Have you seen this case?

[bondiablo]

Is there an ATX HTPC or desktop case with at least 2 external 5.25" bays and 1 external 3.5" bay that uses only 120mm case fans and can fit a tower cooler?

 

[lehtv]

One external 3.5" bay, no 80mm fans, no PSU. ATX Mid-towers: 36 results. MicroATX Mini-towers: 2 results.

As above but with two external 3.5" bays. ATX Mid-towers: 24 results. MicroATX Mid-towers: 4 results.

As above but with three external 3.5" bays. ATX Mid-towers: 1 result.

Take your pick

 

[bondiablo]

Those are tower cases not an HTPC or desktop case.

 

[lehtv]

I thought you meant a case for a HTPC, not "HTCP desktop case".

To answer your question, no I don't think such a case exists. On the whole what you're describing is a normal ATX tower case, so why does it need to be not a tower?

 

[Belegost]

I have to agree with lehtv here, there's a few desktop cases that have 120mm fans 2 5.25 and 1 3.5 external, check the apevia x-master and the cooler master elite 360 (yea, it says tower, but look at it...) But those are around 6 inches thick, not big enough for a tower hsf. The hyper 212 is 6'' alone. Maybe one of the 92mm towers would fit.

Best idea to hit all those points, find a small atx tower you can lay on the side.

 

[lehtv]

Best idea to hit all those points, find a small atx tower you can lay on the side.

And lift it up on its feet every time you insert a disc to the Blu-ray drive 😀

 

[Belegost]

Get a slot load drive. =)

Or switch to one of the 4U folded over coolers, something like the noctua se14 or cooler master geminii will fit in a desktop and perform close to the tower coolers.

 

[janas19]

Is there an ATX HTPC or desktop case with at least 2 external 5.25" bays and 1 external 3.5" bay that uses only 120mm case fans and can fit a tower cooler?

How about you state the exact model tower cooler you want? That would be helpful.

 

[lehtv]

How about you state the exact model tower cooler you want? That would be helpful.

Can you even find a case that fits the other requirements?

 

[aigomorla]

tower sink + htpc case in like a real htpc style do not fit in the same universe. especially if u want 2 external 5/1/4 bays

 

[IGemini]

Yeah, this is chasing a mythical creature. Most HTPCs have optical bays that extend over the general CPU area. And once you have three bays, you lose room to make all fans 120mm because of the front connectors/buttons/display and the PSU and board are usually toward the rear. You'll have to suffer with at best, two external bays, smaller case fans or use something other than a tower cooler. Scythe Shurikens are pretty good CPU coolers for that task.

 

[janas19]

Can you even find a case that fits the other requirements?

No I haven't looked, but I imagine I wouldn't. I only mentioned the height of the tower cooler simply because it is often the biggest internal component - if he wanted something close to 120mm I might've been interested to search, but he didn't say.

*shrugs*

 

[infoiltrator]

Thermaltake VF6000BNS LANPACK, Apevia Qpack, Nmedia Redwood 140 mm fan card reader, 2 5 1/4 bays.

 

[bondiablo]

Thermaltake VF6000BNS LANPACK, Apevia Qpack, Nmedia Redwood

None of those meet the criteria, the first 2 aren't even ATX they're micro ATX.

Not that it seems to matter but I would need to fit at least a 159mm cooler.

The only case I've found is the Cooler Master CM Media 28x series but they've been discontinued.

 

[natto fire]

Is there an ATX HTPC or desktop case with at least 2 external 5.25" bays and 1 external 3.5" bay that uses only 120mm case fans and can fit a tower cooler?

Not likely, you could custom make one, get a tower, turn it on it's side remount the drive cages, something for front panel. Some would be easier to fabricate than others.

So your cooler is 159mm from top to bottom? That is going to require either a deep desktop case, or some careful maneuvering when refabbing a tower case.

 

[llee]

This is the closest that I could find, but it accepts the MicroATX form factor.

 

[toysareforboys]

And lift it up on its feet every time you insert a disc to the Blu-ray drive 😀

99% of all optical drives allow you to insert and remove a disc when the drive is sideways!! lol.

Older drives had little tabs you could push out, or swing in, but the new ones just have them molded right into the tray, just drop in a disc and close the tray, works sweet.

-Jamie M.