HTPC / Steam Box build!

FarligOpptreden

FarligOpptreden

New member
Good day people of MyG (especially Joker). I'm planning on building a HTPC / Steam box combo to satiate our media and gaming needs in the lounge. Budget is around R10k for everything. I have all the necessary external cabling as well as wireless keyboard/mouse/controller (all Logitech components) combo available, so I'll only need recommendations for the box itself.

I'd prefer the box to be as low profile as possible, but need decent gaming performance from it - so no APU recommendations please.
 
I'll leave the components to someone else. You mention low profile box - consider sticking the entire thing physically *behind* something due to noise - which is usually a problem with high perf HTPC rigs. The placing does make a very real difference, just like sticking a box under/behind a desk is better than next to you on top of the desk. Take care not to stick it *into* a cupboard without thinking about heat though... Also...consider dust.

Actually I've got 1 component advice - I've got a corsair GS800 PSU where the fan pretty much never spins up...making it dead silent. (And no its not broken - the fan spins up on startup) You prob don't need a 800w one though - not too sure whether its just quiet because its way bigger than necessary though....
 
Thing is, I already have a (huge, heavy, expensive) wall unit with a Sony soundbar receiver on the left, speaker in the center and DSTV HDPVR on top almost obscured behind the TV. The right side of the wall unit is now empty and begging for an HTPC / Steam box. I can't place it INSIDE the wall unit, as it would generate too much heat and obscure the controller / kb + mouse wireless signals. So it will have to be on top.

I can't seem to find a chassis that looks decent enough with a low enough profile... There are a couple I could scour from RebelTech's website, but for most of them I'll have to go the APU route, which defeats the "Steam box" element of the build. Closest is probably the Cooler Master Elite 120, but it's still a bit too high.

So far I'm looking at something along the lines of:

Chassis / Case: BitFenix Prodigy (just because it's the only mini-ITX chassis I'm currently aware of - I need recommendations here) R907
Motherboard: ASUS H81I-PLUS (trying to go small form-factor with mini-ITX) R1164
PSU: Corsair CX430M R637
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 R2805
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP, 8GB R1152
GPU: ASUS R9270X-DC2-2GD5 (will have to change to fit into chassis, but should fit into currently selected chassis, I hope) R3034
HDD: Seagate Barracuda, 1TB R821
Optical Drive: Cheapest in stock, just for emergencies R176

...all of which brings me to a total of R10696, which is R696 above my budget, but still doable.

Those are the specs I have in mind for the box, but I'd like it to be in the lowest possible profile. Width and length aren't the biggest issues, but height certainly is.
 
ITX Chassis options :

Bitfenix Phenom or Prodigy
Lian-Li PC-Q07 or Q27
Coolermaster Elite 110,120 advance, 130, Mini 110 (these should work out quite a bit cheaper than the Bitfenix ones).

Edit : there are others, but like bikinis, the smaller they get and the more polka dots they have on, the more expensive they become.
 
Also been looking into this, this is the best looking case iv come across... Bit pricey, but should fit into a home entertainment system perfectly...

CH-LC37BN.jpg


http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=50_52&products_id=17431
 
Tom said:
Also been looking into this, this is the best looking case iv come across... Bit pricey, but should fit into a home entertainment system perfectly...

CH-LC37BN.jpg


http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=50_52&products_id=17431
Click to expand...

I currently have this case for my HTPC build :)

Very nice case and build but I wish it had more HDD slots >.<

Currently I have:
1x60gig SSD for the OS
1x3TB for Storage
No optical drive

There are only 2 HDD bays and 1 Optical drive bay so once my 3TB fills up (currently 500gigs free) then I'm a lil' screwed because then I can buy another HDD but the I'll have to put it in the optical drive bay and then I won't be able to put a Blu Ray drive in there.
 
Nemesis said:
That looks more suitable for a HTPC build, so maybe your high end cards might not be the best fit. Cooling wise I don't know how these perform. @S1ght , maybe you can give some more information regarding this?
Click to expand...

I can install some temp monitoring software when I get home and I'll let you guys know. It has fans and vents on the sides of the cases though that operate relatively quiet. I never really notice that the thing is on most of the time.

To give you an idea of the rest of the components I've got in there that contribute to the heat factor:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220, 3.3GHz with stock fan
Mboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M
Gcard: ASUS GT610-SL-1GD3-L, GT610, 1GB 64bit DDR3, Silent heatsink
Ram: 1x8gig DDR3 stick
PSU: Thermaltake LitePower, 350w
HDD1: OCZ Agility 3 60GB
HDD2: Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX, 3TB
 
S1ght said:
I can install some temp monitoring software when I get home and I'll let you guys know. It has fans and vents on the sides of the cases though that operate relatively quiet. I never really notice that the thing is on most of the time.

To give you an idea of the rest of the components I've got in there that contribute to the heat factor:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220, 3.3GHz with stock fan
Mboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M
Gcard: ASUS GT610-SL-1GD3-L, GT610, 1GB 64bit DDR3, Silent heatsink
Ram: 1x8gig DDR3 stick
PSU: Thermaltake LitePower, 350w
HDD1: OCZ Agility 3 60GB
HDD2: Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX, 3TB
Click to expand...

Would a half decent GPU fit in there? Or would it have to be low-profile?
 
Nemesis said:
Would a half decent GPU fit in there? Or would it have to be low-profile?
Click to expand...

Needs to be low profile. What's your idea of a half decent GPU? I think I'll try take a photo of what the inside looks like so you can get an idea of how much space is available with everything fitted.
 
Nemesis said:
ITX Chassis options :

Bitfenix Phenom or Prodigy
Lian-Li PC-Q07 or Q27
Coolermaster Elite 110,120 advance, 130, Mini 110 (these should work out quite a bit cheaper than the Bitfenix ones).

Edit : there are others, but like bikinis, the smaller they get and the more polka dots they have on, the more expensive they become.
Click to expand...

The Bitfenix cases are quite large for ITX, so why not go for the M-ATX versions of those cases? That way you have the ability to have more PCI-E cards. The Phenom cases dont have handles and are therefore lower profile. The internals of the newer Bitfenix are mostly the same. I personally like the new Phenom Micro-ATX cases for an HTPC build because it is very sleek...and is micro-ATX.
 
rootworm41 said:
The Bitfenix cases are quite large for ITX, so why not go for the M-ATX versions of those cases? That way you have the ability to have more PCI-E cards. The Phenom cases dont have handles and are therefore lower profile. The internals of the newer Bitfenix are mostly the same. I personally like the new Phenom Micro-ATX cases for an HTPC build because it is very sleek...and is micro-ATX.
Click to expand...

I prefer the look of the phenom as well over the Prodigies. The new M chassis is nice as well, but bulky. Sitting with one myself. I've got an ITX build (using a EVGA Hadron Air chassis) and it's much smaller than the Prodigy, and in my opinion, has a sleeker look to it. Hefty price tag though, but it does come with a 500W gold rated psu.
 
Nemesis said:
I prefer the look of the phenom as well over the Prodigies. The new M chassis is nice as well, but bulky. Sitting with one myself. I've got an ITX build (using a EVGA Hadron Air chassis) and it's much smaller than the Prodigy, and in my opinion, has a sleeker look to it. Hefty price tag though, but it does come with a 500W gold rated psu.
Click to expand...

I really like the Hadron Air, but that price in SA...
The ITX and M-ATX versions of the Bitfenix cases are the same size, so it is a no brainer for me.
 
Im not sure, but im glad to see someone using the case!
My main concern was also overheating, looking forward to hearing the temp results...
 
Please have a look at the specs I mentioned in my second post in this thread. I'm looking at a mid-range card along the lines of the R9-270x or similar in order to get decent gaming performance as well. So I can't put in a low-profile GPU. At the moment the best match seems to be something along the lines of the Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced, but I'm concerned about the heat generated in the chassis (based on a couple of reviews I read). Any other suggestions?

Oh, and where is Joker? I PM'ed him as well, but still nothing...
 
I'm not sure if these are readily available in South Africa, but hey?

Antec Fusion Remote Max
SilverStone Fortress FT03
SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX Media Center
Thermaltake 200 VL52021N2U
Lian Li PC-Q27
 
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