HTPC Case

[sixgun]

thanks for the heads-up

Currently thinking along the lines of the Ahanix MCE302 from here

I'd still have to use microATX, but at least there is enough room to a TV tuner (or two) and a video card should the on-board not be up to the task.

[reven]

i was thinking about the MCE302 one, there are some really nice MCExxx ones available, i got a HT-400 from Accent, its full atx and a little big, but looks pretty, i would recommend it.

[stefan]

The HT-400 looks really good. Now if I could find someone who sells it in Sweden

[stefan]

I just did find a place that sells them. I'm in love =)

[reven]

I just did find a place that sells them. I'm in love =)

i had the empty case just as a "piece of art" in my room for about 3 months, i had to save up to afford the inside stuff, it was empty, really expensive (well for a student).

but yeah pretty pretty case, can be hard to move things around (hdds and ram etc), but you dont do that very often so not a big deal.

[stefan]

This place I found builds them with stuff in it. A lot of money, so I'll have to wait some =)

[womble]

wtg - I had one of those cases and had the same thing with the PSU. I solved it by taking apart the old psu and sticking in the internals from a standard new one. The circuit boards are the same size just positioned differently. Its a pain to keep doing everytime you need a new psu but still easier than trying to get the manufacturers version.

I also use for the bedroom pc an old satellite box with its internals replaced with a pc. Looks good if i do say so myself. :o

[wtg]

womble,

That's a good idea if I ever need to upgrade it again. I never even thought about taking one apart. I've been thinking about adding a SATA drive to the machine (you know, because I just can't fit all my crap on 620 GB ) but I suspect I might go over the limits of my 350w PS.

The only good things I can say about the PSU I did finally get from CoolerMaster is that it's pretty quiet and it was cheap. $25 plus shipping. However, there isn't much worth a 4 month wait.

[sixgun]

womble,

That's a good idea if I ever need to upgrade it again. I never even thought about taking one apart. I've been thinking about adding a SATA drive to the machine (you know, because I just can't fit all my crap on 620 GB ) but I suspect I might go over the limits of my 350w PS.

The only good things I can say about the PSU I did finally get from CoolerMaster is that it's pretty quiet and it was cheap. $25 plus shipping. However, there isn't much worth a 4 month wait.

As you can see from my signature, i have a fairly heavily specced server running to keep all my stuff on.

I thought i'd need a massive power supply to feed 7 hard drives. But, turns out i don't. Well, i bought a little meter which plugs into the mains and you plug whatever into it. It tells you current draw, wattage of whatever is plugged into it. You can even program the cost of electricity into it in kilowatt/hours and it'll tell you how much it's costing to run! I tried it out on my server, and after the initial 250w draw at power on, it generally runs at about 150w. It probably goes up when the software RAID-5 is being written to, but it's nowhere near the 450/550w (i forget which!) my PSU can deliver.

I'm sure you could find a similar gadget to what i have. Got mine from ebay, but i beleive maplin.co.uk (i know you're in the US) sell them. Have a quick search for power meter.

Regards.

[peterh]

I know what you mean about the size of Coolermaster cases. I got one (can't remember the model) but it has a swishy tinted glass cover over the CD slot. It was too deep for the triangular shaped video unit and so I shortened it by taking over 50mm out from just in front of the motherboard mountings and then shortening the lid at the back where it isn't seen. It takes a standard sized power supply and full height cards

Peter