Update Oct06
After another LONG gap, I've finally bought some gear and started putting it together. See the Shopping list page for the details of what I purchsed. I'll also keep a log (not started yet).
Update Dec05
After a fair while of not doing any HTPC research, I'm back on. I figured I'd skipped the first step I should have done: measure the TV unit this box has to go in. I believe it's slightly bigger than normal: approx 500mm wide by 425 deep. Take off about 25mm depth to allow for plugs and so on, and the Silverstone LC03 I'd been interested in is a fraction too big !
In the process of adding dimensions to the table, I found a few new cases. The Thermaltake ones look good, but too deep for me. Looks like I'll need to have a replan...
Behind the scenes, the data for the table is now in an XML file and transformed into the HTML you see here via a stylesheet. This makes it much easier to maintain. Eventually I'll try to automate it all. If you have an interest in this sort of thing, look at cases.xml
I'm currently looking at building a HTPC to run MythTV (finally put my years of Linux into the louge room !!) - I'm looking at a single box to run the server and the frontend: I dual boot my main PC in windows/linux, so I can't use that as a server, so a single machine doing both seems like the easiest solution for me. As far as my wife is concerned, the most important thing is going to be the case. She won't care about AMD vs Intel, what size PSU etc, just what it looks like in the cabinet with the DVD player VCR etc.
It's actually turning out to be quite hard to find a case with all the features I want, everytime I think I have it, I find it's missing something I want, or has extras I don't want. I keep looking at the same cases over and over, occasionally a new one will show up or I lose one I've seen before. I've put together this page to try to keep all the case info I can in one place.
This page doesn't look very pretty, but I'm more keen on getting the information up quickly - I can make it look nice later. All the info comes from websites/photos/ reviews. It may not be accurate, but I'm finding it useful, so you might too !
There are a lot more cases around than I've included here, basically I'm looking at the ones that might suit me. I'm including some others, but don't be too shocked if you see something missing.
I'm looking for all the following features. So far the Silverstone LC03V is looking like the case for me...
- Desktop form
- 4+ expansion slots (2 tuners and who knows what else)
- 1 5.25 on the front (for the DVD)
- Front IO connectors or 3.5" bay for a card reader
- A 2nd 5.25 (for HD in cooler/quiter mount)
- Probably a VFD
- IR receiver
- Standard PSU
- Black
- No extra "multimedia" buttons
I'm less worried about noise and heat than you might think, because there are any number of cooling and "quietening" options around from silent fans to anti vibration screws to gaskets to seperate the PSU from the case.
