POLL: Which HTPC case do you find more attractive?

[floepie]

Based on looks alone, which case do you find more attractive and would be more welcome along with your other AV gear?
Keep in mind, that although you cannot see the LCD on the first one, it is indeed the same as the other one.

Antec Fusion Black

Thermaltake DH101

 

[lostandwandering]

I voted the Thermaltake. The Brushed AL on the front looks better than matte plastic or metal.

 

[floepie]

I'm pretty sure it's brushed as well. Perhaps that angle isn't the best.

 

[lostandwandering]

OK, well either way I think the Thermaltake still gets my vote.

 

[rwpritchett]

Both of the above are very nice cases. I like the Thermaltake because it hides the front USB & audio hookups. That makes it less obvious that its a PC in the living room. Also, I like the two-tone aluminum which would match either black or silver AV gear. Plus, the Fusion cases have become the typical case to use in HTPC builds it seems, and I like things that stray from the ordinary.

I wish my Soundgraph front panel had the black background with blue lettering like the picture shows. My case has the opposite: blue background with black letters and I think it's too bright.

 

[floepie]

Which case do you have? Maybe we could trade Soundgraph displays if I order the TT case?

 

[rwpritchett]

I have the Moneual Moncaso 832P:

According to Soundgraph's website, they have all sorts of different combinations for LCD displays that are available for OEM. The website doesn't give any purchasing info though. I guess you have to contact their sales dept.

 

[floepie]

^ That would have been my first choice in the sub $300 range, but I can't justify an added $100 above the Tt case. Too bad about the LCD though. I've heard about poor legibility regarding Antec's LCD too. Do you find air flow in the Moncaso to be adequate with the supplied fans?

 

[cyborg28]

Have you looked at silverstone's offerings?

 

[floepie]

That Silverstone is a very nice case. It carries $100 premium over the ones above though, unfortunately - something I can't justify on a case alone.

 

[cyborg28]

How about ditching the VFD. This is what I rock at home, I spent under $120 on it:

Otherwise do the Antec. What is the price range anyway? Does the antec fit full ATX. IIRC i didn't get it because it was mATX or used half height PCI cards.

 

[KyleSTL]

Antec, no questions. 2 120mm fans right by the CPU zone, that's a no brainer. (I am a bit bias since I own an Antec NSK2480 case, same without the VFD and IrDA). It's cooling is awesome and [near] silent when you set the tri-cool fans to low. Additionally, it comes with a very respectable Earthwatts 430, whereas the TT comes sans-PSU and costs more.

The LC17 is also a good case. My brother owns one and is very pleased with it, however it does not included the pretty stuff (namely display) the other two mentioned do, but is considerably cheaper.

 

[DiscoDuck]

The advanced cooling properties and silent operation make my antec a winner. I can barely hear the zalman video card cooler in it.

 

[KyleSTL]

What is the price range anyway? Does the antec fit full ATX. IIRC i didn't get it because it was mATX or used half height PCI cards.

Antec - ~$200
TT - ~$240

Yes, the Antec only supports mATX (with full-height expansion slots), but if it's going to be an HTPC do you really need a full ATX MB? (unless of course you just need to house an existing system which is ATX)

 

[cyborg28]

(I)f it's going to be an HTPC do you really need a full ATX MB? (unless of course you just need to house an existing system which is ATX)

In My case yes:
Asus P5K, Old mobo didn't have enough slots & space for Radeon HD2600XT, Wifi Card (no ethernet in livingroom), & TV Tuner, both existing PCI cards. PCI slots blocked space for cooling on HD2600. Modern mATX have 1, maybe 2 PCI slots. And PCI-e is still sadly underutilized (slowly starting to change). I still want to add a PCIe TV Wonder 650 Pro Dual Tuner HD combo card.

Although the new amd solutions with HD3200 graphics on board would make me think about going mATX.

Antec Fusion Black + AMD 780G (w/ HD3200) + Athlon64 X2 4850e & Giant passive cooler FTW.

http://www.hothardware.com/articles/AMD_780G_Chipset_and_Athlon_X2_4850e_Preview_/

 

[KyleSTL]

Antec Fusion Black + AMD 780G (w/ HD3200) + Athlon64 X2 4850e & Giant passive cooler FTW.

I totally agree. I would be remissed to not mention the maximum interior height inside the Antec case is ~132mm. You can go a little larger than a Scythe Mini Ninja, but not much.

Edit: for reference, an Aerocool HT101Jr fits only if you remove the plastic cover on the top of the HS (it's ~1-2mm too tall otherwise).

 

[mi1ez]

Thermaltake.

If it's sitting in the living room you don't want usb ports showing

 

[rwpritchett]

^ That would have been my first choice in the sub $300 range, but I can't justify an added $100 above the Tt case. Too bad about the LCD though. I've heard about poor legibility regarding Antec's LCD too. Do you find air flow in the Moncaso to be adequate with the supplied fans?

When I have my case outside of the media cabinet, cooling is superb. I’ve got 1x 120mm intake fan, 1x 80mm HDD fan, and 2x 60mm exhaust fans. Inside my media cabinet, it gets a little hot but I can’t blame the case. My HTPC is shoe-horned into the cabinet with about 1cm of space on each side and the back of the media cabinet only has a small cut-out for cables. Plus, it’s above my LCD TV so the heat from that rises up and adds to the overall heat. Still, I don’t really have any overheating issues with CPU temps getting up to the low 50’s when encoding video (100% load).

For legibility of the Soundgraph LCD, I've found that setting it to Arial font, 12pt size, with a -2 vertical offset give me the best front view display that I can read from my sitting position. Oh, and heads up: if you plan on using Vista, don't even touch the included Soundgraph drivers. Go to their website and use the beta v7 drivers.

I like my case, but I had to spend extra money to get fans. I think if I were to do it all over, I would have spent a little bit more and got the Zalman HD160 Plus which also has the negative blue Soundgraph LCD:

 

[floepie]

Yeah, my left brain tells me the Antec is the way to go, and it would seem to offer better cooling/air flow. But, I'm a sucker for aesthetics, and concealed ports, in addition to the more meaty look of the Tt case, is pretty attractive IMHO. But, I can't help but think that the Tt would also keep things moving inside with its front 120mm fan and very good ventilation throughout. As for price, they can be bought for the same price now, aside from the lacking PSU in the Tt. That Zalman is pretty sweet too!

 

[FrozenGpu]

ML02 FTW!!!

 

[EXT64]

OK, its nowhere in the same league as those, but I love it anyway:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2074672&Sku=ULT33116

This will contain a 4850e and Gigabyte 780G. Total power should be 60W idle and <120W load!

 

[Shadow703793]

Antec Fusion Black because it blends in with the rest of my stuff

 

[nukemaster]

I voted Antec because its a little slimmer and i like the dual side fans.

MATX should be good enough for a HTPC and AMD's new chipsets would work great.

 

[cyborg28]

And the winner is...

... um floepie feel free to jump back in ...

 

[floepie]

NEITHER! I'm pretty set on the Omaura TF11 from Dell with the OLED display kit. One sweet price BTW on a very high quality chassis - way better than that Thermaltake. Thanks for recommendations!