Someone brought atechfabrication's stuff to my attention. As noted in another thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1047263) I had some disappointment with the Omaura TF8 and am returning it and looking for something better. I was just checking out atechfabrication's site today and :eek: this thing is beautiful. I don't want to look at the price yet. :) My ultimate preference is probably not for this case but rather a minimalistic case with only a power button and a slot for a slot-load BD-ROM drive. You HAVE to appreciate the workmanship in this stuff.

http://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/HeatSync%207000%20204-640.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/HeatSync%207000%20303-640.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/HeatSync%207000%20318-640.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/HeatSync%207000%20350-640.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/HeatSync%207000%20342-640.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/HeatSync%207000%20297-640.jpg

THIS other case is also impressive given that it's so low profile and yet it'll take a full height video card and passively cool it. If only it came in black!


http://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/mini-client%20203-480.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/mini-client%20039-480.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/mini-client%20248-480.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/mini-client%20033-480.jpghttp://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/mini-client%20003-480.jpg

I also like this case but choices seem too limited for supported motherboards.

http://www.atechfabrication.com/images/htpc/products/mini-server%20055-480.jpg

Damn.. that IS some nice case porn. Gimme gimme.

I just wish they had tray loaded versions. But they are absolutely beautiful cases.

The 2nd one looks super, yeah why not white? Great minimalistic/futuristic look

I don't dare to look for a price though

if I only had a thousand bucks laying around .... damn grad school... takin my spendin' money...

I just wish they had tray loaded versions. But they are absolutely beautiful cases.

you and me both. The future "hotness" of HTPC cases is clearly the slot-loading BD-ROM drive. As soon as they get cheaper we'll all be in heaven. Right now the only one you can get is a Panasonic UJ-225 which is like $500+ on ebay. Ofcourse it's a BD burner too, but screw burning since the media is too expensive and anyone with an HTPC is probably ripping all their stuff with another computer on the network anyway.

Trick might be to build a case like this with no optical drive and just wait 6-12 months for a cheaper slot-loader BD readonly drive.

Trick might be to build a case like this with no optical drive and just wait 6-12 months for a cheaper slot-loader BD readonly drive.True. It would mean having to rip my rentals to watch them but I can always do that then delete them after I watch them. Adds an extra couple of steps but it's not really that big a deal.

Or I could just mount my LG combo drive in an eSATA housing.

The RAM chips on that video card in the black case need cooling. It is a hot card to begin with. I would recommend using the same type of heatsink as on the white case, one that pulls heat off of the GPU and RAM chips. You could seriously shorten the life of the card by years...