the elusive case

[Chenks]

conundrum time.... i'm problably looking for something that's as likely as rocking horse s**t... but here goes anyway.

i plan on installing an HTPC/media PC in the living room to take over TV/PVR/Radio/video etc etc.

i have all the hardware i want in mind.. but it's the case that troubles me.
i want something with the looks along the lines of the Silverstone SST-LC11M Silver Case (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1284.html)

BUT... and it's a big but.... i like the external PSU that the AOpen CubeMini (http://xc.aopen.com.tw/Cube-m-specification%20.aspx?Auno=52&mdstyl=22) case's offer.

i intend to use a Pentium M cpu... simply as they run cool and negates the use for huge fans etc (quietness is important).

system board/case wise... i need at least 2 PCI slots and 1 AGP slot.. the rest is not that important.

have i got no chance? or is it possible to modify the said silverstone case to change it to an external fan-less PSU? or is the PSU and case fans in the silverstone sufficiently quiet?

[Big Adam]

Surely the mCubed HFX® Mini Case (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1301.html) pushes all the right buttons?

Much like the original version but smaller, cuter and with an external PSU.

I´ll be doing a wee review once Kustom send mine along (waiting on stock of new mobo)

[Chenks]

certainly a worthy case... but does it fit the classic "home hifi" look though?
shame it wasn't available in sliver.

cost of it certainly mounts up once you add the VFD, HDD box and PSU

[Big Adam]

It´s certainly an investment! :)

It MAY be available in silver eventually. The original HFX certainly was, although in limited quantities.

I guess, assuming the final cost isn´t prohibitive, if the "perfect" solution isn´t available you´ll just have to make some sort of compromise.

Will that compromise be cosmetic or functional? :rolleyes:

[Archaon]

That's gotta be one of the prettiest ATX cases I've ever seen, and definately the best desktop style one. Well featured as well, relatively speaking.

The Silverstone does everything you want, but I hate to say it, is kinda ugly IMO. Yeah, it would fit in with the home theater theme, but fitting in doesn't neccesarily mean it looks good. The screen just kinda...sits in the middle of nowhere, and the USB ports don't look too well designed, the pic isn't huge but I see gaps between the ports and casing worthy of a somewhat dodgy DIY job...and I've done a somewhat dodgy DIY job, so I know what I'm talking about there. :D

The AOpen doesn't come remotely close to what you need. Two half-height expansion slots? Pathetic. Pretty, though...

[Chenks]

i've already got the AOpen case in the bedroom as a media pc.
it does the job for a small room... but agreed it's not the case for a living room media pc.

[Chenks]

Surely the mCubed HFX® Mini Case (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1301.html) pushes all the right buttons?

Much like the original version but smaller, cuter and with an external PSU.

I´ll be doing a wee review once Kustom send mine along (waiting on stock of new mobo)

what motherboard would be the recommendation to fit into the mCubed case?
bearing in mind ideally i want to use a PentiumM.

[Big Adam]

Well, if I was building a new Pentium M HTPC from scratch today, I would definitely opt for a dual-core duo CPU which basically means a 945 or 975 chipset.

From the resulting (very) short list of available mobos, I'd go with AOpen. Partly because of the features of their current crop of mobos but also because they have built Pentium M mobo on a 855 and 915 platform and have improved the HTPC focus of these boards with each generation.

(This is coming from an Asus-fanboy)

Whilst the i975Xa-YDG (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5593.html) would be tempting, it's a gaming platform at heart. The I945GTM-VHL (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5586.html) ticks all the HTPC boxes for me.

.......and as soon as Kustom get stock, I'll have one in my grubby paws. :)

[Archaon]

Both of those would be great for a media system. I'd go for the second one as it's fanless, plus since you'll be using a riser which limits the amount of cards you can use there's no need for a full ATX board anyway. Doesn't have many drive connectors, but when you can get 500gb drives it's not as much of an issue as it used to be. Plus the mCubes can only take 4 anyway, which is what you get from 1x IDE and 2x SATA.

[Big Adam]

Plus the mCubes can only take 4 anyway

Physically only 3x 3.5" HDDs, assuming you fit an optical drive.

[Archaon]

So...that would be 4 drives then. 3+1 ya know? I was talking about how many drives in total it can fit in relation to the amount that the board could support. :p

[Big Adam]

Crossed wires. Thought you meant 4x HDDs. :)

Right. Bedtime.

[Archaon]

Yeah sorry, my bad for talking about hard drive capacities in the same sentence. ;)

[Chenks]

Isn't dual core a bit overkill for a mediaPC that will only be used for LiveTV, playback of AVI's etc, playback of DVDs and possibly recording LiveTV ?

My current mediapc has a 1.5ghz pentium-m and it runs fine.

Plus - Trying to keep the cost down... an AGP vga card will suffice.. as all it's going to be used for it outputting the image to the TV. An ATI Radeon 9200 is sufficient enough for me (currently using an fX5200 and does the job fine)

[Big Adam]

Yes.....and no. Depends what sort of demands you are placing on this thing.

The setup I have described is complete overkill for the workload you mention. A decent Pentium III setup teamed with a good TV card would manage fairly well.

But throw a HD plasma/LCD screen into the mix and twin TV tuners and things will start to struggle. Try ripping a DVD whilst watching a 1080i/720p on-the-fly-encoding of one channel whilst recording the HD transmission of the footie on another. :)

The above is an extreme example of course but does raise a serious issue. Do you build a HTPC to match your current demands or your realistic demands in the near future?

How frustrated will you be if you decide that you cannot live without ViiV functionality 6 months from now?

My suggestion would be to save cash on the CPU by buying single core.....but compare the cost of a "new" Dual-core capable Pentium M board with that of an "old" design plus an AGP card. Onboard graphics of the "new" board will be more than capable and your upgrade path will be a lot easier.

Nothing is future proof.......but you can try.

[Chenks]

do the onboard graphics have both S-Video and DVI ports?
most onboard vga only have SVID and DSUB ports.

as long as system board can handle at least 2 PCI cards plus graphics, and has LAN on board, then that should be enough for me at the moment.

no point thinking about HDTV when that is quite some time away (i am a digital terrestrial only person)

[Big Adam]

Aopen's 945 (dual-core) and 915 (single core) mobos have on-board DVI and S-video. Can't guarantee dual-display from both outputs as have never tried.

945 (I/O HTPC Perfection):
http://www.hardware.no/tester/hovedkort/aopen_i945gtm_vhl/9.jpg

Aopen's 975 (dual-core) and 855 (single core) mobos have on-board DSUB only

[Chenks]

is that the "AOpen I945GTM-VHL (Dual Core) MicroATX" ??
will a single core pentium-m go into that board too ?

it certainly does look to have everything.... only downside being the shared memory for the vga... but i suppose if it has 1gb ram and 128mb for the vga.. then 800-odd system ram should be enough for it.

[Big Adam]

Yes, Yes and......err......Yes! :D

Takes SO-DIMM notebook ram.

[Chenks]

Takes SO-DIMM notebook ram.just as well you mentioned that.. i never even noticed !

this is certainly gonna be an expensive project !!

[Big Adam]

STOP! In my eagerness for you to spend your hard-earned, I should point out that the i945GTm-VHL officially supports Pentium Core Duo and Core Solo processors.

Core Solo is not exactly the same as a bog-standard Socket 479 Single Core processor.

Intel's product definitions confusing. :(

Look here (http://www.intel.com/products/laptop/processors/index.htm)

[Chenks]

hmmm.. well with core duo's starting at £180.. that rules that out.
and with no "core solo's" on the kustom website, i aint spending that much on a cpu that would be overkill.

£65 for a CeleronM 1.5Ghz should be enough power for a MediaPC in the role i have in mind.

[Chenks]

having priced up just the parts for the case alone.. not including board, cpu, ram etc etc

jeez.... bloody expensive!!


mCubed HFX® Mini Case - £239.00
mCubed HDD Mini - Hard Disk Box - £27.00
mCubed DVD Mini - £88.99
mCubed Borg HPC mini - £54.00
mCubed HFX Mini External PSU 165W - £78.00
iMon Kit for HFX Mini Case - £60.99
mCubed Riser Card PCI Middle - £22.99
mCubed Riser Card PCI Top - £22.99

TOTAL - £593.96

[Big Adam]

So the question you need to ask is can you convince Kustom to try and get in a Morex 150W External Power Brick (http://www.morex.com.tw/products/productdetail.php?fd_id=64) (guessing about £60) cos then you could go back to your Silverstone idea! :D

Or, he said taking off his "Overlook the bleeding obvious" hat, just buy the mCubed 165W power supply on it's own and fit THAT inside the Silverstone case.

http://www.t-balancer.com/catalog/images/products/EF16/all-c.jpg

[Chenks]

anyone wanna buy a kidney so i can afford all the mCubed stuff ? :D

[Chenks]

so in the end i went for the Silverstone LC11S-M (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1284.html) case with the AOpen i915MM-HFS (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5579.html) board