Having trouble finding a PC Case.

[DejaVu]

... to suit my needs.

I have a normal PC Case acting as a server that I now want to replace and attach the system to my TV and get shot of the Revo and Dreambox.
It's got to be no higher than 400mm, no deeper than 560mm... width a non-issue, but has to look sleek/nice to please the missus.

An AMP Receiver type case or a nice looking large HTPC/Desktop case would be ideal. It'll need to hold an ATX Mobo, 7 3.5" HDD's, have a couple of PCI Slots for SATA/DVB-T Cards etc.

I ones I like so far...
Factual Design -
DEFINE R4 Black Pearl (Too Tall)
DEFINE Mini (ITX Only)
NODE 605 (not enough HDD bays)

Thermaltake DH101 (not enough HDD bays)

I don't mind replacing the Motherboard for an ITX, but it has to support 7 SATA's, have HDMI, a couple of PCI's and support my AM3+ Quad Core chip.
You guys know of anything I can use/get/consider?

I've also looked at and like Antec Fusion & SilverStones offerings and they are not quite there either.

[Ashley]

Wouldn't that get really hot mate? Can't you just hide a hp microserver behind the telly?

[wakadoo]

try the level 10gts by thermaltake.

I have one and its so practical for my needs, it is 460mm high though but the cable management is superb, it has 4 external hot swap bays that are a breeze to use and takes one hd inside as well, but you could mount 2 more in the unused disk drive bays, the 4 hd bays on the side only need one sata power and all the connections are on the back so cable managing the drives is great.

also comes with a dedicated usb 3 plug (the big blue one) and comes in black or white.


never going to win any medals for looks though lol.















its easy to clean the filters as well as the whole front just pops off and the thing is well built.

[DejaVu]

Heat shouldn't be too much of a problem, it'll have Corsair H80i inside it and if the case is a goodun, should have at least 3-4 120mm fans near the drives.

From what I've seen HP Microservers only hold upto 4 drives and are overpriced for what they are IMO.

--edit
Thanks for the suggestion wakadoo, but the missus first impression.
"Monstrosity, and would slot in perfectly on a Clingon vesel".

[wakadoo]

--edit
Thanks for the suggestion wakadoo, but the missus first impression.
"Monstrosity, and would slot in perfectly on a Clingon vesel".

ha ha, I have to agree with her though, for a small pc I used one of the metal li-an cases with a micro itx board but tbh it always seems to boil down to 2 or 3 things.

nice size cases seem to hold nothing inside, you want a good looking case with some good storage option then its going to be large.

[evilsatan]

Microservers hold 4 drives in the main section and at least a further two in the top section. I'm surprised you don't have one already seeing as how you like to tinker with project boxes and they are so cheap! Worth picking one up to play with if nothing else but I have used one to build an HTPC, just added a ow profile GPU and upgraded the RAM. Runs XBMC perfectly as well as the PVR apps which store on the RAID array.

[DejaVu]

I do love to tinker... but cheap? £150+ for a HDD Holder?

I like them and understand why people have them, but they are what they are I suppose.
It's never the RAM I have problems with it's the CPU and I want this one to be a Boss, just tucked away.

I have a huge shelf above TV and that's where we want it to live -
IMAG0111.jpg

Here's a picture of it ATM in a its fugly iCute box (annoyingly, this would fit!)
IMAG0109.jpg

[evilsatan]

£100 after cashback usually, always seemed cheap to me! Has a 250GB HDD already installed which must be worth £30, 2GB RAM which is about £15, motherboard with fake-raid (I think) controller and onboard VGA and a nice case to boot.

There are HTPC sites that recommend specs, have you looked their at the cases? Can't find the one I have looked at before.

[DejaVu]

Did some more digging and have fond one that seems to good to be true.

silverstone_case.jpg
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=331
Not as jaw dropping as I'd like, but still nice and ticks (most) boxes.

Least they exist.

[evilsatan]

I was considering getting one like that for an AIO HTPC so I didn't need a PVR but I ended up sticking with the Revo for XBMC/Sky Go and SB for PVR and got the Humax so I didn't lose the features of my old BT Vision box. The recording on the humax gets practically no use but nice to have it there.