[mythtv-users] My perfect HTPC

David Lasker dave at altosdesign.com
Thu Oct 7 16:42:07 UTC 2010


On 7 October 2010 11:24, Josu Lazkano <josu.lazkano [at] gmail> wrote:
> I have this box in mind: 
> 
> Thermaltake Element Q case: 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133093

There are several similar but lower-cost cases that are nearly identical to
the Thermaltake Element Q, including:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147131
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154093

Newegg calls these cases "mini tower" while the Thermaltake is a "desktop";
I have no idea why. They can be used either horizontally or vertically.

These cases are not completely fanless. They rely on the PSU fan, which has
an air intake directly over the CPU, and exhausts hot air out the rear of
the case.

The internal drive bay mounts a hard drive on its side at the right side of
the case. If you also use a PCIe card on the left side of the case, then
airflow into the case will be very constricted, and your system might run
too hot. If you mount your hard drive in the external drive bay, located
under the optical drive bay, and leave the internal bay unused, then you
should get sufficient air intake for an Atom board.

I used the Rosewell N82E16811147131 case for a home server (not for MythTV),
and I am very happy with it. The PSU supplied with the case has a variable
speed fan. When it is cool in the room, the fan is nearly silent. However,
when it is hot in the room, the fan noise is very noticeable, probably too
loud for an HTPC. If you decide to go with Atom/ION, you might want to
consider using a board with an external brick power supply like ASUS
AT3IONT-I Deluxe, or else get a PicoPSU.

Hope that helps...

Dave



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