All,
I do not know about you but I have always been frustrated by the lack of the “perfect” htpc case. To me the perfect case is a small footprint, with great air flow and is extremely silent. The case ideally would also be minimalist since I want it to be able to sit next to my TV and look sexy. However, most cases are either too tall, too wide and deep, very noisy, or some other mix. Building my own case would be the utopia but until now, that was never a serious reality. Then I stumbled upon a site called Protocase. They custom build steel cases and the quality looks fantastic. It got me thinking about designing my own case - but even better, allowing all of us to customize and perfect a htpc case that we could all have built. After spending countless hours looking at various htpc style chassis and reading reviews on them, I have come up with my first pass. Included are a series of sketches (sorry for the poor renderings) for my idea. The case will be constructed out of relatively thick steel for maximum noise damping. It will house a Micro-ATX motherboard and standard ATX power supply (this was important to me to maximize the choices). The case will have 2 expansion slots (although I think three may be feasible) via a riser to allow for 1 PCI-e 16 card and one PCI card. To maximize space, I used a slot load, slimline DVD/CD drive. The case will house 2 3.5” HDs (my intent is for the brackets to allow the HDs to be mounted on noise damping foam). It will also have a VFD/IR mounted behind a window (i plan to use the imon VFD/IR OEM version installed on the inside of a case). It will have one power/standby button. This keeps the front looking minimalist and sleek.Airflow is from front to back exhausted through the sides via a 92MM intake and a 92MM exhaust (the PSU will exhaust on the left side and a separate 92MM fan will exhaust on the right side - this airflow dynamic is similar to Silverstone’s LC11 which keeps the components quite cool). All the airflow openings are strategic as I wanted to allow for efficient airflow without allowing too much noise to escape. Hence why I designed this to allow for bigger 92MM fans instead of more typical 80MM. All my renderings are in silver to make it easier to see but my intent is for the case to be black.
Please provide me feedback as I know this designed can be improved dramatically with all our collective inputs.
I do not know about you but I have always been frustrated by the lack of the “perfect” htpc case. To me the perfect case is a small footprint, with great air flow and is extremely silent. The case ideally would also be minimalist since I want it to be able to sit next to my TV and look sexy. However, most cases are either too tall, too wide and deep, very noisy, or some other mix. Building my own case would be the utopia but until now, that was never a serious reality. Then I stumbled upon a site called Protocase. They custom build steel cases and the quality looks fantastic. It got me thinking about designing my own case - but even better, allowing all of us to customize and perfect a htpc case that we could all have built. After spending countless hours looking at various htpc style chassis and reading reviews on them, I have come up with my first pass. Included are a series of sketches (sorry for the poor renderings) for my idea. The case will be constructed out of relatively thick steel for maximum noise damping. It will house a Micro-ATX motherboard and standard ATX power supply (this was important to me to maximize the choices). The case will have 2 expansion slots (although I think three may be feasible) via a riser to allow for 1 PCI-e 16 card and one PCI card. To maximize space, I used a slot load, slimline DVD/CD drive. The case will house 2 3.5” HDs (my intent is for the brackets to allow the HDs to be mounted on noise damping foam). It will also have a VFD/IR mounted behind a window (i plan to use the imon VFD/IR OEM version installed on the inside of a case). It will have one power/standby button. This keeps the front looking minimalist and sleek.Airflow is from front to back exhausted through the sides via a 92MM intake and a 92MM exhaust (the PSU will exhaust on the left side and a separate 92MM fan will exhaust on the right side - this airflow dynamic is similar to Silverstone’s LC11 which keeps the components quite cool). All the airflow openings are strategic as I wanted to allow for efficient airflow without allowing too much noise to escape. Hence why I designed this to allow for bigger 92MM fans instead of more typical 80MM. All my renderings are in silver to make it easier to see but my intent is for the case to be black.
Please provide me feedback as I know this designed can be improved dramatically with all our collective inputs.
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