Gaming PC/HTPC cube

TheFreak · 22nd March 2009, 3:03 PM

I'm looking into the possibility of moving from my ThermalTake armor to a smaller more practical case for a pc thats used as a gaming/htpc/media server. I'm looking to use as much of my existing hardware as possible especially the graphics card (Gigabyte GTX 280), CPU (Intel E8400), and my hard drives (1x 250gb samsung boot drive, 4x 750gb WD drives). Fitting all this hardware in a single cube will be near impossible imo, so i've been looking into the options of how i can mount either just the hard drives externally or possibly the hdd's and dvd/bd drive/drives in a separate enclosure. I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum with this setup but i want something neat looking in the end. Does anyone know of any enclosures that are available (besides the rediculously expensive nas/san units) that would even just house the 5 hdd's exposing their sata/power connectors?

The other option i was considering was using a 2nd cube to store the hdd's by mounting a hdd cage in the case. This would also have the advantage of being able to mount the optical drive/s in out of the way to make room cooling.

The 3rd option i considered for the hard drives but probably the least ideal was using stackable extenal cases which expose the sata/power connectors, although i'd rather keep the drives together in one solid unit if possible.

The case i have my eye on is the ThermalTake LanBox HT (http://www.thermaltake.com.au/Produc.../LANBOXHT.aspx) it's got the vfd and front panel buttons + remote in a cube setup nd looks like it's reasonably well ventilated, at a decent price. Does anyone know if these cases will fit a double wide full size graphics card and what needs to be removed from the case/whats the limitations?

Alternatively i was considering using a case like the SilverStone SG01-F (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=8215) or SG-02f which can both fit the graphics card but don't have vfd/remote etc. Also at this stage it's likely i'd use either of these cases as a candidate for modding to fit the hdd's if i cant find a better option.

Also ideally i'd like to fit my fan controller (if i end up needing it and my x-fi fatal1ity champion sound card which also uses a 5.25" bay) which is another challenge (means i'd need a total of 4 5.25" bays for 2x optical drives, sound card, fan controller). I can live with a single dvd drive and the sound cards front i/o panel without too much trouble though.

The final thing i was considering trying to squeeze into this is the liquid cooling system that's in my tt armor which is just a res/pump/rad which fits in 2 x 5.25" drive bays but that's not important really as i know i'm really pushin it for space in a small case/s already lol.

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance

Mr. Bump! · 22nd March 2009, 3:11 PM

You won't fit a GTX280 into a Sugo because of the drive cage. A HD4870 fits with some case moding involved, I'm not sure about a Lanbox because i've never used one. I was initially going to get a lanbox lite but I couldn't find anywhere at the time that stocked them

EDIT: Hmm... is it my eyes or is the drive cage on the opposite side to other SGO1's?

That would make a huge improvement

TheFreak · 22nd March 2009, 8:59 PM

Thanks Mr Bump. The only reason i considered the sugo really is on pc case gear they have the gtx 280 listed as a card that will fit althou as you mentioned it may need some case moding or removing a cage or sumthing.

Managed to find these if you're still after a Lanbox althou i've never shopped from pcsuperstore.com.au i have no idea what they're like - just found that by goin thru the list of online suppliers on tt's website
With window:
http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=11307
Without:
http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=11306
Steel:
http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=11305
HT:
http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=12460

I'll likely try ordering my case from cpl or itwarehouse i've generally found if cpl don't stock something they can get it reasonably fast still i'm in no real hurry anyway.

From the look of the manual it looks like the hdd cage is on the same side as the power switch i think which looks promising. But if i do a split setup then i can remove these anyways.

The motherboard i was looking at using was the Intel dg35id which as is the case with most smaller motherboards i've seen the pci-e 16x is in the usual position towards the center of the board (ie next to the nb/cpu). 2 other issues i can forsee are it looks like the headers for the power button and led's is located where the graphics card would sit :S and the south bridge is gonna be directly under the card so it may overheat (i had this problem with my gtx 280 previously on my ep45-ds3p) sigh time for more research althou i'm tempted to just say bugger it and try to fit a nice water cooling setup in it.

Mr. Bump! · 23rd March 2009, 12:00 AM

I was comenting that the SGO1 that you were looking at looks like it has the drive cage on the opposite side of the PCI-E slots in which case an extremely long card like a GTX280 would fit, where as in the particular variant I have the drive cage is on the same side as the PCI-E Slots on a typical motherboard making it impossible to fit a card any longer then a HD4870.

You shouldn't have any trouble fitting a GTX280 in that Sugo that you linked me, it's in the evolution model that I have that you wouldn't be able to fit a long card.

Anyway coming back to things like I said you should be able to fit a GTX280 in to a sugo, you should also be able to fit a radiator in one of the 5.25 inch drive bays if you only run one optical drive, so I don't see the issue in running anything that you've listed as wanting to run. The Sugo is a deceptively long case which will let you fit in more cables then what you think.

TheFreak · 23rd March 2009, 12:12 AM

Ah excellent thanks again Mr Bump, i'm thinking i might have to pick up one of these cases and see what i can do with it i'm probably gonna head down to cpl and have a look at the motherboard to see if it'll be suitable for what i need, i'm thinking i might just order the sugo i linked because i've got a few ideas for other mini pc projects and it'll probably come in handy either way

. Hmm i'm really liking the sound of this case so simple but so much potential and cheap so i won't be too scared to hack it up a little if needed

TheFreak · 27th March 2009, 2:23 PM

Picked up my intel dg45id motherboard and ended up ordering a Silverstone sg02f case, the front panel headers sit right on the graphics card with a double wide card but it does fit, also the sata connector closest to the graphics card has only just enough clearance to be usable. I like the look of this motherboard as there's a lot more clearance between the graphics card and the north bridge, but unfortunately the south bridge is placed directly underneath where the graphics card sits (i had issues with my ep45-ds3p and my gtx 280 overheating my nb & sb) but i figure i might be able to get away with using a pci raid controller if the sb gives me issues has anyone tried running a motherboard with a ich7/ich10r without a heatsink or with a smaller heatsink on the chip? Because the main problem is heat transfering from the graphics card to the heatsink so increasing clearance would likely reduce the problem. I'm thinking for the hdd's i'm gonna try to mod a tt armor hdd cage probably if i can - my fabrication skills are hmmm not so great but mite give it a crack

. The cheapest solutions i found besides doing this were ~$400 if i wanted a single unit which was buying 2 dual drive nas enclosures. I've taken the water cooling system out my case and i've been looking at it, i think that it can be modified with a smaller res (or t line) to make it fit in a single 5.25" bay which could be interesting

.

22nd March 2009, 3:03 PM	#1
TheFreak Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Melbourne Posts: 25	Gaming PC/HTPC cube I'm looking into the possibility of moving from my ThermalTake armor to a smaller more practical case for a pc thats used as a gaming/htpc/media server. I'm looking to use as much of my existing hardware as possible especially the graphics card (Gigabyte GTX 280), CPU (Intel E8400), and my hard drives (1x 250gb samsung boot drive, 4x 750gb WD drives). Fitting all this hardware in a single cube will be near impossible imo, so i've been looking into the options of how i can mount either just the hard drives externally or possibly the hdd's and dvd/bd drive/drives in a separate enclosure. I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum with this setup but i want something neat looking in the end. Does anyone know of any enclosures that are available (besides the rediculously expensive nas/san units) that would even just house the 5 hdd's exposing their sata/power connectors? The other option i was considering was using a 2nd cube to store the hdd's by mounting a hdd cage in the case. This would also have the advantage of being able to mount the optical drive/s in out of the way to make room cooling. The 3rd option i considered for the hard drives but probably the least ideal was using stackable extenal cases which expose the sata/power connectors, although i'd rather keep the drives together in one solid unit if possible. The case i have my eye on is the ThermalTake LanBox HT (http://www.thermaltake.com.au/Produc.../LANBOXHT.aspx) it's got the vfd and front panel buttons + remote in a cube setup nd looks like it's reasonably well ventilated, at a decent price. Does anyone know if these cases will fit a double wide full size graphics card and what needs to be removed from the case/whats the limitations? Alternatively i was considering using a case like the SilverStone SG01-F (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=8215) or SG-02f which can both fit the graphics card but don't have vfd/remote etc. Also at this stage it's likely i'd use either of these cases as a candidate for modding to fit the hdd's if i cant find a better option. Also ideally i'd like to fit my fan controller (if i end up needing it and my x-fi fatal1ity champion sound card which also uses a 5.25" bay) which is another challenge (means i'd need a total of 4 5.25" bays for 2x optical drives, sound card, fan controller). I can live with a single dvd drive and the sound cards front i/o panel without too much trouble though. The final thing i was considering trying to squeeze into this is the liquid cooling system that's in my tt armor which is just a res/pump/rad which fits in 2 x 5.25" drive bays but that's not important really as i know i'm really pushin it for space in a small case/s already lol. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance

22nd March 2009, 3:11 PM	#2
Mr. Bump! (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: QLD Posts: 3,645	You won't fit a GTX280 into a Sugo because of the drive cage. A HD4870 fits with some case moding involved, I'm not sure about a Lanbox because i've never used one. I was initially going to get a lanbox lite but I couldn't find anywhere at the time that stocked them EDIT: Hmm... is it my eyes or is the drive cage on the opposite side to other SGO1's? That would make a huge improvement Last edited by Mr. Bump!; 22nd March 2009 at 3:16 PM.

22nd March 2009, 8:59 PM	#3
TheFreak Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Melbourne Posts: 25	Thanks Mr Bump. The only reason i considered the sugo really is on pc case gear they have the gtx 280 listed as a card that will fit althou as you mentioned it may need some case moding or removing a cage or sumthing. Managed to find these if you're still after a Lanbox althou i've never shopped from pcsuperstore.com.au i have no idea what they're like - just found that by goin thru the list of online suppliers on tt's website With window: http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=11307 Without: http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=11306 Steel: http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=11305 HT: http://www.pcsuperstore.com.au/produ...roductID=12460 I'll likely try ordering my case from cpl or itwarehouse i've generally found if cpl don't stock something they can get it reasonably fast still i'm in no real hurry anyway. From the look of the manual it looks like the hdd cage is on the same side as the power switch i think which looks promising. But if i do a split setup then i can remove these anyways. The motherboard i was looking at using was the Intel dg35id which as is the case with most smaller motherboards i've seen the pci-e 16x is in the usual position towards the center of the board (ie next to the nb/cpu). 2 other issues i can forsee are it looks like the headers for the power button and led's is located where the graphics card would sit :S and the south bridge is gonna be directly under the card so it may overheat (i had this problem with my gtx 280 previously on my ep45-ds3p) sigh time for more research althou i'm tempted to just say bugger it and try to fit a nice water cooling setup in it.

23rd March 2009, 12:00 AM	#4
Mr. Bump! (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: QLD Posts: 3,645	I was comenting that the SGO1 that you were looking at looks like it has the drive cage on the opposite side of the PCI-E slots in which case an extremely long card like a GTX280 would fit, where as in the particular variant I have the drive cage is on the same side as the PCI-E Slots on a typical motherboard making it impossible to fit a card any longer then a HD4870. You shouldn't have any trouble fitting a GTX280 in that Sugo that you linked me, it's in the evolution model that I have that you wouldn't be able to fit a long card. Anyway coming back to things like I said you should be able to fit a GTX280 in to a sugo, you should also be able to fit a radiator in one of the 5.25 inch drive bays if you only run one optical drive, so I don't see the issue in running anything that you've listed as wanting to run. The Sugo is a deceptively long case which will let you fit in more cables then what you think.

23rd March 2009, 12:12 AM	#5
TheFreak Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Melbourne Posts: 25	Ah excellent thanks again Mr Bump, i'm thinking i might have to pick up one of these cases and see what i can do with it i'm probably gonna head down to cpl and have a look at the motherboard to see if it'll be suitable for what i need, i'm thinking i might just order the sugo i linked because i've got a few ideas for other mini pc projects and it'll probably come in handy either way . Hmm i'm really liking the sound of this case so simple but so much potential and cheap so i won't be too scared to hack it up a little if needed

27th March 2009, 2:23 PM	#6
TheFreak Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Melbourne Posts: 25	Picked up my intel dg45id motherboard and ended up ordering a Silverstone sg02f case, the front panel headers sit right on the graphics card with a double wide card but it does fit, also the sata connector closest to the graphics card has only just enough clearance to be usable. I like the look of this motherboard as there's a lot more clearance between the graphics card and the north bridge, but unfortunately the south bridge is placed directly underneath where the graphics card sits (i had issues with my ep45-ds3p and my gtx 280 overheating my nb & sb) but i figure i might be able to get away with using a pci raid controller if the sb gives me issues has anyone tried running a motherboard with a ich7/ich10r without a heatsink or with a smaller heatsink on the chip? Because the main problem is heat transfering from the graphics card to the heatsink so increasing clearance would likely reduce the problem. I'm thinking for the hdd's i'm gonna try to mod a tt armor hdd cage probably if i can - my fabrication skills are hmmm not so great but mite give it a crack . The cheapest solutions i found besides doing this were ~$400 if i wanted a single unit which was buying 2 dual drive nas enclosures. I've taken the water cooling system out my case and i've been looking at it, i think that it can be modified with a smaller res (or t line) to make it fit in a single 5.25" bay which could be interesting .