Home Theater PC Setup

[bmonomad]

So I previously had a HTPC in a coolermaster Elite 110 case.  It was pretty good, and with some careful planning I was amazed at what I could fit into it given the size.  However, with more than 1 hard drive and a video card in those cases, heat becomes an issue.  Given I planned on a minimum of 3 hard drives, I decided to upgrade to the Fractal Design Node 804.

 

Since the PC is in the living room below the TV, I wanted something that didn't look like a PC or anything with 'gamery' led's.  The case I got had a window on the side, so I decided to turn it into a paint project. It was kind of a pain dealing with multiple grating's, aluminum, steel, and plastic, but I liked the way it turned out despite being far from perfect.

 

Specs aren't amazing, but I did move everything from an ITX case, so everything is low-profile, modular, etc.  I use it to watch streams and movies on a 43' 4k just fine.  Also have a collection of some emulators and every game from NES up to the ps2-ps3/wii era, and about 600 games from GOG I bought over the years, and is utilized with 2 wireless DS4 controllers.  It won't handle modern games well because of the 4k and non-$600 card, but it does most games just fine.  Temps never go above 32c for HD's/processor on full load.  Nothing overclocked, as going for longevity.

 

Specs:

Processor:    i5 6600k (4 core, 3.5ghz)

Mobo:           Asus H110i-Plus - ITX board

Heatsink:      Thermaltake - low profile - Slim X3 CLP0534

Vid Card:      Geforce GTX 960 4gb - low profile (EVGA)

Ram:            8gb DDR4 (1x8) - Crucial Ballistix Sport

PSU:            G650M PSU - semi modular

Case:           Fractal Design Node 804

Case Fans:  1 Silverstone pwm fan hub, 3 stock (2 rear exhaust, 1 front intake), 2 Cougar Vortex(front intake), 2 Corsair ML120(top exhaust)

HD's:            3 3.5' Toshiba 3tb p300's, 1 WD 500gb 2.5'

TV:               LG 43' 4k Smart TV - 43UJ6200

Extras:         2 DS4 controllers (with 2 amazonbasics 10ft micro usb cables), 1 25'' hdmi cable for occasional hookup to desk monitor,

 

 

For more pictures, including some of process:

https://imgur.com/a/UFyge

 

[Theguywhobea]

That's pretty neat.