Choosing a case

[buddymd]

Hello all,

I’ve been thinking about building an HTPC for a while now, just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

As movies, TV, and that I internet I keep hearing about become more and more blended, I think I’m ready to do it!

I have grand ideas of the ultimate man-cave HTPC with 2 or more flat screen displays. That being said, I’ve never built a PC from scratch. The most difficult hardware tech I’ve done is replacing power supplies. I know, that’s not that difficult, but it gives you some idea of my hardware experience. (And I don’t even have a man-cave…yet!)

Initially, I’d like to build an HTPC on which I can stream netflix; play cool games; watch the occasional movie (I have a large library of ISO and VIDEO_TS movies); and hook FIOS into so that I can watch/record the occasional show; maybe play music occasionally.

I’ve shopped a bit on-line for a large case and found the huge range in prices, higher-priced cases coming with an LCD, controls on the front, etc. I think I’ve settled on the Antec Fusion Remote Max, largely because of looks and large (quiet) fans. I looked at the really high-end cases, but I don’t see a compelling reason to spend the extra $300+ to get the 7″ touchscreen LCD on the front. The $500+ cases don’t seem to offer that much more functionality. What does the touchscreen LCD do that I need, or am I missing something with those cases? I just read that the touchscreen LCD is nice to control playing music so that you don’t have to have the big screen powered on. Anything else?

I’ve also been wondering about the two flat-screen TV hook-up. Is it even possible to watch two shows at once (football games) with a Ceton card and whatever app I use to watch FIOS TV?

This is obviously going to a be a long work in progress. Thank you for reading and any suggestions are most welcome.

Buddy

[skirge01]

First, I have the original Antec Fusion case and swear by it.  Second, if the LCD is front and center so that you’re looking at it regularly, having some information on it will either be a great feature or utterly annoying to you.  What’s recording is usually duplicate info you could access with a simple button press, but might come in handy when the TV is off.  Music info/controls might be kinda neat, but you’d probably prefer to use a remote to change tracks or pause.  When mine was in sight, I had RSS feeds going across it and I found that quite useful…. although, extremely addictive!    Beyond that, as a secondary display, it might come in handy for troubleshooting.  Honestly, the only place I think one would be extremely useful is on a headless server.  Otherwise, it’s a “nice to have” feature.

[buddymd]

Thank you for responding. I think for this first build, I’ll go with the Antec case. Maybe I’ll try out one of the big cases on a future build.

 

[Aaron Ledger]

Case choice is very much one of personal preference. I personally wouldn’t touch a big case with a touchscreen on it. Is there any reason in particular you want a bigger case? There are a lot of cases more modern than the Antec that are slim and quiet. Definitely consider all your options with cases and if it is within your budget, get a quality case as it will last you many builds and you’ll  have to look at it for a long time to come.

Here’s a guide for building your HTPC and here’s one for assembling it.

[SJMaye]

I second the comments on the case LCD.   My first case has a 12″ lcd touchscreen.  Sounded great on the front end.  Total waste.  At most I would recommend  a small display with summary info on it.  It may have some decent info, but also gives a more finished HTPC appearance rather than a black box.

[buddymd]

I want a big case for expandability. Additionally, my dexterity rating is low, so a large case will help me avoid frustration, as well as a potentially broken small case. (I understand they aren’t made to fly/hit walls and floors.)

Initially, I plan to put a video card (for gaming) and a Ceton InfiniTV 4 card in there. At some point in the future, I may put a RAID controller in there for external storage. Probably better idea to put the external storage on a media server, but if I move into a place where I can run the cable to the external storage in the next room… And who knows what cool things “they” will come up with that I’ll HAVE TO HAVE!

I do realize I have no real idea what I’m getting into, I’m probably going to get in over my head, and will build an HTPC that is complete overkill, assuming it works at all.

Since I brought up overkill, can I harm my HTPC build  by using components that are too high-end? I’m thinking:

Core i7 processor,

ATX board,

12GB RAM,

nVidia video card (have to find the best compromise between gaming capability and quiet),

3 hard drives (as recommended on this site),

Blu-Ray,

card reader (maybe),

PSU and CPU cooler. Obviously, lots more research to do.

Thanks again for reading, and advice from people who have been there and done that is most welcome.

[Aaron Ledger]

There’s no harm. For gaming, you may even need the extra power. Consider an SSD as well for your system drive and some game installs. It will load up your games much quicker in addition to being silent and quicker for the OS and HTPC use.

[umdivx]

[quote=buddymd]
Initially, I’d like to build an HTPC on which I can stream netflix; play cool games; watch the occasional movie (I have a large library of ISO and VIDEO_TS movies); and hook FIOS into so that I can watch/record the occasional show; maybe play music occasionally.[/quote]

Neflix is easy, however multiple screens in the scenario you are talking about isn’t easy. Same with gaming. Movies are a no brainer there.

Fios is bascially the same technology as cable tv, so pick up a cable card tuner (Ceton quad tuner, Silicon Dust HD home run prime, and Happauge). Run windows media center and you’ll have a multi tuner, virtually unlimited storage DVR solution.

[quote]
I’ve shopped a bit on-line for a large case and found the huge range in prices, higher-priced cases coming with an LCD, controls on the front, etc. I think I’ve settled on the Antec Fusion Remote Max, largely because of looks and large (quiet) fans. I looked at the really high-end cases, but I don’t see a compelling reason to spend the extra $300+ to get the 7″ touchscreen LCD on the front. The $500+ cases don’t seem to offer that much more functionality. What does the touchscreen LCD do that I need, or am I missing something with those cases? I just read that the touchscreen LCD is nice to control playing music so that you don’t have to have the big screen powered on. Anything else?[/quote]

Honestly all of the cases with built in LCD screen cause nothing but trouble and headaches. Don’t bother. You can control music and all that without your tv on with an ipad, andriod tablet, smartphone, ect… just all depends on the software you run.

[quote]

I’ve also been wondering about the two flat-screen TV hook-up. Is it even possible to watch two shows at once (football games) with a Ceton card and whatever app I use to watch FIOS TV?[/quote]

1.) PC running windows media center

2.) Cable card tv tuner

3.) one or two xbox 360’s

http://www.hdhomesportsbar.com/2011/01/windows-media-center-controller-for-hd.html

go there, watch the video, see his setup. He takes multiple TV’s connects Windows Media Center Extenders to each tv (Xbox 360 is a Media Center Extender).

What you can do is connect your HTPC to one TV, and the 360 to the other tv, and this will allow you to watch two different things at the same time on each tv.

Setup media center with an IR receiver to only accept media center IR commands, and setup the Xbox to only accept Xbox IR commands, and you can control them separately without the IR commands interfering with each other. This is by far the easiest and pretty much the most straight forward option.

-Josh

[mpatnode]

[quote=buddymd]

I’ve also been wondering about the two flat-screen TV hook-up. Is it even possible to watch two shows at once (football games) with a Ceton card and whatever app I use to watch FIOS TV?

[/quote]

Basically DHCP restrictions are going to bite you if try this trick, but I’m wondering if you could pull this off by running a VM on one screen, and then sharing the Ceton card over the network?   But as mentioned previously, you’re going to have a headache with the remote…

[umdivx]

[quote=mpatnode]

[quote=buddymd]

I’ve also been wondering about the two flat-screen TV hook-up. Is it even possible to watch two shows at once (football games) with a Ceton card and whatever app I use to watch FIOS TV?

[/quote]

Basically DHCP restrictions are going to bite you if try this trick, but I’m wondering if you could pull this off by running a VM on one screen, and then sharing the Ceton card over the network?   But as mentioned previously, you’re going to have a headache with the remote…

[/quote]

Best bet is as I mentioned above, using extenders for the second TV. That is the only real option as you can’t watch two different shows from one pc at the same time without an extender.

[mpatnode]

[quote=umdivx]

[quote=mpatnode]

[quote=buddymd]

I’ve also been wondering about the two flat-screen TV hook-up. Is it even possible to watch two shows at once (football games) with a Ceton card and whatever app I use to watch FIOS TV?

[/quote]

Basically DHCP restrictions are going to bite you if try this trick, but I’m wondering if you could pull this off by running a VM on one screen, and then sharing the Ceton card over the network?   But as mentioned previously, you’re going to have a headache with the remote…

[/quote]

Best bet is as I mentioned above, using extenders for the second TV. That is the only real option as you can’t watch two different shows from one pc at the same time without an extender.

[/quote]

I agree the extender is far more practical, but in theory a VM should work as well.    It’d be an interest project to get working.

[thomtom]

I know this is a little out of date now but did you go for the Antec MAX in the end?

How did you find it? I am still wondering about getting a large case, some info from an actual user would be good.

I have also looked at the Zalman HD501 and a couple of silverstone cases.

[Author]

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