chaos
03-30-09, 07:42 AM
Well I've been on this htpc kick for awhile and decided on another. I got an Ahanix D5 case with a 300w p/s http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220374557730 and decided to add some more ventilation since it only had the 2 60mm exhaust fans. So I bought a cheapo hole saw type thing for my drill and found out I was not getting through the aluminum side with it so I had to go buy anothet hole saw, buy of course from my first attempt at cutting a hole, the hole size got off some. I finally got through the side of the case(while almost burning up my drill in the process), but it was no longer a 92mm hole. It was about about 100mm.. I found these fans http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185076 and it fit great(thank God!!) also found a 120mm black fan cover that I was able to mount in the outside of the case that looks pretty good. Case had a parallel vfd which I tried to get a usb to parallel adapter to run it but didn't work so I bought this:http://www.directron.com/rc281osb1gp.html of course it was a pain to install in the case. Attempted to install it but had issues with the VFD software and driver. I finally decided to look into LCD smartie and I actually got it to work. Got a MSI KA780G mobo open box that saved me about 35 bucks and just won an AMD X2 7750 on Ebay for $45.06. Plan on upgraing the p/s to this 1 soon: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320167782332 and add a blu ray player down the road..Yor'e probably thinking why go to all the trouble of getting the additional parts for the case when I could've bought a newer case for what I spent on the case mods. Well I bought the case for a good price and didn't plan on doing all this, but it was a good experience. I may get another D5 case and put all my components out of the M Station case in my sig into it.....
Case $99.00_Dvine D5 w/300 p/s
Mobo $54.00-MSI KA780G
Memory $40.00-4gb
CPU $45.06 7750
VFD $25.00- Cooler Master
DVD rom $22.00
Fan $6.00
HD $65.00-Seagate 500gb
So around $356 + my time 'dealing' with the case..With the new p/s and Blu ray drive total cost will be around $540 which is still a good price.. and this case looks great!!!!
Case $99.00_Dvine D5 w/300 p/s
Mobo $54.00-MSI KA780G
Memory $40.00-4gb
CPU $45.06 7750
VFD $25.00- Cooler Master
DVD rom $22.00
Fan $6.00
HD $65.00-Seagate 500gb
So around $356 + my time 'dealing' with the case..With the new p/s and Blu ray drive total cost will be around $540 which is still a good price.. and this case looks great!!!!