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Silent and good looking HTPC case

3877 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Spy-vs-Spy, 12 mo ago

cd81

Discussion Starter · Jul 9, 2021

Hi All

Tried a couple of PC forums but likely wrong crowd

I'm looking for some recomendations on a good quality case that won't look out of place with the rest of my AV gear, i'm a big fan of Streacom and currently have the FC5 as my current HTPC that has done well for nearly a decade even with an iGPU but now with my plasma relegated to the bedroom and a new G1 OLED and atmos system it's time to upgrade, my current box cries in the corner when trying anything 4K

I'm looking at adding a decent GPU this time mainly due to the comments around using MADvr likely a 3060/3070 should the pricing come down, my intent was to use a Streacom F12c but that is now EOL so does anyone have any ideas, most PC cases look like PC cases and for some reason have more glowing lights than a 90's rave in a german disco.

i was looking at the 011 mini, turning it on it's side and putting a brushed alu panel on the front but could i make something like that silent, i'm not sure on ITX cases as despite looking better i still think they look out of place and I would be concerned on cooling and keeping quiet something so small with an RTX card in.

Any help would be appreciated, at one point i was going to buy an RTX laptop and put the guts in my FC5 but that would be going a bit too far.

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JoeNc

· #2 · Jul 10, 2021

I just got this case a month ago and like it ... don't know if that's what your looking for
but it's quiet and cool temps , have 5 fans , no leds except power / hd light ...
only thing missing from this case is the 5.25'' front drive bays ... it has zero...

Meshify C Tempered Glass — Fractal Design (fractal-design.com)

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Radio81

· #3 · Jul 12, 2021

SilverStone - Computer Chassis

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cd81

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 12, 2021

Thanks Radio, i did and am considering the GD series as i know that MADVR use it for the envy and it can look good but my concern is keeping it silent as it will be too snug at the sides for my TV bench

I found a company called Steiger that have some nice systems but it's not clear if they sell the LEET system chassis on it's own, this would be perfect for my needs albeit with an LCD that i would likely have no need for.

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Radio81

· #5 · Jul 13, 2021

cd81 said:
Thanks Radio, i did and am considering the GD series as i know that MADVR use it for the envy and it can look good but my concern is keeping it silent as it will be too snug at the sides for my TV bench

I found a company called Steiger that have some nice systems but it's not clear if they sell the LEET system chassis on it's own, this would be perfect for my needs albeit with an LCD that i would likely have no need for.

I've been running the GD05 for a decade now. It's been a great case. My GPU is now old (EVGA GTX 970), and it barely fit due to card height. I am not sure the height of the newer cards, but the GD08 might work. I like the GD series because they look like AV gear, are relatively inexpensive, and all of the intake fans are filtered. When I've had to open the case to upgrade parts, there's never any dust in it. It's relatively quiet due to the 120mm fans. It's not dead silent, but if you're more than a few feet away from it, it's hard to notice it running.

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Yrd

· #6 · Jul 13, 2021

I have become obsessed with the SFF world. If I were in the market for a case, I think it would be maybe this one. Horrible name, cool case.

Meshlicious

Meshlicious is a combination of MESH and Delicious. There’s so much mesh that your mouth will water. Breathable, mesh panels lets you savor the airflow and minty temps. · Fine mesh panels and well ventilated · 14.67 liters in size · Support for regular size hardware · High quality powder coated...

ssupd.com

I have an old Lian-li aluminum case, out of production, that is in the horizontal format like those GD cases. It's basically the same size as a normal case just on it's side. It's unnecessarily large for the hardware of the day.

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Kenshiro 26

· #7 · Jul 15, 2021

Had the Fractal Design Node 202 on my list to do a SFF build, haven't gotten around to it yet.

But it seems fairly flexible, work probably work well as a HTPC.

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68mustang

· #8 · Nov 30, 2021

I have been using a Silverstone SST-GD05B since I originally built a HTPC for gaming with a Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card and then upgraded later to a RTX 2080Ti graphics cards. I recently was able to purchase EVGA 3080Ti at MSRP, but unfortunately the 3080Ti is too long to fit into the Silverstone SST-GD05B. Silverstone now has a RM402 4U rackmount case with 240 mm liquid cooling capability which I believe is a first. I bought the RM402 case and rebuilt my HTPC. I think its a great option for an HTPC case if you are interested in gaming and want to run a high end HTPC. Here are some stock pictures from amazon.com

Product Output device Rectangle Gas Multimedia

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Fallen Kell

· #9 · 12 mo ago

Well, if you find one that works well with the upcoming Nvidia and AMD GPUs, let me know. I have been using and continue to use an Antec Fusion Remote MAX case for my HTPC. It has been discontinued for close to a decade now. If you remove the removable center 3.5" HDD mounts and don't install the optional central fan mount, I think you can fit some of the longer GPU boards, just not sure how long (it fits 240mm length cards without removing as long as the card doesn't have the power connectors on the back). The nice thing is this case fits a Noctua NH-D14 and full size ATX power supplies. This is why I have not upgraded from it....

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Spy-vs-Spy

· #10 · 12 mo ago

I've always liked the aesthetic of the OrigenAE cases. The S21 had a build in touch screen that hid the CDRom drive which was pretty cool

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The smaller S14V series was more suited to life in an AV cabinet though.

Building Font Rectangle Output device House

Unfortunately, that company went under some time ago. However, Steiger Dynamics has similar cases

The Moneual 300 series chassis was a good looker too

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Alas, these are no longer available either

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Fallen Kell

· #11 · 12 mo ago

As Spy-vs-Spy just pointed out, almost all the good cases that could support larger components and matched AV aesthetics have been discontinued. I think as the market moved away from HTPCs in general to just using a multi-function console such as an Xbox or Playstation took most of the these companies down or didn't allow for the continued use of a high performance HTPC while still keeping it cool and quiet. They especially didn't keep designs that were tall enough for modern high performance graphics cards or tower CPU coolers, and to even use a 120mm rear fan, let alone 140mm intake of exhaust fans to keep the system quiet while still providing plenty of airflow for cooling. Again, this is why am still using the case I have, even though the display has long since died (not that it was ever very useful in the first place as they screwed up the polarization filters on them but refused to admit it which I had to fix on my own and then deal with lack of brightness control to it with a piece of 50% filtered 1-way mirrored glass).

Anyway, I would love to see essentially a case just like the Antec Fusion Remote MAX, made with aluminum instead of steel, with updated USB connectors, a modern LCD display, while still being able to support full size ATX boards, full size ATX power supplies, a 5.25" bay for a blu-ray/other drive, support for modern tower style air CPU heatsinks like the Noctua NH-D15, and support 290mm length for a modern GPU. But I just don't see that happening.

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Spy-vs-Spy

· #12 · 12 mo ago

Fallen Kell said:
Anyway, I would love to see essentially a case just like the Antec Fusion Remote MAX, made with aluminum instead of steel, with updated USB connectors, a modern LCD display, while still being able to support full size ATX boards, full size ATX power supplies, a 5.25" bay for a blu-ray/other drive, support for modern tower style air CPU heatsinks like the Noctua NH-D15, and support 290mm length for a modern GPU. But I just don't see that happening.

I mentioned Steiger Dynamics earlier. They still have one model that mimics a standard Blu-Ray player. It's a fairly mid to high power PC and still maintains a pretty quiet rating. Its the inclusion of the Geoforce RTX 3080 video card that ups the sound curve. You could beat their price by making it a DIY project. Its been my experience that if you call them directly, they will sell you the base case but there not cheap.

ERA Quiet HTPC

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