my DIY stainless steel HTPC casing.

it was my first project but due to time constrain, no time to do a better one.

Very nice!

Too bad I don't have engineering and electrical skills to start my own DIY project. Have to stick with normal casing or buy expensive HTPC casing

Ryansia: Wow! I'm impressed!!! I wish i have ur skill...too bad i'm a software guy, not a hardware one. What about the internals? Do u jack an existing CPU casing internal to hold the drives, mobo etc?


btw, something interesting from Gigabyte website.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/News/DigitalHom...spx?NewsID=1271

Looks like Gigabyte will start selling some HTPC....looks cool!!!







This post has been edited by Matrix: Sep 14 2006, 10:42 AM

I'm actually aorking in a factory dealing with sheet metal. i sketched in Autocad and they did it for me.....somore foc.....

i retained the back panel and the MOBO base. if you notice, the casing depth is shorter by 10cm compared to the regular casing depth of 43cm coz i want to fit in my rack...... hence the mobo based has been cut to fit mymobo size.

about the mounting of the HDD and Optical drive, i have to custom make. it is critical the place the dvdr/w at the right heaght to match my casing dvd slot opening...

my future casing will accommodate 4x20 LCD display on the face, and may be few control buttons as well modified from usb Gamepad.... but i hardly have time these day.......

matrix, on the 2nd pic, there is a mouse...... that is not an actual mouse but my diy cheapo Ir receiver...... the newly acquired MCE remote is still in the plastic beside the "mouse" and i'll keep it as new as possible in case you want it!! kekekek......

saw these at HK last week and it will set you back rm 3-4K

The cheaper Silverstone HTPC case is LC17 and price is RM399. May be u can consider it

I sure envy you! Anyway, even if u gimme AutoCad i also dunno how to use that...ha-ha.

Aiya, friend...still tempting me with ur MCE... ...i am still considering...now kepala very pening... i can either:

Casing:
(1) Get the cheapest Silverstone at RM399
(2) Get a seriously cheap PC desktop casing and mod it. (like RM100-RM200). Can paint it light gold!

Remote:
(1) Get the MCE from u.
(2) Get the DIY IR from u (offer still open right?
(3) Fix my own IR ....i've studied the link u provided and it seems quite simple..except that i've only done soldering maybe less than 5 times in my life and that was years ago (and will probably solder my fingers to the wires in the process). Also dunno pasar road got or not those stuff. But it seems very interesting. I might enjoy it even if i screw it up.

Also, my wife's PC recently for some reason, the TV-OUT don't work. It was working previously, but just blank screen on TV recently. so i hafta hunt another graphic card also. How i wish i haven't sold my old 9500 AGP card!

I might be going LYP to have a look at the Silverstone casing at InterAsia LYP showroom this weekend (or look for a cheap desktop casing) if i can find time.

btw, one question. Is Girder freeware or what? Does it have time limit function? U do need Girder to work with Windows MCE if using ur DIY IR receiver rite?

But i also really like the VFD on the expensive Silverstone casing...looks great together with my amp...but paying RM600 extra for the VFD is like not worth the money.

Also thinking...can i rip the LED display from those old DVD players i have and program it somehow?? Now googling whether got information on this..

Interasia have a showroom in LYP rite? At fourth floor according to ur website?

Lot 4-33 & 4-33A, 4th Floor.

Yes, all the case will be display in our showroom. Will update u when the case is there

Casing is for appearance only right? Isn't the HTPC noise level the crucial factor? It's dependent on the cooling system, HDD noise, DVD player, etc..

Noise level is a factor, but to me appearance is #1!!! I can't afford to put in a piece of ugly looking metal in my living room...LOL.

Furthermore, i'm only planning to have 1 HDD, 1 DVD-ROM, Athlon XP1800+ and a low end AGP card with passive heatsink. I dun need extra cooling for such a moderate system, it'll only be use for music, movies,medias and some emulator games.

I'm not really worry about the noise/heat. If my 80GB Seagate can survive for so long in an XBOX with just one miserable mini fan at the back. I don't see how a much spacious PC desktop can have problem. I only plan to have 2 fans in the system. One CPU fan and one system fan(maybe two) drawing the air out.

I don't think i can hear HDD noise when my amp and speaker is at 10% volume or more. I think this problem is only when listening to some quiet music. When watching DVD/DIVX movies...where can hear those HDD/DVD noise...subwoofer already shaking the house down...LOL.

But some DVD-ROM tends to be quite noisy when spinning up.

rm399 is the RRP. perhaps could knock down little bit.

offer still open dude, fren fren i have to sacrifice my sleeping time loe...
about the components i got it from pasar road as well, no worries.

yes you need girder. i can send you the MCE group and then it can be learned from any remote you have.
it used to be freeware before it was comercialised. i'm using the 3.29 version (no time limit) which is the last version before you need to pay.

vfd on silverstone and cooler master is the same. all from Imon. if you mod your own casing then use the cheaper LCD display.

from what i know, impossible....... i may be wrong...

btw, where r u located dude?

This post has been edited by ryansia: Sep 14 2006, 03:40 PM

Aiks. LCD display cheaper? U mean those DVD Player DISPLAY are consider LCD? I thought those are LED. Where can buy LCD display that can integrate to ur casing?

My office is in PJ Damansara and i stay in KL. How bout u?

this is LCD 20x4


this is VFD 20x4


this guy is bulking LCDs in LYN
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=244625

DIY guide (again???)
http://www.pcmoddingmy.com/e107_plugins/co...hp?content.58.1

i'm at Kinrara @Puchong

Fan for htpc is too noisy for HT, imo.... or any other noise.

You are expecting lots of movie sounds non-stop throughout the movie? Aren't there quiet or dialogue moments during movies, which you would hear the htpc noises?

Main sourse of persistance noise in HTPC would be the fans...... CPU, Gfx card PSU and casing. if only relying n the cheapo stock fans, can be help.
CPU fan - depending on the loading of the CPU. if only playing SD media, it's not an issue with high efficiecy heat sink
Gfx card - pasive clooling reccommended
PSU- there are quiet PSU out there. i moded my standard cheapo PSU to have 'free flow' - no grille on both air intake and fan.
casing fans- use big 12cm running at 7V loe....

HDD and Optical drive will only be anoying while searching. watching movies is not an issue. at least to me.....

Fuiyo...i didn't know got such thing. Now u tempt me to DIY again!!!!

But this looks even more complicated. The wiring to the printer port looks quite messy. And the soldering on the LCD connectors looks like call for some good steady hand.

btw, can we get this LCD from electronic shops at Pasar Road also??

Have u done this before or intend to do one?

not easy to find at Pasar road..... i bought from the bulker and i've done one after i did my casing. should have been the other way round that to have the lcd mounted on the casing. i'm planning to do my 2nd case with the lcd. my frens are eyeing on my current casing if i were to ditch.......

cheap casing....

someone is bulking this, RM 165
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=338245

Hello guys.. Do we have a HTPC club in Malaysia?

ryansia's special designed facelit really nice

btw..mine just the looks like htpc.. but not completed yet..
1)got vfd n remote but no xp with mce
2)only 1 display at the same time, dont know which gc can support 2 display at the same time..
3)no cordless keyboard n mouse
4)the dvi cable too short, causing the lcd cant put to a proper place

Cool.... is your R5 32 incher ? and nice casing you have ....Imon inside eh??
TQ for the compliment... it's just a poor man HTPC casing...LOL
so for oonly this thread for HTPC loe... unless the MOD open a sub just for HTPC eh?? anyhow not many HTPC kakis and hardware is very limite as well. if you form a HTPC club....i 101% support
then we can share the resources of HD movies......LOL
May be TT first? and don't forget to bring the portable HDD!