Recommendations for a budget micro-atx HTPC case?

[Elkie]

As the title says, really!

Looking for something that won't look too out of place in my living room, cost-effective and capable of housing a micro-atx MoBo... anything out there that people have had success with in the past?

Thanks for the help in advance

[scaryjim]

What's your actual budget? People sometimes have very different ideas about what "budget" really means! I'm not sure I'd recommend it as such, but something like this CIT would probably do the job: http://www.ebuyer.com/247132-cit-s00...psu-cscits003b

The biggest issue with a nice small mATX case is that a lot of them have non-standard PSUs built in, and you can never be sure of the quality of PSU that you're getting - unless you're willing to spend a significant amount on the case and PSU together, anyway....

[Pob255]

Can you be a bit more specific?

Is a mATX tower ok? or do you want a desktop/under tv case?
Any space restrictions?
What sort of hardware is going in it? (depending what you want inside it can have a big impact on case size)

As an almost default I'd suggest looking at the ace ecco 250 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ace-e...oofing-w-o-psu (not in stock atm ) For the cost it's a great all round mATX case

What's your actual budget? People sometimes have very different ideas about what "budget" really means! I'm not sure I'd recommend it as such, but something like this CIT would probably do the job: http://www.ebuyer.com/247132-cit-s00...psu-cscits003b

The biggest issue with a nice small mATX case is that a lot of them have non-standard PSUs built in, and you can never be sure of the quality of PSU that you're getting - unless you're willing to spend a significant amount on the case and PSU together, anyway....

That one is a standard PSU, it's a SFX standard psu not ATX standard, but I agree about the iffy quality, the CiT psu's are generally junk
For good SFX psu, Be Quite, Silverstone and FSP (note the Be Quiet and stiverstone 80+ and 80+ bronze units are made by FSP, the more expensive 80+ Gold units are made by Enhance Electronics)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-...03v-atx12v-psu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-...lus-bronze-psu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-...-pci-e-erp2014

[Elkie]

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys!

Sorry for not being specific, I thought HTPC would suggest I was looking for something desktop/under TV rather than the standard tower form factor - to clarify, I am not looking for a tower case, but something that can lie flat on a TV table - more similar to the CIT case than the Ace case.

I think all that will be going in it is a 2.5" ssd, an optical drive and the usual motherboard/RAM/CPU set up - I intend to use it simply as a media centre, with most of the media being streamed either online or from my desktop PC using something like Plex or XBMC. I may use it for light gaming too, but this will most definitely be a secondary feature, if used for that at all (I am not much of a gamer)!

I would most likely use my Android phone as a remote, so IR functionality isn't really a necessity. I'm thinking sub-£50 as a guideline budget, although the cheaper the better, really!

[Pob255]

Nothing stopping you just laying a tower on it's side
With the money how about http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...-psu-(std-atx)

Cheap small matx (again just put it on it's side) http://www.xcase.co.uk/pc-cases/mini...99-x-case.html although I get a decent FSP psu not one of theirs (I think they are rebranded CiT)

If you're buying new have you considered mini ITX instead?

[Elkie]

Thanks for the suggestions, I am aware I can lie an mATX tower on it's side, but I would much rather prefer something that doesn't look too "bodged" sitting underneath my TV

I'll be pulling all of the components out of an existing mATX tower, so Mini ITX isn't really an option.

The Silverstone MiLo looks like the kind of thing I'm looking for (especially as it takes a standard ATX PSU, as I already have one of those in the tower!)

Any other suggestions along those lines? Maybe a bit cheaper? As I said, below £50 would be better if at all possible.

EDIT: Found the MiLo for £39.99 on QuietPC just in case anyone else is looking: http://www.quietpc.com/silverstone-ml03b (Still interested in alternatives though!)
EDIT AGAIN: Just realised that's without VAT
Thanks again for your help!

[scaryjim]

Not cheaper, but http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...black-interior is another desktop-style case that takes standard components (up to full ATX motherboards ).

There's another version of the CIT available at ebuyer: http://www.ebuyer.com/644655-black-s...ase-cscits013b but again, you've got the cheap nasty PSU issue. Ebuyer also have an In Win case that takes a TFX PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/566895-in-win-...plus-csiwbl641 but looking at the specs of the included PSU on the In Win site (it's an IP-S300FF1-0 if you want to search for it ) it's has no PFC, no 80+ certification, and I frankly wouldn't want it in my computer - which returns to the issue of needing to buy a new PSU, making that a more expensive approach.

Not sure what box.co.uk are like as a company*, but they have a slimline mATX case with FSP PSU (so resonable quality) for £40.

What are the components you're transplanting? If they've got decent resale value you could sell those on to finance an mITX machine, which would give you a much better choice of desktop-style cases. I can undersdtand the desire to stick with what you've got, but it might not be the best option to meet your other requirements...


*EDIT: I've found the same case at CCL, who have a decent reputation: http://www.cclonline.com/product/765...-Case/CAS0564/
*Second edit: the price at box is actually £50 once you add VAT, so CCL is the place to go if you like the look of that one

[Elkie]

Thank a lot, scaryjim - the company I work for actually has a business account with Box.co.uk and we use them a lot for ordering hardware, so maybe if I sweet talk our technical director, I can get one of those cases through them!

That case looks like just what I'm looking for - thanks for your help, I'll either go for this or the Silverstone (unless some kind soul drops in with an even better solution!)

I'd much rather stick with what I've got - I understand it might not be ideal, but this is more of a "repurposing an old computer" project than a full blown HTPC build - I simply don't have the time or patience to be selling parts and speccing out a new machine entirely, and most of the components will be going into my desktop PC anyway (eg hard drives etc). I just want to strip down the current system and make it a bit more TV-cabinet friendly!

[DanceswithUnix]

There is one that in the pictures at least looks really nice and I rather fancy getting one if I can find a project that would require it:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...ov-vision.html

Sounds like the bundled PSU isn't the best, but in a system that will probably only ever pull 50W I imagine it would be fine. The remote seems to be best for xbmc according to reviews so media centre users don't like it so much, but frankly I am tempted just for the look of the thing!