Case for a multimedia PC

[tRaptor]

So, I'm geting started working on my multimedia PC. So far I have the following:

CPU: Athlon 1.4 Ghz (have)
Mobo: ABIT KT7A (have)
HD: 60 GB (have) (60 GB from External)
RAM: 256-512 MB PC133 (have)
VIDEO: AIW 7500 (have)
DVD: Slot Loading (Need to Buy)
NIC: Anything 10/100 (have)
Case: ??? (Need to buy)
PSU: Have (have)
Sound: Sound Fortissimo (have)


Now I've run into the problem of a case. I had thought about getting a microATX case and board, but I just can justify it since i have all these parts already. I'm wondering what you guys think. Should I go with a tower or a desktop style case?

I prefer to buy from Newegg, but I'm open to another place if it is recomended, and they ship to non-billing locations. (I'm at school)

Right now i'm pretty much on the fence. I'm thinking that a tower might be nicer to place, but if i could find a small height desktop case that will still alow me to use a standard ATX case I might go with that.

Thanks for the help in advance guys. One last thing: Cheap = Good

~Tyler

 

[GreenWolf]

I have a home theater PC with the following:

2500 Barton AMD
Chaintech Summit MicroATX 7NIL1 (Not good for OC'n , no voltage adjust)
512 MB Mushkin level II Black PC3200 (much better RAM than I needed)
120 GB IDE Seagate (only good for about 10 hours of TIVO on high quality)
Terratec Aureon Space 7.1 Sound Card (Musician friend recommended and it sounds great, but hard to find)
ATi Radeon 9600 Pro All in Wonder (SUPERB!, haven't tried New EasyShare yet)
D-Link DWL-G520 wireless NIC (No wires needed to listen to MP3 from my other PC)
6N1 flash card reader with USB 2.0 outlet (download digiPics and flashkeys)
Lite-on Combo DVD/CD-ROM Burner
Optorite 8X DVD burner
400 watt CompUSA quiet PS (could be quieter since it has the only fans you can hear on this PC)

All in a Desktop ATX case with Thermaltake Aquarius II water cooling (Ave CPU temps 40 C) with a pair of 80mm fans in push pull config. One 80mm in the rear. All fans are 28Db quiet fans from SVC.

Full ATX Desktop/microATX MB combo leaves plenty of room for the water cooler and the Aquarius II is quiet (but sucks for OC'n). Modded Case fits in well with HT receiver in the rack.


Go with the desktop case and air cooling if you want to stay with what you have or drop to a MicroATX MB and WC for a really quiet multi-media PC.