KT-400 HTPC Case?

I just picked up one of these cases last night. I'm really impressed at how nice this case is for only being $50/shipped. I'm looking forward to building my HTPC.

Surprising, right!?!? Any mods or leaving it stock?
 
Things are looking good with this. I wish I had the time to do this sort of project.
 
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The db's were great with the fans directed this way; however, my temps dropped 10 deg by reversing them. The db's incresed above what I want to tolerate after reversing. This was probably due to the lack of cut outs yet. I will begin cutting tomorrow. I tried a lot of temp testing before I started firing up the power tools.
 
The db's were great with the fans directed this way; however, my temps dropped 10 deg by reversing them. The db's incresed above what I want to tolerate after reversing. This was probably due to the lack of cut outs yet. I will begin cutting tomorrow. I tried a lot of temp testing before I started firing up the power tools.

So when you reversed them to blow IN instead of out, your TEMPS dropped significantly but the sound increased considerably as well.. correct?
 
I just picked up one of these cases last night. I'm really impressed at how nice this case is for only being $50/shipped. I'm looking forward to building my HTPC.


Just a F.Y.I .... I found my case for "Buynow or best offer". I got it for$45.
 
It's not an IR blaster on the front of the case, it's a receiver and it plugs into USB or IR input on your mobo. Should work with your 2250. If your 2250 came with a blaster, don't put it in your case, as that defeats the whole purpose of having it. It's for relaying IR info to other components via your computer (i.e. set top box, receiver, etc.).

IR receiver and IR blaster are often confused with one another. IR receiver receives signals from the remote (usually Sony protocol) and IR blaster "blasts" signals out to other components". :)[/QUOTE]

That makes sense. I meant the receiver. I would like to mount it to the "bubble" in side the front of the case, that way it doesn't look out of the ordinary on the case. Thanks for the HDMI "heads up", I'll check that out.
 
So when you reversed them to blow IN instead of out, your TEMPS dropped significantly but the sound increased considerably as well.. correct?
You are correct. I think it was due to the leading edge of the fan blade trying to pull air in too close to the case side. I think once I follow your led in cutting out the side, it should decrease the noise level. (HOPEFULLY)
 
Damn Officer, finally got caught up and your case came out amazing. I wish I had the time right now to do something like this but I have my hands full with projects already.

I would not think drilling out all those holes would be very difficult with a cross sliding vise and press but I could be wrong.

I really want to get some more use out of my new drillpress, but once I look at the cost of modding this case It seems that it would be cheaper to just buy something else?
 
Damn Officer, finally got caught up and your case came out amazing. I wish I had the time right now to do something like this but I have my hands full with projects already.

I would not think drilling out all those holes would be very difficult with a cross sliding vise and press but I could be wrong.

I really want to get some more use out of my new drillpress, but once I look at the cost of modding this case It seems that it would be cheaper to just buy something else?

Thank you so much for the compliment. Well, in the past, that's pretty much been the "norm" for my modding. Start out with a free or low priced case and just go a little crazy with it. I could settle for a decent case from the get go but I don't like being exactly like everyone else. Plus, most cases suffer from one thing or another (until you mod it to your specs). This case is a really neat case for me.. Not many people will buy it. For those who do, it's a minimal investment and no where near the cost of those $200+ dollar HTPC cases. With a minimal investment, I enjoy turning an "OK" case into something fantastic. For the few here on [H]ard|Forum that actually know me (or have been to my house), they would pretty much ALL tell you I can mod almost anything.. haha. I've watched all of those MNPCTECH videos on their modding projects and I have TONS of respect for those guys. But, I do find myself saying, "I could do that.. or.. that's not too hard to do" ..hehe.

As for me, I am just waiting for the mobo companies to release their "higher end" P67 boards. As soon as the board that I want pops up, I will buy it and then take all of my P55 guts out of my Antec 902 case and put them in my HTPC case. Speaking of which, I decided to install that Silverstone fan controller directly into my case (hard mounted). No brackets.. just the PCB and the knobs. Should look good once it's mounted up. I will try to install it tomorrow and subsequently take some pics. My slot covers came back from the powder coater and everything looks wonderful. All of my wires are sleeved and everything is READY! ...ugh!!!! C'mon P67 boards! ..my HTPC is waiting!!!!
 
Meh.. I had some down time so I mounted up my fan controller. Not bad.. I have wires EVERYWHERE at the moment but hey, you get the idea of what it will look like, all cleaned up!


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Interesting, but... not accessible from the outside? Too bad. I had them sticking through the front panel (or maybe the back) in my head. Granted, in my experience you dial those things in and leave them the hell alone 99% of the time.
 
Interesting, but... not accessible from the outside? Too bad. I had them sticking through the front panel (or maybe the back) in my head. Granted, in my experience you dial those things in and leave them the hell alone 99% of the time.

Exactly my logic. Dial them in and then I'll never touch them again. It's not too often that I use fan controllers but on the few systems that I've owned and had one installed, after about 5 minutes of playing with the controller, I simply got it set and never touched those knobs again.
 
Ha, cool! I like the mounting position. Make sense. As infrequently is you need to change them, I'd say that's a good spot. Though, there are times when I crank up the CPU for gaming, then back down afterward. What would REALLY be nice is have a fan controller that uses a PCI card and has software. Then you could change it fan setting, log temps and have preset fan speed configs depending on the application (i.e. faster for gaming, slower/quieter for movies and normal use).
 
Ha, cool! I like the mounting position. Make sense. As infrequently is you need to change them, I'd say that's a good spot. Though, there are times when I crank up the CPU for gaming, then back down afterward. What would REALLY be nice is have a fan controller that uses a PCI card and has software. Then you could change it fan setting, log temps and have preset fan speed configs depending on the application (i.e. faster for gaming, slower/quieter for movies and normal use).

On my gaming rig, that would be REALLY cool.. but I figured this is just my HTPC :D
 
Couple Questions, WOuld this be worth picking up if I intended to use the included PSU, cimply cut some circles in it with a circle cutter or holesaw, Drill out hte smaller vent holes, and use spray paint rather than PC to finish it?

Or would I be better off byning a case that does not need to be modded, and forking out extra for the remote, and a decent PSU.
 
Agreed. It should be fine. As for mine, I put my fan controller back in its housing.. Looks more at home in the factory housing so I will probably just leave it like this (haha, don't pay attention to all of that dust) :

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I don't think I'd trust the included PSU to do much of anything...

Are there a lot of cheaper PSUs it can be replaced with that do not require modding? I'm kinda disappointed cause including the PSU was one of the biggest reasons for going with this case, otherwise I feel like I may as well get something else that does not require modding for only a little more?
 
I don't think I'd trust the included PSU to do much of anything...

Mine has been running pretty much constantly since I got it using the included PSU. It actually yields nice stable voltages. Clean power. I've been pleased. I'll replace it if it fails, otherwise I'm going to stick it out with the included Huntkey. :)
 
Mine has been running pretty much constantly since I got it using the included PSU. It actually yields nice stable voltages. Clean power. I've been pleased. I'll replace it if it fails, otherwise I'm going to stick it out with the included Huntkey. :)

Thanks, I won't be running much on this system so I'm hoping to be able to use the PSU it comes with. I'm NOT a fan of cheap PSUs in any computer, however I'm on a tight budget for this one.
Just picked it up for $45. Going to Mod it on a tight budget (No Powder Coat, No fancy Mesh, Just spray paint.).
 
Well I just picked up an Asus P8P67 Deluxe motherboard for my main rig.. That was the LAST piece of my build that i've been waiting on. Sooooo, it looks like in a few days, I will gut out my current setup and stuff it into my HTPC! ..woohoo!
 
Are there a lot of cheaper PSUs it can be replaced with that do not require modding? I'm kinda disappointed cause including the PSU was one of the biggest reasons for going with this case, otherwise I feel like I may as well get something else that does not require modding for only a little more?
I've been running my stock PSU for a while as well. It's been doing fine. Here is link on almost the same model in case your interested.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/668
 
Officer, let us know when you've got your system all primed and ready to roll. I've really enjoyed watching your mod develop. Inspired me to start my current mod worklog; that chopped gateway one. Looking forward to the pictures of your complete and assembled system! :cool:
 
Officer, let us know when you've got your system all primed and ready to roll. I've really enjoyed watching your mod develop. Inspired me to start my current mod worklog; that chopped gateway one. Looking forward to the pictures of your complete and assembled system! :cool:

I didn't forget about ya.. I got everything in and went to put my last piece in there and guess what???? ..no workie workie : (

My GTX 260 is off-set by about 1/2" and it simply won't slide down into the PCI-E slot. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

So, I had to do what any respectable mod dude would do.. go buy a smaller card. Hahahaha! So, tonight while I'm out, there is a COMPUSA that I can drop by and pick me up a GTS 450. It will do the job and after rebate, it's only gonna cost me $69.99 (plus tax). Not my first choice of graphics card / GPU Manufacture, but I couldn't resist the $50 dollar rebate! I'll be sure to post up the pics.. I think it came out nicely : ) ...(minus the darn GTX 260 issue). Speaking of which, GTS 450 vs GTX 260.. I think my Black Edition GTX 260 is a little more powerful than the GTS 450 but oh well! ..not too much of a difference.
 
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Ahhhh, that sucks! I'm assuming your PCIe16 2.0 slot is not where mine is? This is a shot from the mock up I did when I first got the case:
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Just BARELY fits, but it does in fact fit (other than the power connector issue we had discussed way back in the beginning of this thread.
 
Yeah, I remember the power connector issue. I removed the factory Corsair PCI-E power connector and installed my modded one. I had to put some heat shrink over the tiny exposed metal crimp connectors on the individual PCI-E power leads.. It came out nicely but man those connectors would NOT come out.. I had to pry and pry and pry on those suckers for about 40 minutes before I got them all out! Anyway, here are my updated final pictures (although I haven't been able to turn the computer on because I think I have my power connectors switched around. I have TWO connectors that both say PWR SW? ..what tha.. ..haha!


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Nice! Looks really really great! Were you able to fit the 6pin PCIx power plugs in without modification?
 
Nice! Looks really really great! Were you able to fit the 6pin PCIx power plugs in without modification?

Thanks! ..unfortunately no. I had to mod the 6 pin connector. I removed the Corsair PCI-E power connector and installed my modded 6 pin connector (also had to shrink wrap the the exposed ends of the 6 pin leads). Just a little extra step but now everyone who has a PCI-E connector that faces upward, knows what they need to do in order to make it fit properly. It's a tight fit but it fits none-the-less.

:D
 
UPDATE - Well darn it! ..Looks like my first set back. Got everything powered up and it works like a champ. However about 5 seconds after being powered on, one of my cooler master 120mm fans simply stopped working. I plugged in another cooler master fan and it powered right up.. Guess I got a bum fan?

:rolleyes:
 
It's always something, I tell ya. My mod is going in a similar manner. It isn't until you start to put things together do you realize some of those pesky little details you hadn't considered when you started. Like how much SFF sucks! Haha, kidding, I like them.

I'm sure the fan thing is just a fluke, a bum fan. Se la vi.... :rolleyes:
 
I got my KT-400 yesterday. Unfortunately it is damaged :(. Probably not to the point where it is worth shipping back though.

Looks like the PSU mount sucks so bad that it allowed the PSU to push into and dent the side of the case from the inside out.

The mounting tabs on the PSU mount are all bent and twisted.


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Kt-400 dented
 
That sucks man. Sorry to see that. But with a little elbow grease you can fix it. :)
 
That sucks man. Sorry to see that. But with a little elbow grease you can fix it. :)

Yeah.. I agree, that sucks bro! ..For what it's worth, I feel your pain. It can be fixed, so thats a good thing. If the PSU mount is too twisted up to repair, I'll gladly ship you mine. I didn't use my PSU mount or my Huntkey PSU.
 
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