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HTPC Cases and Accessories

Zalman HD160 Home Theatre PC Enclosures

For pricing and availability, please click here or order at the top of the page

Zalman’s HD160 home cinema case will change the way you think about living room media centre PCs forever! It features a built-in VFD with integrated Microsoft® remote control receiver, and as you would expect, boasts full compatibility with Zalman’s award-winning range of PC noise reduction cooling products.

Ideal for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

The HD160 is available in two colours; black and silver. Whichever colour you choose you will get a home theatre PC case packed full of features. Every case is supplied with a multimedia card reader, vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) and a Microsoft remote control, all of which are fully compatible with Microsoft’s excellent Media Center 2005. There is also a volume control knob on the front of the case if you want to turn things down.

Traditionally, the problem with home theatre-style cases is that it has been difficult to get a VFD and IR receiver mounted internally so that they both use the same window on the front of the case, eliminating ugly “add-on” external IR receivers. Zalman have spared no expense in the design of the HD160, providing a solution to this problem through their use of a custom-made PCB which mounts both the VFD and Microsoft IR receiver.

Cooling and noise

When building a Home Theatre PC, cooling of the installed components is a very important consideration, as well as how much noise they produce. Zalman have addressed both these issue with some very clever design work!

The first thing you will notice is that the roof of the case has a fan grille which can be easily opened and closed. When open, cool air will be introduced into the system directly over the CPU, which will help keep the CPU temperature to a minimum. When closed, airflow will be tend to be focussed from the front to the back of the machine.

There are also two grilles on the side of the case. The grille adjacent to the PSU is in a very useful position because when used in conjunction with a power supply which has a 120mm fan, it allows cold air to be taken into the PSU instead of it using the warmer air inside the case. This helps to keep the temperature of the PSU down which is a good idea when you consider that most quiet PSUs work on the basis of a temperature-controlled fan. We highly recommend Zalman’s new 460W PSU because it is a very strong unit which uses a 120mm fan. The QTechnology PSUs would also be worthy of consideration.

The case has been designed so it is possible to install very quiet components without compromising on performance. Zalman’s CNPS9500-LED and VF700 can be installed into the case without any clearance problems. This means it is possible to adequately cool a high end Home Theatre PC while keeping noise to an absolute minimum. As shown in the image below, airflow generated by the CNPS9500 is directed towards the two rear 80mm fans which expel the warm air straight out of the case, resulting in a lower internal ambient temperature.

Gallery

Specifications HD160 series

* PLEASE NOTE: The height does not include feet. Please add 20mm to overall height to include the feet.

The Accent HT-400

For pricing and availability, please click here or order at the top of the page

Styling and build quality

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then the HT-400 case offers a lot of beauty for beholding! With drop-dead gorgeous styling, this case not only looks beautiful but will blend in superbly with any existing home theatre or HiFi set-up. The case is available in silver and black, and its width is exactly the same as industry-standard 430mm VCRs or HiFi separates. The quality is simply breathtaking! The front of the case is precision machined from a single piece of 8mm brushed aluminium, ensuring clean lines and a luxurious feel of quality. The chassis cover is perfectly colour-matched in 1.5mm aluminium and is again based on a single piece design.

Ventilation and airflow
The case is cleverly designed with a lot of ventilation at the front of the chassis, yet the looks and styling of the product are not compromised. Clearly the aluminium itself is also beneficial for cooling through conduction, and in addition there ia a positions for a single 80mm fans on the rear of the case should you feel the need for further cooling. You can order a 80mm Ultra-Quiet fan from our case fans section.

Internal design
Traditionally, the problem with HTPC-type cases is that they have generally been very space-restricted. There are several nice cases on the market, but many of their designs force you to use a small-sized processor cooler and motherboard (e.g. FlexATX / Mini-NLX, etc). This not only restricts flexibility in terms of component choice, but also can indirectly affect the running noise level, since smaller fans and a reduced internal space mean that achieving quiet yet adequate cooling is a challenge. With the HT-400 case, these issues do not arise because of the internal layout and space available. Full size ATX motherboards are compatible with the HT-400, as are full sized ATX power supplies.

The PSU is 'sunk' into the floor of the chassis. This makes the height of the case only 150mm. The reason for this is that you get the benefits of a lower case without any compromises. Full size ATX motherboards are still compatible with the HT-400 series.

Compatibility Issues Not all optical drives will work with this case. It is recommend that the overall length of the optical drive does not exceed 190mm. Also, not all optical drives can accommodate the aluminium bezel supplied with the HT-400, this is due to the design of the CD tray. As shown in the image to the right, there is not much room between the optical drive and the graphics card. So it is vital that you select the correct products for your the HT-400. The products used in this image include the Sapphire 9600XT Ultimate graphics card and the NEC DVD/RW Drive. The maximum recommended length for a graphics card is 174mm (PCB length). The Gigabyte 6600GT fanless graphics cards fit without any problems. For more information regarding installation please see our Accent HT-400 HTPC Case Installation Instructions. Quiet PC do not recommend installing a fanless power supply in the HT-400. The main reason is that the HT-400 can not produce a large amount of airflow and therefore the fanless power supply will increase the ambient temperature inside the case. We recommend the QTechnology 350/400/460W PSUs with the integrated 120mm fan.

Specifications HT-400 series

* PLEASE NOTE: The height does not include feet. Please add 20mm to overall height to include the feet.

Product Reviews

"With the Accent HT-400 kit you can build the most quiet and luxuriously impressive Hi-Fi PC around..." - PC Retail Magazine, Issue 21 Page 39.

"...this case is one sexy case and will look perfectly at home in any high end home theater equipment rack." - HTPCnews.com

Accent HT-100 Gold Standard Series

For pricing and availability, please click here or order at the top of the page

Styling and build quality
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then this case offers a lot of beauty for beholding! With drop-dead gorgeous styling, this case not only looks beautiful but will blend in superbly with any existing home theatre or HiFi set-up. It is available in silver, black and champagne gold, and its width is exactly the same as industry-standard 430mm VCRs or HiFi separates. The quality is simply breathtaking! The slab-front is precision machined from a single piece of 8mm brushed aluminium, ensuring clean lines and a luxurious feel of quality. The chassis cover is perfectly colour-matched in 1.5mm aluminium and is again based on a single piece design. No screws, clips or joins are visible.

Ventilation and airflow
The case is cleverly designed with a lot of ventilation at the front of the chassis, yet the looks and styling of the product are not compromised. Clearly the aluminium itself is also beneficial for cooling through conduction, and in addition there are positions for up to two 60mm fans on the rear of the case should you feel the need for further cooling, the disadvantage being a small increase in noise level. You can order 60mm Ultra-Quiet fans from our case fans section.

Internal design
Traditionally, the problem with HTPC-type cases is that they have generally been very space-restricted. There are several nice cases on the market, but many of their designs force you to use a small-sized processor cooler and motherboard (e.g. FlexATX / Mini-NLX, etc). This not only restricts flexibility in terms of component choice, but also can indirectly affect the running noise level, since smaller fans and a reduced internal space mean that achieving quiet yet adequate cooling is a challenge. With the HTPC case, these issues do not arise because of the internal layout and space available. Full size ATX motherboards are compatible with the Standard (165mm) version, as can a full sized ATX power supply.

External design
The case is available in either single (HT100) or dual (HT200) 5.25" accessible bay versions. You will probably decide to purchase one or the other model depending on your preference for the visual design of the front of each type, as well as whether you need one or two bays accessible. The remaining bay(s) in the case can be used to accommodate SilentDrive enclosure(s), something which is normally impossible with smaller cases due to a lack of available drive bays. As you can see from the photograph, two USB ports and an IEEE1394 (firewire) port are accessible from the front panel. Above the front panel ports, a pivoted flap conceals your CD/DVD drive(s) or other 5.25" devices, and is held closed by tiny magnets. Make sure you purchase the correct version, the HT200 series does not include blanking plates, so if you are planning to use only one optical drive then the HT100 fits the bill perfectly.

Compatibility Issues
Quiet PC do not recommend installing a fanless power supply in this case. The main reason is that this case can not produce a large amount of airflow and therefore the fanless power supply will increase the ambient temperature inside the case. We recommend a QTechnology Ultra-Quiet ATX PSU witha 120mm fan.

Specifications Standard 165mm High HTPC

Product Review - Arnie, OcPrices Hardware

"...to my delight they also had a gold one available. I knew right away that it had to be mine!"

The Accent HT-201 Slimline Series

For pricing and availability, please click here or order at the top of the page

The beauty of the Slimline HTPC case is that it is only 135mm high (excluding feet). This is the smallest HTPC case we have avilable that can accomoate full sized expansion cards. This makes the Slimline version more attractive by giving it a more compact look.

The features that are described for the HT-400 Series are almost the same as the Slimline series, apart from the following compatibility issues. This is due to the height of the Slimline cases.

Compatibility issues
Due to the height of the Slimline HTPC case it is incompatible with the CNPS6000, CNPS6500B or with CPU coolers above 100mm tall. All other CPU coolers are unaffected by the height. It is also incompatible with graphics cards that have the ZM-OP1 installed on a ZM80C/D-HP. The case can accommodate graphics cards with only a ZM80C/D-HP installed. The above points do not apply to the HT-400 HTPC case.

Due to the internal layout of the case, the Slimline HTPC is only compatible with micro ATX motherboards or smaller. Standard ATX motherboards, with five PCI slots are not compatible.

Quiet PC do not recommend installing a fanless power supply in the HT-201 series. The main reason is that this case can not produce a large amount of internal airflow and therefore the fanless power supply will increase the ambient temperature inside the case. It is also recommend that you do not install a PSU integrated 120mm fan, this is because of the position of the fan. We recommend any of our PSUs with an internal 80mm fan.

Specifications Slimline 135mm HTPC

Ahanix Parallel VFD for HTPC Case

For pricing and availability, please click here or order at the top of the page

One of the first things you will notice from looking at the HTPC case is that it has a smoked glass display panel, behind which can be mounted a vacuum fluorescent display, or VFD. This Samsung 16T202DA1E 16 x 2 alphanumeric VFD is fully user-programmable to display whatever information fits your purpose. For example, if you are watching a DVD, it could show the name of the film and how much time there is elapsed/remaining. Or for listening to MP3 music files, it could even show the track name.

Using freely-available software such as the excellent LCD Smartie or jaLCDs you will be able to have the display showing lots of different information. The only downside to this VFD is the fact that the cable must run outside of the case to attach to the parallel port.

Installation note: You will need to set the LPT port in your BIOS to "Normal" mode (not ECP, bi-directional etc), and if you don't have dlportio.sys, you can download it here. More information regarding installation of this VFD can be found here.