HTPC with Silverstone LC11 Case

I really looked out for the ideal case for my HTPC a long time. And I think I found the perfect one. It was love at the first sight...:

Silverstone LC11 Silver-Edition

Why I choose this case?
* I love the design. It's not too big, but everything needed fits in there
* The well planned cooling concept, with 2 large case coolers and a quiet power supply
* 2 PCI & 1 AGP Riser-Card. So when my Graphics and TV-Cards are in, I am still free to choose another one

In this case I'm planning to build a HTPC with these components:
* AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton (I think the lowest-speed Barton)
* Asus A7V400-MX KM400A MicroATX Board with 5.1 Sound and 10/100 Lan on-board
* Sapphire Radeon 9250, 128 MB without an active cooler and DVI/VGA/S-Video (I just need the VGA-Port by now)
* 512 MB Infineon Chip Ram CL2.5 PC333
* Samsung 160 GB, 7200 u/min, 8 MB (Read a Review and should be very quiet)
* Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T for DVB-T Receiption with Speaker-Cable-Antenna (yeah the expensive DVB-T Antenna didn't work...)

I think it's the perfect balance between performance (from time to time I like to do some 3D-Gaming) and a quiet system.

This HTPC will be connected to an 16:9 Panasonic Beamer. So I'll have to mod the Skin a littlebit. And I have to handle the ratio-issus when watching TV.

Additionally I have a very good IR-Receiver, which works around curves and at a very long distance, which I bought at eBays for about 3 Euros. And I have the Hauppauge Silver Remote. So I plan to get it to work with this usbuirt-Receiver.

Here is a photo of the case:

[jdiffend]

I love this case too. Very nice. In fact it's so close to what I wanted that I wrote them an email with some suggestions and someone actually wrote me back.

My complaints were power supply, lack of an additional PCI slot instead of AGP (as an option), lack of front display, llack of place for IR receiver and no place for additional onboard I/O connectors if slots are full unless you mod the case.

The response (summary):
They designed a version with a front panel display but it's release depends on how well the current model sells.
The power supply included kicks butt and the rating isn't just peak power handling which is what most power supply's show. The reviews they sent links too made their power supplys look rather impressive. They may possibly introduce a larger power supply in the future... mostly for marketing reasons. Most PC's don't use more power then the current supply provides though.
They may consider an optional PCI riser but it sounded to me like that was distant future if at all.
I think they liked the suggestion I made about a dummy slot(s) over... er... under the standard ATX onboard connectors. Don't know if they will use it in the future or not though.

My thoughts:
If you want to buy this case don't wait for a updated model... it won't come anytime soon.

Avoid PCI express motherboards because there is no riser for the slots and it sounded like there wouldn't be until some issues were resolved if ever. If you want PCI express use a case with vertical slots or a board with PCI slots in the first locations. Don't expect to use the PCI express slots if you do this. This might be a viable option once enthusiast versions of the new ATi chipset motherboards come out... where you'd use PCI express onboard I/O and video and might not need more than PCI slots for tuners.

The power supply should handle most systems but don't buy more CPU than you need or buy a mobile cpu model if you're filling the PCI slots with power hungry cards.

Watch the heatsink clearance. Some of the short/fat or tall aftermarket models might be too large.

<sigh>
I would like to build a system with 2 HDTV tuners and a Satellite receiver card. Nobody makes a dual HDTV tuner that I'm aware of so I need 3 PCI slots... eventually anyway.

If SOYO introduces a version of the SY-P4RS350 with build in Firewire (there's a spot for the chip on the board already) it will make a perfect match for this case and a system running MP. No chipset fan, no graphics card fan, all ports on the case driven by the motherboard, DirectX 9 (good enough for MP) and only the CPU and case fans to generate noise. If Silverston intoduces a PCI riser that supports 3 PCI slots it will support everything I want.

[tklon]

This "upside-down" case is really beautiful. Nice inventive design from SilverStone. I think they are one of the best htpc makers...

[PJ]

They had pics of the LC11-M on the SilverStone website a few days before CES. It was pretty much the same case but with an integrated VFD/IR, similar to the one used in the LC10-M. They've since removed the pics, I should've bookmarked it when I saw it.

The only thing that concerns me about having the board upside down, and that has been mentioned in several reviews I've read, is whether the CPU cooler will cause any additional stress because of it's weight and hanging upside down on the board.

I've only just built my HTPC, based on an iDeq 200T, so I'll probably wait until the LC11-M is released (if ever).

I've been looking at the Via Epia SP board which sounds like it will suit HTPC's quite nicely, and fit pretty well inside the LC11.

I choose this case, because an epia board isn't fast enough for me. For Epia-boards I saw several other cases, which looked very nice. This one: Rebach Epia Case for example.

[jdiffend]

Originally Posted by PJ

They had pics of the LC11-M on the SilverStone website a few days before CES. It was pretty much the same case but with an integrated VFD/IR, similar to the one used in the LC10-M. They've since removed the pics, I should've bookmarked it when I saw it.

It might be on one of the many sites that had reports on CES.

The only thing that concerns me about having the board upside down, and that has been mentioned in several reviews I've read, is whether the CPU cooler will cause any additional stress because of it's weight and hanging upside down on the board.

The board I was planning on using is based on the intel CPUs and it has a metal brace on the back side of the motherboard. No worry about it hanging upside down. I'd rather use a board based on the newer ATi chipset but there are no enthusiast boards shipping and it has PCI express slots... so I might need to go with a different case if I do,

I would worry about coolers that hang from the socket. I had a couple taps break off one and it's tough to find a cooler that uses three tabs on both sides. The only one I found locally for a decent price is noisy.

I've only just built my HTPC, based on an iDeq 200T, so I'll probably wait until the LC11-M is released (if ever).

If they were showing it at CES it's closer to shipping than they let on with me.

I've been looking at the Via Epia SP board which sounds like it will suit HTPC's quite nicely, and fit pretty well inside the LC11.

I think that will be more expensive than a MicroATX setup and you need to make sure the proper codecs are available if you want to use MP. I think ith LC11 case would dwarf that board. (you are talking about the MiniITX board right?)

I considered to use this Cooler: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=17&disc=

According to my local PC Dealer it has 3 tabs on each side, but I'm not sure about that.

And it's not too expensive and has a 18 db-Rating.

[jdiffend]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCash

I considered to use this Cooler: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=17&disc=

According to my local PC Dealer it has 3 tabs on each side, but I'm not sure about that.

And it's not too expensive and has a 18 db-Rating.

Ooo... nice. Very quiet. Even quieter and less expensive than what I was looking at yesterday. And I like that.

However, that db rating is probably at the lowest fan speed.

*edit*
13 - 24 db That makes it louder than the one I looked at when the fan is a max.
http://www.frozencpu.com/cpu-arc-01.html?id=LcWIfSPP

NewEgg.com had the best price after shipping.if anyone cares. And I've dealt with them many times over the last 5 (or more?) years. Always good to deal with. I can't say the same for other places.

Bummer though... no socket A version so I can't use it on my current desktop.

The question is, if you need the max? You can switch it down. At the moment I don't know if I should get the temperature-controlled or this manuel version. Especially since there are only 3 slots in this case.

And for German Users. You can get it at www.kmelektronik.de.

[jdiffend]

A video review of the LC11 can be found here:
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/silverst...review_02.html