HTPC – Almost there…but not quite

Ok, I have built several PC’s over the years but have never have had to consider size and noise as my main issues (always has been performance).

However in the case size and noise are paramount (with performance third).

Here is what I have picked so far:

ASUS M3A78-EM 780G Socket AM2+ onboard graphics 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard 150278 £62.93

Antec NSK1480 Slim Mini Desktop Case - With 350W 80+ Efficient PSU 141005 £49.24

OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 116755 291 in stock £22.99

Sony DRU-860S 22X DVD1RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA o 159310 114 in stock £17.53

AMD Athlon X2 5050e Socket AM2 45W 149212 £51.78

Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 16MB Cache 124228 £48.49

Scythe Mini Ninja Heatpipe Cooler 140470 £31.54

Cart total inc vat: £284.50

Problem #1: The case appears to be too small to house the Mini Ninja for which I planned to passively cool. Further investigation required.

Anybody recommend a nice case? Preferably one under £100!

Would I be better getting something different?

I ideally would like a Freesat HD setup in it, however notice all the DVB-S2 cards are full height….perhaps a PCI riser could be used..

Does anyone have experience using a DVB-S setup in WMC, and how the user interface would compare with Sky?

Thanks..and sorry for all the questions.

the mini ninja wont fit unfortunately but this case is essentially the same case but a larger version... http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec...80plus-Eff-PSU ... its under 100 and it will house full height cards...

I built a similar AMD HTPC last year which can house both the Zalman 9500 Cooler and Scythe Mini Ninja, it's currently housed in a Silverstone LC16 case, alas it currently costs just under £150 which might be more than you are willing to pay, it's a damn nice case though with built-in VFD and media remote.

You can get the SilverStone LC10S-M+ for just under £115, it should have enough room in the case but it is 7mm smaller than the LC16.

Right, this is the HTPC rig I put together last year, housed in the Silverstone LC16M case

Abit A-S78H, AMD 780G Mobo with onboard HD3200 Graphics
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e AM2 cpu with Scythe Mini Ninja Heatpipe CPU Cooler
2GB OCZ DDR2-800 Reaper Heatpipe Ram
Various SATA HDDs
Enermax Liberty 620W Modular PSU
LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray Drive which has since been replaced with a Pioneer DVD Drive due to a PS3 purchase

The above rig has enough power to handle playback of both 720P & 1080P x.264 media files along with Blu-ray playback.

This is what it looks inside the case with everything installed:
http://www.sg-15.com/rig/htpc1.jpg
There's no such thing as OTT cooling, well, maybe Liquid Nitrogen. :)
http://www.sg-15.com/rig/htpc2.jpg
Notice how big the Mini (yeah right) Scythe cooler is, it protrudes over the first 2 Memory slots making them unusable with this particular cooler. I'm running the Cooler without a fan attached to it but I did manage to fit (albeit very snugly) a slim line 80mm fan at the side of the heatsink to give it extra cooling, along with the front fans giving it airflow too.
http://www.sg-15.com/rig/htpc3.jpg
I added some extra ramsinks to the Passive mobo cooler.
http://www.sg-15.com/rig/htpc4.jpg

I hope the above info helps. :)

Could Look at a different cooler esp with the low heat 5050e cpu, this is not a quad core we're talking about here ;)
Scythe Shuriken
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=913756

Scythe Shuriken is a very good cooler & damn small :P

Yep I would get the shuriken and the smaller case these days :)

Depends if you want it for gaming as well though, then I would get the bigger antec case and mini ninja.