therefore nowhere for my reader, only 6 expansion slots

Karma TF11: reader not in 3.5" bay so not easily replaced, nowhere else to put mine

Lian-Li PC-C32: no display, otherwise pretty much meets requirements, excellent BQ
Lian-Li PC-C33: no display, otherwise pretty much meets requirements, excellent BQ
Lian-Li PC-C34F: simple IR receiver+remote but no display, otherwise meets requirements, excellent BQ

Moneual 832: not as stylish as 932L, doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
Moneual 932L: 1 slot used by LCD, doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
[972L scratched because no ext. 3.5" & reader not easily movable, + same flaws as 932L]

nMedia HTPC 2000: pretty much meets all criteria, but design/BQ/aesthetics looks hideous
nMedia HTPC 6000: reader not in 3.5" bay so not easily replaced, nowhere else to put mine

OrigenAE S16V: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated, doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
OrigenAE S21T: reader not in modular 3.5" bay + USB/FW integrated, too pricey, screen's a joke
OrigenAE X11: doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
Origen AE X15e: doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans

Silverstone CW03-MT: doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
Silverstone LC16M: no reader or I/O built-in, reader+I/O AIO needed in 3.5" ext, don't want AIO
SilverStone LC18: needs FP32 for I/O & 2nd 5.25" for reader, doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans

Thermaltake DH103: specs on product page wrong, 5x int 3.5", but no reader & nowhere to put one
Thermaltake DH104: no reader & nowhere to put one, & $620USD+ inc post

Zalman HD135: same features as 160, 160 looks better, doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
Zalman HD160: doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
Zalman HD160 Plus: doesn't take at least 1x 120mm or 2x 92mm fans
Zalman HD160XT: reader not in standard 3.5" bay (hence not easy to remove), nowhere else to put mine
Zalman HD160XT Plus: reader not in standard 3.5" bay (hence not easy to remove), nowhere else to put mine
Zalman HD503: not enough 3.5/5.25" bays for HDD's, SSD's, & reader

So I'm essentially down to one, yay, have a guess what it is!*

Do you feel there's another case that should be with the one pulled from this list? If so, why?
Perhaps you don't agree with or understand some of my reasons for scratching cases?
Do you want me to re-list my criteria more clearly, instead of linking to another post/thread?

Please let me know, and thank-you very much!

*update: it's the Silverstone CW02

[jalyst]

Updated criteria as follows:
*accommodates ATX PSU & MB (ideally 8 slots, being ATX I won't get more than 7, right?)
*1x 5.25" bay for my BD combo drive
*1x 5.25" or ext. 3.5" bay for my smart-card reader OR a built-in reader that's easily removable (mustn't take the I/O ports with it!)
*5x (no less, not much more) int./ext. 3.5" bays for my SSD's & HDD's
*1x display or option to add (nothing flash, just a small VFD or LCD)
*I/O: at least 2x USB2/3, 1x FW4/800 or eSATA, & typical audio/mic ports
*At least 1x 120mm fan holder or 2x 92mm holders
*Decent build quality... (generally the more aluminium & in less pieces, the better, nice finish to it etc)
*Nice aesthetics/design (something that looks at home with other AV components)
*Budget limit = approx. $700USD

Not imperative, but would be nice:
*accommodates WC kits smartly, so I can easily mount my 240mm rad externally.
*possible to add rack-mount ears, so that it mounts perfectly in a 482.60mm wide (19") rack.
*IR integrated into the LCD/VFD module (I have a USB transceiver that works well in Linux, but built into the case would be cool)


**UPDATE**
I'm placing an order for the CW02 soon...
Just a capture or sound card to choose for the purposes of capturing HD (or near) audio.
Then what promises to be an epic build commences

Interesting part will be working out how/where to mount my 240mm rad + fans.
And how to convert the 2x 92mm intakes & cut a totally new 120mm vent elsewhere.

[timciren]

hi,
Have u ordered yet ?
I have a Zalman 160XT that looks pretty
could you just attach your smart card reader to a rear usb port and leave it under the case, then pull it out when you need it ?
apart from that, zalman are nice.
I cool mine with a single 90mm fan running slow, they case has a big vent above the CPU to allow heat to rise straight up

[jalyst]

hi,
Have u ordered yet ?
I have a Zalman 160XT that looks pretty
could you just attach your smart card reader to a rear usb port and leave it under the case, then pull it out when you need it ?
apart from that, zalman are nice.
I cool mine with a single 90mm fan running slow, they case has a big vent above the CPU to allow heat to rise straight up

Any minute now, LOL!

If you can highlight several reasons why it's a better case* than the CW02.
And the points are convincing enough, then I'd probably consider an offer.

Thanks/night.
*the fact that you may sell it for less than what it's worth brand new, is not one.

[timciren]

The only thing I think lets down the Zalman is the touchscreen isnt HD, but the CW3 is.
Mine is a couple of years old, bought before I went HD.
I dont like VFD on when watching TV, so I would stretch to a CW3 and a smaller fan!!

[jalyst]

So you can't think of a bunch of reasons why you prefer 160XT over CW02?
Try to keep my criteria in mind...

N.B.
In my original criteria (5th paragraph down) I explain why I've no interest in large displays on cases.

But if there's other reasons why the 160XT or CW03 is better IYO, I'd love to hear them.
If they're intriguing enough for the 160XT, then I'd be willing to discuss a sale.

Cheers.

[timciren]

I wasnt trying to talk you into my Zalman !!
I wish it had HD LCD like the CW3, so if I was building it again I would get the CW3, one day maybe I will swap the screen.
Reasons I liked the LCD ...
I could set up a disc to play while my wife carries on watching tv,
if the PC freezes I can restart it without my wife getting bored and cursing my gadgets
Choose and play music without the tv on
Not that much more money than a photo frame to display pictures while listening to music.
Quick surf of the net for movie info while watching a movie,
worst one perhaps is I cant resist toys

[jalyst]

Woops sorry, I think I need some some sleep, I misinterpreted your 1st post, LOL
Yeah none of those reasons are that compelling for me when I can just get a mimo monitor as an auxiliary screen, &or use one of my tablets/handhelds.
Aside from the LCD, why do you like the 160XT or CW03 more than the CW02?

Thanks/night.

[timciren]

I hope youve tucked yourself up...
Anyway, I guess it comes down to apperance, I prefer the square edge to the rounds, the rectangular shape to the squat CW2. Less buttons visible and it matches the size of my AV amp.
The open mesh side of the CW3 looks great for passive cooling, I bet you could fit so do the aero slots at the back.
I would give some thought to what else it sits beside to match the size and what position it will sit in to keep cool.
I guess you can turn off the display on the CW2 when using it and it has a larger rear fan
It sounds like you have done alot of research to find what suits you !
Whatever I buy, after a few months I want to change it

[jalyst]

CW02 has that odd appearance because it was deliberately designed to match Marantz's hi-fi gear.
I can see how it still may not appeal, different tastes for different folks, it's a tad bit tall also, but that gives it some advantages.
If the LCD display on the CW02 is too bright then I'm sure there's a way to "dim" it, if not in software then via a hw mod/hack.

It's a shame the CW03 doesn't have: 2x or more 92mm fan vents or at least 1x 120mm vent, a more understated display, + a few other things.
It'd be tricky to ignore if it did...

I'm just trying to decide which colour is best, silver or black, & then I'm pulling the trigger, any ideas there anyone?
I'm leaning more towards black, as most of Marantz's gear is that colour, aside from their reference series, which are silver/gold.

[timciren]

black seems the sensible choice if you want to buy the kit to match

5 years ago my kit was black..
2 years ago my kit was silver..


Even tho the CW3 has 2 smaller rear fans, it has the side vents. I reckon you could fit a 90mm fan on them or put a 90mm fan inside the case on a CPU cooler, that might be enough and cool a passive GPU and it has open slots in the PCI area

[jalyst]

Thanks for the input, black it is... I think LOL!

If your budget is 700$ for a case i'd get a Lian li case as they have beautiful aesthetic features!, but still thats quite alot just for a nice case, The best Lian li i've seen doesnt even cut $400 for a htpc case..

+1 for Lian-Li's. They always look sexy.

So you prefer the Lian-Li's on my blanket list over the CW02 I singled-out.
What are your reasons for that? Thanks!

Bwahahaha you guys have got nothing! jk
CW02 RULEZ over the Lian Li cases for my needs!

[jalyst]

Attention CW02 owners or other knowledgeable users, I'm about to "pull the trigger" on one.
Just curious, what would determine which colour you went with?
Problem for me is that I don't yet have any AV gear, and I don't intend to for quite some time.
So should I choose colour based on my plasma or other surrounding furniture/gear?

I'm not sure I buy the whole "it must match the colour of your AV gear" notion.
I think the only way to know which colour is best, is when everything is in place in the TV room.
And by then it's too late, you've already chosen right or wrong!

Perhaps the more pragmatic direction to take is...
To pick a colour that can most seamlessly transition to the opposite colour if needs be.
Which do you reckon would be easier to pull-off in a slick/pro way:
Changing a silver case to a black (anodized) one, or a black case to silver (aluminium) one?

Sign writers or panel beaters care to weigh in?!?
__________________________________________________ _______
Upon reviewing my blanket list again...
I think the Zalman HD160 Plus actually comes 2nd in satisfying all my criteria.
It falls short in ventilation compared the CW02 due to fan placement/size.
And appearance-wise I think it looks a bit imbalanced, hard to explain, just an aesthetic thing.

It has one thing the CW02 doesn't & that's the media/function buttons that surround the LCD.
I don't see how they're a big feature though...
I'll be controlling everything via my mimo touchscreen/handheld/dinovo edge/harmony one*
*Later I'll upgrade to a URC MX5000