Might be building a new one too!

[Sabz5150]

I need to upgrade my main frontend. The case I have is too small and the proprietary PSU simply can't handle modern hardware. It'll shut down occasionally from thermal overload. Bad Thing (TM). Also, some of my media has started coming down the chute in 720p format. I can run 'em pretty well, but it'll skip once in a blue moon. Not bad for pegging the proc to its max (3000+).

So I started looking around at decent HTPC cases and came across this on the galactic garage sale:

BLACK ALUMINUM HTPC MEDIA CENTER MCE303 CASE - (eBay item 160188292000 end time Dec-09-07 17:14:54 PST)

The integrated remote is the same one I am using, Myth can be set up to use the
VFD without much trouble, and I can put in a REAL power supply. Hardware-wise I only plan to upgrade to a dualcore processor and leave it at that. Everything else (maybe get a new vidcard) works great.

Opinions?

 

[endlesszeal]

Get that with this:
Expreview.com - Extra Hardware News Report! » Blog Archive » Born for HD: first review of G98-8400GS(D8M)

And this:
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Processor - Retail

 

[GSRCRXsi]

i like that case. but at the same time i love my own setup. aopen b200 case, intel pico BTX board, 7300 GT vid card, 1.8GHz celeron. everything stays pretty cool and plenty fast. and i have the ability to upgrade to a faster proc when/if i start going to HD content. ill get some pics so you can see how small it is. my only complaint is that you have to use the picoBTX board (not too easy to find good boards) and my vid card fan is pretty loud (im going to switch to a fanless vid card soon)

what are you streaming thats 720p?

 

[Sabz5150]

i like that case. but at the same time i love my own setup. aopen b200 case, intel pico BTX board, 7300 GT vid card, 1.8GHz celeron. everything stays pretty cool and plenty fast. and i have the ability to upgrade to a faster proc when/if i start going to HD content. ill get some pics so you can see how small it is. my only complaint is that you have to use the picoBTX board (not too easy to find good boards) and my vid card fan is pretty loud (im going to switch to a fanless vid card soon)

what are you streaming thats 720p?

New fansubbed anime. 1280x720 native res. Looks BEAUTIFUL and the file sizes are reasonable.

There are a very few files out there that are 1920x1080 but that's when the file starts getting big.

I like the board I have, so I wanted to go with a case that let me keep it. It's got onboard Unichrome which means hardware mpeg2 decoding and soon enough it will be able to handle some divx on the hardware side. Not too shabby for a cheap onboard chip. I also wanted something home theater-ish, and the VFD display is hawt.

I'm also an AMD guy. Except for my laptop, it's all AMD. Doesn't matter if Intel has the best chips (again), I'm stickin with the chips I like. :elitist: hah

 

[GSRCRXsi]

haha. well i got a good board, it has good onboard capabilities with the 965 chipset (XvMC with full iDCT+MC hardware), but intel drivers arent up to snuff yet. hence why im using the nvidia card. but when i go HD i might just get a better proc rather than upgrading the card. seems to be a better solution than dealing with XvMC.

currently looking for a good fanless card, the 7300 GT fanless has some retarded heatsink on the BACK of the card which wont fit in my case, and i dunno if i should go for the 8-series cards or not.