Case Suggestion for CustoMac

[aviat72]

ORDERED:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112296




Need suggestions for a good looking case which is quiet and an do justice to a custoMAC.

I am not in favor the mini-ITX cases since I will be putting three drives (1SSD Boot and a 2Disk Mac Raid) and need more power than most inbuilt PSUs can offer. Further the Gigabyte H67 miniITX has very poor reviews and most CustoMacs work well with GigaByte boards.

System will be i2500K + Z68 Mobo + SSD + 2 Disks + 8GB RAM + Wireless Adapter


1. What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming, Photoshop (or other intensive programs), Overclocking, Web browsing, strictly HTPC/Playback, etc. (If you have multiple things you want to do with the system, make sure you rank them from most important to least important).

Desktop CustoMac: Web Browzing, Video/Photo Editing, Face Time. No Gaming


2. What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included in this budget? Is your budget flexible? Is cost a driving factor in component selection?

Flexible.

3. Where do you live? Do you have any big B&M (brick and mortar) computer chains nearby (e.g. Microcenter, Fry's, etc)?

Both close by. Only bad thing is California Sales Tax

4. What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Case, Case, Case: Will be using the onboard HD3000 graphics on the i2500k

5. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. For reused parts, list brands, model #s, and, if applicable, firmware revisions.

Have SSD, Hard Disks, RAM

6. What specific features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc. Which is more important, size of the system or having the particular feature? Make sure you indicate *required* vs. *wanted* for each feature you list.

RAID. Should look cool

7. What resolution output do you need? 1080p, 720p, DVD quality, etc for HTPC or list Vertical/horizontal resolution for non-HTPC SFF rigs. Do you need multiple monitor output?

HD3000 is good enough; Z68 boards have enough headers


8. Does this system need to fit into a particular space? Think entertainment center shelves, closet space, rackmount, etc.

In the bedroom Compact and Quiet

9. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? What tools do you have (Screwdrivers/Leatherman, Drill, Dremel, Metal snips, Soldering Iron, Bending Brake, CNC/Welding machines/Plasma cutter, etc...)?
A little bit but not much

10. How important is the noise/silence of this sytem? HTPCs typically want to be quiet while all-out SFF gaming rigs don't care

Silence is Important since this is a bedroom comp


11. How mobile does this system need to be? Need a carrying handle or carrying straps? Is weight important (carry-on bag, etc)? Water cooling quick disconnects, etc?

Fixed

12. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? Remember that OEM copies of Win7 have issues with new motherboards

MacOS Lion

13. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Immediately, in a couple weeks, 3-5 years?

Soon...

 

[darrella]

I'm building a similar one with an i5-2405S that will (hopefully) be fanless in a SILVERSTONE FT03T , but that might be too tall for your application.

 

[aviat72]

That is a very interesting case and I have no idea how the whole thing works. It is just that it is pretty much the price of the CPU+Mobo!
I like the slot loading Drive. Do you get special drives to work with these?

Come to think of it I should perhaps be thinking of going with a fanless design here. It will have no graphic cards and the primary drive is an SSD. I doubt the hard-disks will need to much cooling since this is not a server case and will be used sparingly. The only issue is the power supply.

 

[fr500]

I had a Hackintosh on a SG05, with a GeminII (fanless), It was great but the GeminII won't fit 1155 ITX motherboards

 

[aviat72]

I had a Hackintosh on a SG05, with a GeminII (fanless), It was great but the GeminII won't fit 1155 ITX motherboards

miniITX will not work for me because of the lack of good quality Gigabyte boards....

 

[Harry1969]

nevermind

 

[darrella]

Do you get special drives to work with these?

Silverstone, Sony and LITE-ON make slim slot loading DVD drives.
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner

I should perhaps be thinking of going with a fanless design here.

Here is a video of a Fortress FT03 fanless system demonstration by Silverstone.

The only issue is the power supply.

Silverstone and SeaSonic make fanless power supplies.
SILVERSTONE Nightjar ST50NF 500W
SeaSonic X series SS-400FL Active PFC F3 400W

 

[flopticalcube]

miniITX will not work for me because of the lack of good quality Gigabyte boards....

Don't know where you get this idea from. I could not be happier with the Gigabyte ITX board and I have 2 of them. The Z68 ITX boards (Zotac and Asrock), on the other hand, appear to have several serious issues. With the system you are proposing just about any 150W+ PSU should be fine.

 

[Jen]

I had a Hackintosh on a SG05, with a GeminII (fanless), It was great but the GeminII won't fit 1155 ITX motherboards

depends on what motherboard is used and you need to buy the adapter for it as well

Jen

 

[aviat72]

Silverstone, Sony and LITE-ON make slim slot loading DVD drives.
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner

Here is a video of a Fortress FT03 fanless system demonstration by Silverstone.


Silverstone and SeaSonic make fanless power supplies.
SILVERSTONE Nightjar ST50NF 500W
SeaSonic X series SS-400FL Active PFC F3 400W

depends on what motherboard is used and you need to buy the adapter for it as well

Jen

Thanks a lot..

Don't know where you get this idea from. I could not be happier with the Gigabyte ITX board and I have 2 of them. The Z68 ITX boards (Zotac and Asrock), on the other hand, appear to have several serious issues. With the system you are proposing just about any 150W+ PSU should be fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128484 Reviews here are not good

 

[flopticalcube]

Thanks a lot..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495&Tpk=N82E16813128495 Reviews here are not good

A handful of reviews for a board that sells in the thousands. Statistically insignificant as most people who are satisfied don't send in reviews. Furthermore, most of the 1 egg reviews are from early in the production (April, May). Its a solid board for the most part. Of course, anyone could end up with a lemon and those that do will complain like hell.

 

[aviat72]

depends on what motherboard is used and you need to buy the adapter for it as well

Jen

A handful of reviews for a board that sells in the thousands. Statistically insignificant as most people who are satisfied don't send in reviews. Furthermore, most of the 1 egg reviews are from early in the production (April, May). Its a solid board for the most part. Of course, anyone could end up with a lemon and those that do will complain like hell.

Oops
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128484

This was the board I was considering H67 mini ITX.
The one I originally linked is a microATX on my list.

 

[flopticalcube]

My comments are even more applicable! Most expert reviews gave the Gigabyte board a solid review. Don't sell yourself short by ignoring it. The alternatives for a working hackintosh are not many and its best to go with what works.

 

[bigddybn]

Oops
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128484

This was the board I was considering H67 mini ITX.
The one I originally linked is a microATX on my list.

I went hackintosh with that very board. It worked great.

Unfortunately now that newegg is a bit more mainstream it's reviews tend to skew toward the "complete F'ing idiot" crowd. Experienced builders don't usually bother coming back to post reviews. If they did you'd see 20 thousand positive reviews for 99% of items. Instead it's complete morons who have no business building a machine who blame the hardware.

Nothing wrong with that board. Take it from this "reviewer" who used it for your very application. Ran it with an SG05 with the 450w PSU.

 

[aviat72]

I went with the Z68 microATX instead of the mini-ITX along with the 2500K
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364086

See next post...

These reviews for H67 are not noobish; perhaps there was something wrong which they fixed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...rue&Keywords=(keywords)&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

 

[aviat72]

The end user of this computer wanted a cooler looking case. I think that is where I should have started anyway. So we went with Lian-Li mini-Q PC-Q11A (Silver). It will blend well with the Mac Wireless keyboard and mouse . OOS at Newegg but Google found it at at an excellent price with free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112296

Now I am back to square one and need to find a miniITX motherboard I like for the CustoMac. And that $60 off deal which MC has with the 2500K with a Z68/P68 mobo will not work since the only miniITX board they have is a H67.

I need HD3000 graphics for this to works so am constrained to 2500K, 2600K, 2700K and Core i3-2105.
This particular case does not have great cooling but since it will not be stressed I am not particularly worried.

 

[aviat72]

FYI:

End results are here
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=41785