Opinions on High end HTPC

[Gikaseixas]

I want to build a high end around the Origen AE21T. Will be used for movies, music and lots of gaming (1920 x 1080).

http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s21t.htm

The case can be be purchased here:

http://www.vidabox.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_11&products_id=20

QUESTIONS

1 - Vidabox. Is this website reliable? Trustworthy?

2 - Any other recommendations / alternatives for cases?

Specs:

1 high end video card, most likely a next gen one

2600K cooled by a Corsair H60

1 SSD for the OS

4 drives 2TB for storage

16GB of memory

850w PS from Corsair

1 Blue Ray drive

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1

Full sized ATX MB from ASUS or GIGABYTE

etc, etc

 

[fralexandr]

1) http://www.resellerratings.com/store/view/VidaBox_LLC/page/l
vidabox seems to have an ok resellerratings, but...
there are a few warning signs:
all of the reviewers except 1 have only reviewed this reseller (the exception is 1 person reviewed 1 other obscure reseller)
all of the reviews are 5 stars (not THAT fishy, since there are only 14 reviews)

vidabox wasn't on the better business bureau site at all (US & canada)

other than that i find it kind of odd that most of the reviews have good grammar and seem perfectly fine

as per froogle, pc titan also seems to sell the case (it's slightly cheaper but price isn't including shipping), but no reseller ratings
bbb gives it an A+ rating though because
"Factors that raised Titan PC, LLC's rating include:

Length of time business has been operating.
No complaints filed with BBB.
BBB has sufficient background information on this business."

:S

2) wow that case looks cool, but i can't find information on internal dimensions
tom's hardware had an x1950pro which from google seems to be a 25-26cm/10" card
so looks like it'll fit a decently high end GPU in it
will fit an ATX mobo too (awesome!)

assuming all the rest of the parts will fit into it, seems like it'll be a nice compactish multimedia computer

also WOW that's an expensive case :S

 

[Gikaseixas]

1) http://www.resellerratings.com/store/view/VidaBox_LLC/page/l
vidabox seems to have an ok resellerratings, but...
there are a few warning signs:
all of the reviewers except 1 have only reviewed this reseller (the exception is 1 person reviewed 1 other obscure reseller)
all of the reviews are 5 stars (not THAT fishy, since there are only 14 reviews)

vidabox wasn't on the better business bureau site at all (US & canada)

other than that i find it kind of odd that most of the reviews have good grammar and seem perfectly fine

as per froogle, pc titan also seems to sell the case (it's slightly cheaper but price isn't including shipping), but no reseller ratings
bbb gives it an A+ rating though because
"Factors that raised Titan PC, LLC's rating include:

Length of time business has been operating.
No complaints filed with BBB.
BBB has sufficient background information on this business."

:S

2) wow that case looks cool, but i can't find information on internal dimensions
tom's hardware had an x1950pro which from google seems to be a 25-26cm/10" card
so looks like it'll fit a decently high end GPU in it
will fit an ATX mobo too (awesome!)

assuming all the rest of the parts will fit into it, seems like it'll be a nice compactish multimedia computer

also WOW that's an expensive case :S

Thanks for the imput. I will most def. check PC Titan when i get home from work later today. It's another option to consider so once again thanks.

As for the case dimensions, it's huge (435 x 220 x 390mm) and seems to be designed to accommodate long cards.

The price is on high side but most cases with 7" lcd's will cost you $499 to $699 so i was expecting at least a price tag of $999 for this one but somehow they think it's worth more so let's see.

 

[Emulex]

1. Asus essentio (used - best buy auction site) $184
2. Nice home theatre case $70 newegg
3. GT430 for full hd over hdmi 1.4 (3d full hd, full blu-ray bitpassing) $49
4. Boot SSD $64 (64gb kinda over kill could do 32gb)
5. hdmi cable $2
6. Lenovo trackball remote $25

Leftover parts from build : triangle case/ps, geforce 220GT

spec:
c2q8200 - 2.53ghz
8gb DDR2
Geforce GT 430 (hdmi 1.4 for 4K video)
Intel x25-V 40gb
Windows 7 Ultimate (oem slic came with pc)
1TB drive (5400rpm green)

Total $394

Probably sell the Geforce 220 that came with it for $20 on ebay.

Has enough ram/horsepower(without oc'ing) to play two 4K video at once with any codec.

I am thinking of building a new one - do you think i can get a similar setup for about half the price using these new APU's? I use the box to do AIRVIDEO/STREAMTOME/transcode/utorrent/NAS (iscsi/smb2/nfs via vm).

I was thinking the newer APU based systems and laptop ram and such i could cut the dimensions down into blu-ray slim size? I'd want to spend $200 tops including the windows 7 ultimate license

 

[jihe]

I want to build a high end around the Origen AE21T. Will be used for movies, music and lots of gaming (1920 x 1080).

http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s21t.htm

The case can be be purchased here:

http://www.vidabox.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_11&products_id=20

QUESTIONS

1 - Vidabox. Is this website reliable? Trustworthy?

2 - Any other recommendations / alternatives for cases?

Specs:

1 high end video card, most likely a next gen one

2600K cooled by a Corsair H60

1 SSD for the OS

4 drives 2TB for storage

16GB of memory

850w PS from Corsair

1 Blue Ray drive

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1

Full sized ATX MB from ASUS or GIGABYTE

etc, etc

Is there any reason you want this case? Seems ridiculously expensive.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Is there any reason you want this case? Seems ridiculously expensive.

I just finished my "man cave" and that case just fits nicely. It's a gift for myself, i work hard to get what i want, i think i deserve it.