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Help me build my new Home Theater PC

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Josh:
4wd, thank you for the informative reply. That is what I meant was the standard PC Speaker connection, for some reason RCA came to mind but that was because I was working with RCA cables earlier.

Anyways, I will look through diff speaker configs but I am having the hardest time picking out a case. Does anyone have any further recommendations?

4wd:
Anyways, I will look through diff speaker configs but I am having the hardest time picking out a case. Does anyone have any further recommendations?-Josh (November 08, 2008, 01:01 PM)
--- End quote ---

A few questions:

1) Optimally, how many internal 3.5" bays do you require, (including any future HDD expansion) ?

2) You picked out the Silverstone CW02S-MXR which is probably one of the biggest HTPC cases dimension wise.
    Does that mean that external case dimensions are not a constraint, (ie. size doesn't matter :) ) ?

3) Is a LCD/VFD still just an option or have you decided ?

4) Do you intend to control the HTPC purely from the remote or will the addition of manual controls, (eg. volume knob/buttons, input select, etc), be of benefit ?
    eg. While I tend to use the remote for most things here, (TV, stereo, etc), I always find that sometimes it's more practical to sit right in front of the thing and use the controls on the front.

5) Colour, (black shows dust and fingerprints like you wouldn't believe - matt silver is a better choice) ?

6) Do you want an integrated card reader or provision for one, (externally accessible 3.5" bay) ?

7) a) What front accessible ports do you require, (eg. USB, FireWire, Audio out, Mic, etc), and how many ?
    b) If you want front ports, hidden behind a panel or always visible ?

Probably a few more questions that are relevant but I'll stop there :)

Also, wrt VFD/LCD it might pay to check up on what the software is like and search for any problems people have been having.

The dominant software/display combination seems to be iMON, (used by Zalman, Silverstone, Thermaltake, Antec and others), but there's also IRTrans, M-Play and probably others.

Case suggestion: Zalman HD160 Plus - plenty of drive bays, cooling layout seems to be very good, front controls/ports, front accessible 3.5" bay if you want to add a card reader later.

NCIX shows it for $261 but no stock, (maybe order in).

mahesh2k:
So what you've picked so far Josh  :huh:

Carol Haynes:
Those Zalman cases look really nice ... but $261 seems a high price to pay for a box!

4wd:
Those Zalman cases look really nice ... but $261 seems a high price to pay for a box!
-Carol Haynes (November 14, 2008, 06:43 AM)
--- End quote ---

Still $140 less than the case Josh has in his list atm.......and consider this is going to actually be on display as a lounge room fixture, (so at least needs to be aesthetically pleasing, very quiet and possibly greater cooling requirements due to confined space installations), rather than just a fancy pc case ala Lian Li and some of the more OTT cases from ThermalTake, Coolermaster, ASUS, etc.

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