HTPC Case with Similar Dimensions

[Sheepdisease]

Hello there, my amplifier is 171 mm (H): 435 mm (W): 393 mm (D) and I am looking for a HTPC case which is a similar width and depth to fit in an AV rack I am going to make in a space in the lounge.

The catch is that I am looking to use existing hardware and the hardware is rather large, as this will be used for gaming as well.

Existing case and hardware:

Manufacturer:
Cooler Master
Motherboard Form Factor:
ATX
Micro ATX
Front/ Side/ Top Panel:
1 x Headphone
1 x Mic In
2 x USB 2.0
1 x eSata
1 x IEEE 1394
Drive Bays:
5 x 3.5" Internal
2 x 5.25" External
Expansion Slots:
7
Fan Bays:
5 x 120mm
2 x 140mm
Window:
Yes
Power Supply Form Factor:
ATX
CPU Cooler Dimensions:
"Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (Socket 1155)
79.7 x 158.5 x 120 mm (WxHxD mm)"
VGA Card Length:
"MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
116 x 39 x 270 mm (WxHxD mm) Double slot"
Dimensions:
213 x 482 x 525 mm (WxHxD mm)
Colour:
Black

What cases have space for two optical drives, a card reader on the front, which might accept the CPU cooler whilst accommodating all the other hardware?

Would Silverstone LaScala LC17 Rackmount be a contender?

If so, I would expect to also purchase the following:

• A new CPU cooler because my existing one is massive and likely will not fit in the case with all my other required hardware, I was thinking of something like Prolimatech 48 CPU Cooler 92mm, but I cannot find another suitable substitute as this one is not in stock anywhere now (please advise)
• ARCTIC F8 PRO PWM PST - 80mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing Low Noise PWM Controlled Case Fan with PWM Sharing Technology (PST) Feature & Anti-Vibration System £3.49
• ARCTIC F9 PRO PWM PST - 92mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing Low Noise PWM Controlled Case Fan with PWM Sharing Technology (PST) Feature & Anti-Vibration System £4.68
• Arctic Silver 5 3.5g Thermal Paste and Arcticlean value pack £11.95
• CSL - 3.5" All-in-One USB 3.0 (super speed) Hub USB 2.0 Card Reader + eSATA / Multifunctional Panel / SD / SDHC / Mini SDHC / Micro SDHC / USB / XD / CF/MD £11.35
• Pioneer BDR-209DBK 16x SATA Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner - No Software £57.99
• Crucial BX100 2.5-inch SATA III Internal Solid State Drive - 250 GB £62.49

 

[Snowman09]

I'll be honest, I'm one of those guys who uses one PC for gaming and another for the HTPC. I also haven't used any optical drives in mine, just because that means more space and moving parts, which equates to more noise. What kind of gaming are you looking to do? A lot of chips nowadays have pretty decent onboard graphics. Obviously that's just my .02.

-Paul

 

[Sheepdisease]

I play FPS and use it for graphic design (Adobe products) and AutoCAD. I like o have all settings maxed out with large screen resolution (usually around 1920 x 1080). I don't mind the sound so much as the HTPC will be about 7 feet away from where I sit and the projector is overhead which makes quite a lot of noise itself.

So, back to the original question, what is suitable given my requirements?

 

[Sheepdisease]

Hello?

 

[Snowman09]

I hope you understand why I asked about your intentions with this PC, and don't believe I simply tried to get you off on a tangent. As for the case/fans, I use a Silverstone case (mini itx) and the Artic fans now (80mm) and absolutely love their quality/performance. I believe that the Silverstone LC17 is a good choice, given your criteria. I'd also recommend looking at nMedia PC cases, but you probably wouldn't find many with 2 drive bays. Hope it helps

 

[Sheepdisease]

The Grandia GD08 wins in this instance.

 

[Snowman09]

The Grandia GD08 wins in this instance.

Glad you found a suitable case.

 

[Sheepdisease]

Thank you for your recommendations. I have experience with watercooling and I would never go back to it as I was constantly having to replace the cooling solution and could never see the point as the radiator required a large number of fans which meant lots of noise, when I thought the purpose of watercooling was to keep components cool whilst also being extremely quiet.

I am thinking of jumping ship and replacing hardware except the motherboard so I can use AutoCAD without any lag whilst rendering, using Photoshop, Lightroom, playing games without lag at approx. 50fps on highest settings for games like GTA V and COD etc, running multiple apps without lag.. You get the idea.

Please tell me what you think of the following:

http://www.ebuyer.com/
Intel Core i5 4690 3.50GHz Socket 1150 6MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £172.20
HyperX 16GB 2133MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL11 DIMM (Kit of 2) XMP Predator £76.89
Cart total inc vat:
£249.09

http://www.dabs.com/learnmore/compo...e=awin&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=AW00

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Are these compatible with the GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 motherboard? Do you think these are good value or would you recommend something else? Should I change my motherboard too?

The MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express card I have is good because I can stream audio and visual through HDMI and I still need to be able to do this, so I wondered if it were possible with the GPU I have mentioned?

 

[Snowman09]

Hey sorry I didn't see this post! Gimme just a little bit since I'm at work right now. Maybe someone else could help in the meantime? If not, I'll do some digging and get back to you. Off the bat though, the 970 is quite the beast and it'll certainly be able to run ~50 fps, especially at that price tag, it's a steal.

 

[Snowman09]

From what I remember, 1150 and 1155 are not compatible so definitely check a different CPU/mobo. As to which one is changed? That depends on you. Personally, I would search for an 1150 mobo, but that's because it's newer and you can typically get CPU/Mobo bundles for solid prices (microcenter). The ram looks good in my books. Kingston always delivers solid products, but I would look into the mobo and CPU first before actually purchasing it (for compatibility reasons). The graphics card, as mentioned earlier, is a steal and would provide (up to) 7.1. HDMI will handle sound and video.