Decent Barebones or HPC(?) case with 2x5.25 drives

D

Damian Skeeles

Hi there,

I'm building a media centre for my lounge, and have been searching
everywhere for a decent case.

There's loads of barebones systems out there - some of them with
decent aesthetics, and some of those are extremely quiet; but most of
them only permit *one* 5.25" drive.

I'm hunting for a case with two, so that I can perform DVD or CD
writing, PVR, etc. while I'm watching a DVD, for example.

Does anyone know of a nice case with this spec? I've found one that's
close - the Coolermaster ATC-620 (http://tinyurl.com/ypwsr), but at
£200ish it's more than many barebones - before motherboard or PSU!

(Other reqs for the unit are 3 PCI slots, 3.5" HDD, and maybe
something that'll permit a full AGP slot)

Thanks!


Damian
 
D

Dave C.

Damian Skeeles said:
Hi there,

I'm building a media centre for my lounge, and have been searching
everywhere for a decent case.

There's loads of barebones systems out there - some of them with
decent aesthetics, and some of those are extremely quiet; but most of
them only permit *one* 5.25" drive.

I'm hunting for a case with two, so that I can perform DVD or CD
writing, PVR, etc. while I'm watching a DVD, for example.

Does anyone know of a nice case with this spec? I've found one that's
close - the Coolermaster ATC-620 (http://tinyurl.com/ypwsr), but at
£200ish it's more than many barebones - before motherboard or PSU!

(Other reqs for the unit are 3 PCI slots, 3.5" HDD, and maybe
something that'll permit a full AGP slot)

Thanks!


Damian
Click to expand...

I like the following Inwin model from Newegg. But throw away that power
supply and replace it with something decent! If you want to keep it quiet,
buy a Seasonic power supply. Newegg also allows you to search by number of
5.25" slots, so check out the rest of them there.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-108-261&depa=0
 
T

tregusta

Damian Skeeles said:
Hi there,

I'm building a media centre for my lounge, and have been searching
everywhere for a decent case.

There's loads of barebones systems out there - some of them with
decent aesthetics, and some of those are extremely quiet; but most of
them only permit *one* 5.25" drive.

I'm hunting for a case with two, so that I can perform DVD or CD
writing, PVR, etc. while I'm watching a DVD, for example.

Does anyone know of a nice case with this spec? I've found one that's
close - the Coolermaster ATC-620 (http://tinyurl.com/ypwsr), but at
£200ish it's more than many barebones - before motherboard or PSU!

(Other reqs for the unit are 3 PCI slots, 3.5" HDD, and maybe
something that'll permit a full AGP slot)

Thanks!


Damian
Click to expand...

instead of a barebones you could also go with a nice desktop, such as the
"Antec overture"
http://www.antec-inc.com/us/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=15728
it would fit your needs, and size is comparitive to a surround
receiver(5.25"(H) x 17"(W) x 19.25"(D)),
plus its only 129$ us, so bout 80-100pounds., comes with a good power
supply, you can put a proper vid card, tv capture, three hard disks two cd
drives, its a little large, but no proprietary mobo(alot of those micro atx
motherboards are crap)
its got filters for the air intake, one 9cm fan at the back one 8 cm for the
power supply...and it would fit in most entertainment cabinets.

-tre
 
R

Roy Coorne

tregusta wrote:
....
instead of a barebones you could also go with a nice desktop, such as the
"Antec overture"
http://www.antec-inc.com/us/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=15728
it would fit your needs, and size is comparitive to a surround
receiver(5.25"(H) x 17"(W) x 19.25"(D)),
plus its only 129$ us, so bout 80-100pounds., comes with a good power
supply, you can put a proper vid card, tv capture, three hard disks two cd
drives, its a little large, but no proprietary mobo(alot of those micro atx
motherboards are crap)
its got filters for the air intake, one 9cm fan at the back one 8 cm for the
power supply...and it would fit in most entertainment cabinets.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Antec Overture looks beautiful - but tends towards cooling
problems: The 8 cm PSU fan is within the interior of the case, and
there is only the 92 mm fan for blowing the hot air out of the case.

Roy
 
D

Damian Skeeles

Roy Coorne said:
tregusta wrote:
...

Yes, the Antec Overture looks beautiful - but tends towards cooling
problems: The 8 cm PSU fan is within the interior of the case, and
there is only the 92 mm fan for blowing the hot air out of the case.
Click to expand...

I guess that would lead to a fair bit of noise then... It's
frustrating that it's an important factor in a media system, and
something you just can't judge until you plug the thing in...

I wonder if it's possible to get hold of one of the HP Media Centre
cases? Smoked glass hinged front panel, retro-chrome effect buttons
(well, not exactly, but that's what they reminded me of)... not
pretending to be anything other than a mini tower, but nice enough
that you'd forgive it. I would've bought one if I wouldn't have had to
swop out most of the stuff inside it :)


Damian

BTW - thanks for the rec tregusta - I agree, it is pretty damn nice!
 
T

tregusta

but if you replace that stock 9cm fan wit something around .35 amp, you can
alleviate that.
 
K

kony

I guess that would lead to a fair bit of noise then... It's
frustrating that it's an important factor in a media system, and
something you just can't judge until you plug the thing in...
Click to expand...

Actually so far as minimal size HTPCs go, having a 92mm fan is somewhat of
a luxury, most tiny cases have 60-80mm fan(s). Perhaps the key to a good
setup is choosing a component set with only moderate heat. You certainly
don't need parts that produce 200W of heat.
 
Z

Zamboni

Damian Skeeles said:
Hi there,

I'm building a media centre for my lounge, and have been searching
everywhere for a decent case.

There's loads of barebones systems out there - some of them with
decent aesthetics, and some of those are extremely quiet; but most of
them only permit *one* 5.25" drive.

I'm hunting for a case with two, so that I can perform DVD or CD
writing, PVR, etc. while I'm watching a DVD, for example.

Does anyone know of a nice case with this spec? I've found one that's
close - the Coolermaster ATC-620 (http://tinyurl.com/ypwsr), but at
£200ish it's more than many barebones - before motherboard or PSU!

(Other reqs for the unit are 3 PCI slots, 3.5" HDD, and maybe
something that'll permit a full AGP slot)
Click to expand...

Just a bare case, but the d.Vine systems work well as theatre PCs.

http://www.ahanix.com/dvine4.html

I have the 3-model, which has a single from drive bay. The case can hold a
full-size ATX board.
 
Top