Looking for a sexy HTPC case

skipsargent

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Messages
146
I have went through articles over and over, and read countless case reviews and still I am left wanting. I am looking for an HTPC case that doesn't look cheap, if this is going in my entertainment center it needs to look like it belongs there. I am not interested in anything that looks like a desktop pc or anything weird. Here are my initial impressions on a few seemingly "popular" models:

Antec Fusion Remote

Looks like a plain black box, there is no style or elegance at all.

Silverstone LC13B-E

The same goes for the Silverstone

One case builder that appeared to get it right was Omaura, however they appear to have dropped off of the planet. I would be interested to see some "sexy" case that other people have used in their builds. Pictures would be very welcome.
 
ive got this one which is the original shorter version of that antec fusion, i really like it a lot and seems to fit in well. you can see it in it's home here.

looking through newegg, i see many nice looking home theater cases there. i think it just depends on personal preference and how much your willing to spend.
 
I JUST bought the Silverstone LC13B-E for my HTPC. It's very nice looking on the outside. Simple when you have the panel closed. The build quality is great which of course is typical of Silverstone. But I will say this. This is the sort of case that once you are done building it, you don't want to make a lot of upgrades. I found that the location of where my 24pin power was to plug into the board, was a tight squeeze. The location of the screws for the hard drive cages are screwed in horizontally towards the front of the case rather then some vertical method to make removing them easier. Not a lot of frills to this case. It's pretty basic.

BUT it LOOKS great and that's one of the main factors to an HTPC is to have something that looks great, and not like a computer sitting there.
 
i wish they didnt cost so much money... but you gotta pay that premium to have the old school desktop format lol

i have a cheap $60 htpc case. it looks ok, its built like crap, and it has a poor design. i'll never buy another cheap htpc case.... that antec fusion looks awesome, i just wish you could buy it for around $100
 
personally, I am a fan of the antec. I had a silverstone case for my last HTPC build. It looked nice on the outside, but it was a real pain to upgrade / swap parts out once everything was installed.
 
OrigenAE: http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s10v.htm

I have the black one and like it a lot. The pictures really don't do it justice, so you have to see one in person. There are bigger versions available as well (but then you don't get the slot loading drive, which I really like). The high end gets a bit crazy too (12" motorized touchscreen for example). These are also not cheap. I think it was worth it though.
 
Wow that Origen AE case looks very sweet. I looked at their lineup and I thought they were pretty nice. If they made a H series that was a slot loader I would be sold. I think that M10 has the right look, but I think that might be a bit on the small side for me.
 
OrigenAE: http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s10v.htm

I have the black one and like it a lot. The pictures really don't do it justice, so you have to see one in person. There are bigger versions available as well (but then you don't get the slot loading drive, which I really like). The high end gets a bit crazy too (12" motorized touchscreen for example). These are also not cheap. I think it was worth it though.

I think I have new case and financial goals. :D :(

So these take laptop optical drives?
 
I have always been a fan of Lian-Li. I use one of the older "silent" tower cases for my main rig. I paid around $350 for it 4-5 years ago now. It has served me very well indeed. I only wish that their HTPC offerings showed some of the elegance that my tower does. They seem to have shifted to a very boxy looking design trend in the last two years from what I can tell. While I do not find the PC-C36 unattractive it isn't exactly going to win any awards on style.
 
You can still find Omaura's floating around if you look hard enough :D
 
I think I have new case and financial goals. :D :(

So these take laptop optical drives?


I have this.
It takes a full 5 1/4. Only odd thing is the 60mm fans or was it 70mm.
I recommend Silverstone LC-20 for the sheer number of drives you can put in it.
Or their CW-01. I have both also.
And I like the CW-01 for it's clean lines.
The LC-20 is nice to cover up the optical drive.
 
I'm really loving these Origen cases. Wish I could afford one right now. Kind of surprising that the S14V is only $10 more than the S10V.
 
Yeah, unfortunately they aren't cheap. Even the S10V starts at $300...and that's on eBay.
 
Not as nice looking as the Origen AE S10V case, but I decided on the SILVERSTONE Black Crown Series CW02B-MXR case last year when I built a new HTPC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163084

11-163-084-02.jpg


Here's a video review:
http://www.3dgameman.com/content/view/9720/103/


I bought for the following reasons:

1. 6 hard drive bays - Excluding 1 HDD for the OS, I can have 10TB of storage if I install 5 WD 2TB HDDs.

2. 120mm exhaust fan - Larger fans spins slower than smaller fans to move the same amount of air, thus the fans makes less noise.

3. Tall enough to fit a Tuniq Tower for my E6600. When I decide to upgrade my primary PC which has a Q9450, guess what is going in this case so a big HSF is a requirement to keep things cool and quiet.

4. Tall enough to fit an Accelero S2 passive heatsink for my video card.

5. Thick aluminum muffles noise.

6. Optional 92mm fans for the hard drives. Having 6 HDDs and an optical drive can generate a lot of heat.



The downside is that it cost me $365 excluding shipping.
 
Not as nice looking as the Origen AE S10V case, but I decided on the SILVERSTONE Black Crown Series CW02B-MXR case last year when I built a new HTPC.

That is a seriously beefy case, with that many drives that sounds like a video jukebox. Pretty sweet though!
 
I use my Silverstone LC-17s (it's also available in black)
http://www.sundialmicro.com/silverstone_desktop_htpc_case_sstlc17s_1699_512.html

I have a Q9450 in my HTPC OC'ed to 3.4.
I keep the cores around 50c/65c with a Scythe Shuriken and a Panaflo
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/043/scsk1000_detail.html

I can fit my 285 SSC barely. I'm not sure I could put drives in the middle bay.
There is room in front of both drive bays to put 80 or 92mm fans.
There are 2 80mm fans on the rear and a hole on the right side for one more.
There's an intake/exhaust grate on the left side for the power supply.
The front has a grate along the entire bottom (not visible from the front) for intake.

My criteria was tons of room, tons of cooling, and a sexy look.
It's about the same size as a regular stereo component (amp/receiver) but you can't fit a tall HSF.
 
OrigenAE: http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s10v.htm

I have the black one and like it a lot. The pictures really don't do it justice, so you have to see one in person. There are bigger versions available as well (but then you don't get the slot loading drive, which I really like). The high end gets a bit crazy too (12" motorized touchscreen for example). These are also not cheap. I think it was worth it though.

that is really, really nice with the huge lcd upfront. it looks like you could actually read what it says from your couch. i hate most that are so small you need to get up just to see them.
 
The LCD on my Antec is a joke, but I'm loving the rest of it. The only thing I didn't like about the silverstones is the 80mm fan requirements. If they had just one with a 120mm option, I may not be using a Fusion right now.
 
Those case from Luxa are sweet it is now a toss up between one of those and something from OrigenAE since I cannot readily get my hands on an Omaura.
 
ya, that black crown was WAY outa my price range. Not bad though.
 
I have went through articles over and over, and read countless case reviews and still I am left wanting. I am looking for an HTPC case that doesn't look cheap, if this is going in my entertainment center it needs to look like it belongs there. I am not interested in anything that looks like a desktop pc or anything weird. Here are my initial impressions on a few seemingly "popular" models:

Antec Fusion Remote

Looks like a plain black box, there is no style or elegance at all.

Silverstone LC13B-E

The same goes for the Silverstone

One case builder that appeared to get it right was Omaura, however they appear to have dropped off of the planet. I would be interested to see some "sexy" case that other people have used in their builds. Pictures would be very welcome.

I have an Antec Fusion 430, similar to the Fusion Remote but not as tall. I'm not sure what you mean when you say it doesn't look "elegant". I wasn't ware of the huge market for home theater stuff that did look elegant. It's of similar size to a receiver, black, looks like an a/v component and does its job very well. Almost perfect I'd say.
 
I have an Antec Fusion 430, similar to the Fusion Remote but not as tall. I'm not sure what you mean when you say it doesn't look "elegant". I wasn't ware of the huge market for home theater stuff that did look elegant. It's of similar size to a receiver, black, looks like an a/v component and does its job very well. Almost perfect I'd say.

Really? Everyone I know that is a home theater enthusiast looks for a case that is as nice to look at as is functional. I can get past a case that is a pain to build in honestly. You aren't in it much past your initial build, but if I have to look at it every day sitting under my 52" LCD and think to myself that it looks like a desktop PC pretending to be an A/V component then that is not the case for me.
 
Really? Everyone I know that is a home theater enthusiast looks for a case that is as nice to look at as is functional. I can get past a case that is a pain to build in honestly. You aren't in it much past your initial build, but if I have to look at it every day sitting under my 52" LCD and think to myself that it looks like a desktop PC pretending to be an A/V component then that is not the case for me.

Well, keep in mind there are different aesthetic considerations. Some of us have high end separates so we want a case that looks like them rather than an xbox. I know friends who have a theater-in-a-box and a console as the heart of their home theater setup and for them they might like something like this
directron_2049_6888136

(or in a gray or red)

versus what I have:
sstlc17smain.jpg
stacked on
image

which doesn't look at all like a computer pretending to be an A/V component.
 
That is exactly what I am saying. Although that silverstone does in my opinion look like a pc on it's side.
 
Now that my new plasma is black instead of silver, I'm tempted to upgrade to
directron_2050_36659751

http://www.directron.com/moneual902.html

But I'm confused as to what you're looking for when you say "elegant." The silverstone I already own is the same dimensions as the amp I posted so unless that looks like a PC on its side they look the same other than the dvd slots.
 
I had a LC-17B and it is a great looking case. At the time, I was considering switching to BAT audio components and it was a good match.

In the end, I decided to stick with my Simaudio Moon series components and added a few other components and ran out of rack space. My server is now in the video stack in my Brother-in-law's LC-11S. He got the LC-17B, as he was having cooling problems and the bigger case helped.
 
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I was considering the Moneual MonCaso 932Tmyself. But it only has 4 drive bays and I questioned the actual usefulness of the LCD screen.
 
I was considering the Moneual MonCaso 932Tmyself. But it only has 4 drive bays and I questioned the actual usefulness of the LCD screen.
If you guys know of a dual toned in the same pattern/colors as the 932 without a touchscreen, let me know. I only wanted it once I saw how closely it matches my amp and processor.
 
Smooth lines, with a classic look that doesn't scream "Hey I'm a PC". The OrigenAE cases are about as close as I have found. I just wish the M10 was larger, say about the size of an H6.

http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/products_htpc.htm
If you're even considering a mini-ITX case, then save yourself a few hundred bucks and hide it behind your TV or under the couch :)
http://www.mini-box.com/M350-universal-mini-itx-enclosure?sc=8&category=87

oh yeah, I seriously considered this one long ago:
HeatSync%202500%20085-700.jpg

http://www.atechfabrication.com/products/mini_client_2500.htm
 
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