Hello there, my amplifier is 171 mm (H): 435 mm (W): 393 mm (D) and I am looking for a black HTPC case which is a similar width and depth to fit in an AV rack I am going to make in a space in the lounge. The catch is that I am looking to use existing hardware and the hardware is rather large, as this will be used for gaming as well. Existing case and hardware: Manufacturer: Cooler Master Motherboard Form Factor: Full ATX Front/ Side/ Top Panel: 1 x Headphone 1 x Mic In 2 x USB 2.0 1 x eSata 1 x IEEE 1394 Drive Bays: 5 x 3.5" Internal 2 x 5.25" External Expansion Slots: 7 Fan Bays: 5 x 120mm 2 x 140mm Power Supply Form Factor: ATX CPU Cooler Dimensions: "Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (Socket 1155) 79.7 x 158.5 x 120 mm (WxHxD mm)" VGA Card Length: "MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 116 x 39 x 270 mm (WxHxD mm) Double slot" Dimensions: 213 x 482 x 525 mm (WxHxD mm) Colour: Black What cases have space for two optical drives (may consider going down to one if I have to), a card reader on the front (could possibly consider an external multi-card reader), which will accommodate all this hardware, especially larger cooling fans? I would expect to also purchase the following: A new CPU cooler because my existing one is massive and likely will not fit in the case with all my other required hardware, I was thinking of something like Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B CPU Cooler 120 mm / Supported Sockets 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / AM3+ / FM1 Arctic Silver 5 3.5g Thermal Paste and Arcticlean value pack £11.95 Pioneer BDR-209DBK 16x SATA Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner - No Software £57.99 Crucial BX100 2.5-inch SATA III Internal Solid State Drive - 250 GB £62.49 Sheepdisease Gerbil In Training
The first case that springs to mind is the Silverstone GD04B which is 440mm wide and 353mm deep. It only has 1 5.25" bay and you would need an external card reader but is a good case. You'd need an even shorter CPU cooler too however.
Thank you very much for your reply. Even shorted than the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B CPU Cooler 120 mm?
Ah, the manual for the case is pretty good. I see what you mean, I don't suppose you can recommend an effective yet near silent CPU cooler which is 35.3 mm or less?
I use the Zalman CNPS 8900 quiet which does the trick for me but it's only cooling an i3 processor - it might be noisier on a hotter chip...
Specifications of the Zalman CNPS 8900 Extreme: Dimensions:120(L) x 120(W) x 60(H)mm It's taller than 3.5cm, which is the space I would have available using two optical drives.
That is against the intel spec actually (quote from the socket 1155 spec). GD08 is the closest you can get to 2x optical bays HTPC case with similar dimensions : http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=331&area=en Review : http://www.silentpcreview.com/SilverStone_Grandia_GD07_GD08 and a very bad photograph with DVD drive installed.
The GD08 is actually the case I thought you mentione before which has such a estriction according to the manual. Do you see what I mean?
Ah I see what you mean now - you're looking at the GD08 with two optical drives. The Zalman fits in the GD04 which only has 1 optical drive and when you have two optical drives in the GD08 you're restricted to a cooler of only 35.3mm. Coolers that short do exist but I'd have no idea if they're any good. Some of the ones here would fit but not all of them.
Gone with the Akasa Low Profile Intel AK-CCE-7106HP CPU Cooler in the end, it was the only thing holding me back from ordering the case and other components. I have seen a number of reviews saying that this is more than adequate.
Thinking that I maybe shouldn't have gone for this cooler but cannot find an alternative either.. The Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor runs at 95w but the fan is designed for 73w. Reviews show that the Zalman CNPS2X Low Profile Heatsink should be useds on sub 95w CPUs which leaves me wondering what my options actually are without restricting the number of optical drives. Can you see any suitable options?
Nice idea but I have purchased two Bluray recorder drives to accommodate the two slots on the front of the case.
If you have took a look at video, it is a question how deep your DVD drives are. Like on that photograph, you can see the DVD drive he had was not even over the RAM slots.
These are the optical drive dimensions: Product Dimensions 18 x 14.8 x 4.2 cm Item model number BDR-209DBK Does this help?
I think you misunderstood the manual a little bit. This bit applies only if your CPU socket area is in the DVD drive area, at front : That is for dual socket boards and such - as they say it just 2 pages before : Sure, there might be still some conflicts with huge heatsinks, but if you have a heatsink which "leans" towards the back, i don't see how could you have issue. So you could easily grab something like http://www.thermalright.de/kuehler/44/macho-90 and it will probably work. In any case, i would recommend starting with the stock cooler and then measure it when you got it. Or go with what these guys got : http://www.overclock.net/t/1395186/silverstone-grandia-gd0x-owners-club/220#post_23918116 http://www.overclock.net/t/1395186/silverstone-grandia-gd0x-owners-club/160#post_22138222 (this one is using http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=421&area=en ) Or if you don't demand externally visible DVD drives (aka it is under a door), then you might just go for GD07 and use the two vertical 5.25" positions on the left side : http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=330
I am looking for a CPU fan which exhausts the air from the middle to the back of the case the maximum efficiency. Does anyone have any experience with such coolers and which do they recommend?
I am thinking of jumping ship and replacing hardware except the motherboard. Please tell me what you think of the following: http://www.ebuyer.com/ Intel Core i5 4690 3.50GHz Socket 1150 6MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £172.20 HyperX 16GB 2133MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL11 DIMM (Kit of 2) XMP Predator £76.89 Cart total inc vat: £249.09 http://www.dabs.com/learnmore/compo...e=awin&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=AW00 Bundle deal on Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB PCI-Express 3.0 DirectCU II OC STRIX We’ve teamed up with Asus for this incredible promotion! Upgrade your gaming performance with this incredible bundle! Asus Strix GTX 970 Graphics Card includes exclusive ASUS technologies, including DirectCU II cooling and 0dB fan technology, for total silence during light gameplay! Now use our exclusive bundle which includes the GTX 970 STRIX 4GB Graphics Card AND Grand Theft Auto V and then use voucher code DBS9RXD30 during the checkout process to buy for only £249.99! £279.99 with code £249.99 saving £30 Are these compatible with the GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 motherboard? Do you think these are good value or would you recommend something else? The MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express card I have is good because I can stream audio and visual through HDMI and I still need to be able to do this, so I wondered if it were possible with the GPU I have mentioned?
