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Want a truly silent HTPC? Check out this interesting case.

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I like how the whole case is pretty much one big hunk of aluminum. Don't like fanless? just throw a fan any ol where and your covered. It is an awesome idea, but it needs work. First off, how are you going to install a full length video card with all those heatpipes in the way. Second, wheres all the hard drives? One hard drive slot is hardly enough for me.
 
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Oh and you see all those tiny little ventilation wholes in the top? That is how every HTPC case on the market should look. Getting sick and tired of waiting for the industry to pick up on that. At least they got the 120mm fan in the back. 120mm fan in a HTPC case......thats a welcomed first.
 
instead of that case, I would go for some case that use large (thus slower speed) fan. I'm using a silverstone LC-20M, pretty good cooling for a HTPC case. Zalman's HD160 is a very good choice too!

I really think the key for a quiet living room HTPC is to choose a cool running and powerful enough components. 'cos no matter what (at least right now), a real HTPC case won't have anywhere of airflow rate as a full tower rig.
 
LandShark said:
instead of that case, I would go for some case that use large (thus slower speed) fan. I'm using a silverstone LC-20M, pretty good cooling for a HTPC case. Zalman's HD160 is a very good choice too!

I really think the key for a quiet living room HTPC is to choose a cool running and powerful enough components. 'cos no matter what (at least right now), a real HTPC case won't have anywhere of airflow rate as a full tower rig.

ehhhh yes and no.

quiet desktop rigs and quiet HTPC rigs may, comparing a full bore OCed air cooled gaming rig with Multiple Deltas to a Living room HTPC is like comparing oranges to lampshades.
 
like landshark said, if you just use big slow fans (or just even small SLOW fans) like vantec stealths or other fans and 7V mod them it will be silent. Your HDD spinning and seeking will make more noise than the fans. (yeah we can always go crazy and use solid state flash HDD's but lets get real)
In the end, cool design, nice concept, but just not practicle. This is for people who don't have the time to construct thier own setup and want something to look nice in thier living room. Definetly not for me though, I'd rather build my own, save the cash, and be upgradeable!
 
ajrettke said:
like landshark said, if you just use big slow fans (or just even small SLOW fans) like vantec stealths or other fans and 7V mod them it will be silent. Your HDD spinning and seeking will make more noise than the fans. (yeah we can always go crazy and use solid state flash HDD's but lets get real)
In the end, cool design, nice concept, but just not practicle. This is for people who don't have the time to construct thier own setup and want something to look nice in thier living room. Definetly not for me though, I'd rather build my own, save the cash, and be upgradeable!
yup, I've been using Vantec Stealth fan on my previous and current HTPC. and as ajrettke said, don't overlook the HDD noise too.
 
looks likea ***** to set up.

my HTPC is whisper quite i can only hear it at night at like 4am in the morning after i wake up thristy and hungover.

I use a mid tower case, with 2*80mm exhausts, 1*80mm top exhaust, 1*80mm side intake and 2*80mm front intake, with a gigabyte GT cooler (this is the only thing that is audible)

all those 80mm fans provide good flow and i seriously cant hear them in operation. The GT can be silenced by turning down the fan speed, but i like keeping it cool.

-cant hear any of the 6 hdd's either. its a good little generic 50$ case from local pc shop, even has LCD in front with fan speed and temp and clock. :)
 
yea, those atech cases are awesome. the guy who makes em hangs out over at AVSforum. he can work with you on how their built, as iirc he pretty much custom builds each one.
 
Thats a nice case I would go for one for a server or an HTPC or a piece of recording gear since it would blend in easily.

I don't think I would be to to worried about going fanless though becuase my tube amp has a fan in it and I have seen a fair amount of high end gear with fans in them as well.
 
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