HTPC case recommendations

Now that I am mainly using my Mac, I thought it would be good to transplant my non-Mac into a new case for the living room. Does anyone have any suggestions? Preferably should have a 5.25” bay for my Blu Ray writer and space for a video card.

Well, first question is what is wrong with the case the PC is already in? Is it too big, has too noisy of fans, or isn’t “black enough” (in that many people think entertainment system components should have a certain look usually black and boxy.)

This is relevant, because you’re about to try and make a trade-off. If you put it in a smaller, quieter, case, it will probably not have the same level of cooling it used to have. Many people expect a HTPC to be extremely quiet because they would find noise distracting while the PC is, say, presenting a movie, but quiet can be quite a challenge for components (CPUs and GPUs) that were not designed with that thought it mind. You can consider liquid cooling, say, but even then you need a quite large radiator to deal with heat buildup.

In most cases, you’re better off buying a lower power PC custom built for use as a HTPC. It will have a low power CPU and no stand-alone GPU. (What AMD calls an APU, the same thing build into the PS4/PS5/XBox.)

The desire for Blu-ray playback is a challenge thou, as the ones built for PCs are not always optimized to operate in the quietest way. I presume simply playing back isn’t going to cause a heck of a lot of noise though.

Unfortunately I have no case recommendation for you… A Google Chromecast with Google TV is all of the “PC” I need attached to my TV.

Upon thinking about recent cases I have “lusted” after, I might consider this, but I don’t know if this is the sort of case you’re thinking of: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200

Edit: Note that you would probably need a new PSU with this case. And you’d need to know the form factor of your motherboard and whether or not it would fit in this case. If everything else fits, and your GPU fits, and you want to reorient it to blow air out the side, you need the GPU riser, so make sure you get the 200P model if you go with this case.

Nice case, but yeah, not quite what I’m after…

Current case is a tower and crap. Does not sit on its side well at all either. Already had plans to get a quiet PSU for it. This will basically sit underneath the TV. Thinking the Silverstone Grandia or something similar. Was just looking to see if anyone has any recommendations.

It’s not a powerful machine - it’s a Ryzen 1300x with a passively cooled GTX 1030 video card. It was never a gaming rig. The loudest thing is the crap PSU that has constant speed fan. It’s certainly not a loud machine.

This Sentry case is console sized.
http://zaber.com.pl/sentry/

Thanks will take a look

I’ve always wanted to do a build with an HDPlex case - HDPLEX-The Best Fanless Passive Silent PC Case Manufacture

No provisions for your optical drive though so might not work for ya

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I think perhaps something like the Silverstone ML03 might suit my needs.

https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=283&area=en

Looks nice but “Supports low profile expansion cards”
Does your video card have a low profile option (a way to replace the silver bracket that connects to the backplane with a shorter one)? Or are you willing to acquire a new one that would work?

Yes, I have a half night gfx card and have the low profile bracket to go with it.

Plus was already intending to replace the PSU as my current one has a constant speed fan.