SilverStoneTek 0.8mm Steel Body Mini-ITX Media Center/HTPC Computer Case with Aluminum Front Panel ML06B

After plenty of research, it seemed this is the one. The case to be my HTPC. I wanted something "about the size of a stereo/surround receiver" and found this. On top of that, I wanted to be able to use some existing components, such as hard drives, DVD drives, and most importantly: The power supply. The fact that this takes a standard PC "ATX" power supply in the size this thing is was an instant winner.I threw in my existing OCZ 600w power supply without any issues. I had to cram some of the cabling (non modular power supply) down into an empty spot where would be below the rear of the disc drive, but it wasn't that big of an issue. Do note, the cabling comes out the bottom rear of the PSU. If your potential PSU has the cabling coming out the top 1/2 of the back, you may have issues with the optical drive. I bought ASRock Micro ATX Motherboard (960GC-GS FX) as it could take any of my AM2/AM3 processors I had laying around, as well as DDR2 or DDR3. All fits great and all the provided screws and such worked fine. The case has some hard-set motherboard risers and a few removable ones. I only had to install a single modular riser for my motherboard to align all holes. Note that the I/O shield fit without any issues, though also note that the rear, without the cross brace arm, is a bit "floppy", but just don't use enough force to bend it and it won't be an issue.When I put in the Blu-Ray drive (Pioneer BDC-207DBK), things go ta bit tight. As noted, I'd have been in trouble if the PSU had cabling out the top half. I had to also use 90* bent ends on my SATA power and data cables. It fit, it was just snug. One plus side is: The power/data cables will NEVER fall out while these units are installed into the case! The screws to the optical drive are interesting: On one side, it is easy access to up to 4 screws. The other wise is only the front 2 screws, and the bottom of which is not accessable with the 2.5" slim SSD drive on top of the black plastic riser, though this isn't really much of an issue.I threw in an old 500GB HDD (3.5") below the drive. It was kind of odd getting it in there, but it fit. It seems silent from the rubber mounts. The 2.5" SSD drive I got fit on the plastic riser without issue, though that thing is somewhat goofy, but it works. Cabling everything was kind of tough, as I like cables to be out of the way, but it worked. I would recommend shorter SATA data cables where possible. I think mine were only 6-8" long for my 3 devices.Finally, the video card (HIS 7750 low profile) slapped in without issues. I also added a Inateck PCI-Express 1x USB 3.0 card, since this motherboard didn't have USB 3.0 and it turns out, those front ports require the special 3.0 interface for the cable inside! So no, it won't simply plug into your motherboard USB 2.0 pins.Ultimately, I put in a Evercool full-sized PCI slot fan controller and 4x Enermax UC-8EB 80mm fans. The fans are a tight fit, but they will go in there! This combination, at 50-75% turned up, is dead silent, but moves enough air to keep things cool. With all fans pulling air out of the case, it seems to come in with the 2 perforated slots under the video card, the side of the case by the PSU/Hard Drive, and above the CPU, which seems perfect.I ended up using an older Phenom II 905e quad-core 2.5Ghz processor. At 65W, it seemed to be a good fit for the motherboard/case. I threw on a ZALMAN CNPS8900 Quiet, which fit snug to the board (had to remove a heat spreader on one of my DDR2 sticks, heat pipe still touches the PCB of the ram, but fits). The cooler still has 1/4-1/2 inch clearance from the top of the case, though.The closed-front panel gives you a simple easy-access power button (which can be locked from inside to keep from being pressed) and a dimmed blue power LED (that can be completely blocked from inside as well). The lock is a triangle-key style. One thing to note is that without the lock flipped, the front opens very easily. A few degrees angle lift on the back flips the front face open instantly. Keep it level and it stays shut. Once open, you have access to your optical drive, the power button with a reset button, the EXTREMELY BRIGHT power LED, hard drive LED, 2x USB 3.0 ports, and 2 audio jacks (mic and headphones).The overall finish on the front of the case is awesome: like an black anodized brushed aluminum. The finish on the rest of the case, however, is just OK. Anywhere I put a screw in, the black finish fell off. A sharpie will fix a lot for at-a-glance. Luckily, you really only see the front of the case in my setup.To overview, this case is extremely good for the money. It keeps things quiet and cool. It's a bit cramped up inside in some areas, but with the right components, everything will fit. It's extremely slim, will take fairly standard components (e.g. no special power supply). The metal on some parts of the chasis can be a bit flimsy, but after full installation, it shouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't hesitate at all to recommend this product for anybody looking for the same requirements I had.

I got the case because I had some PC parts I wanted to re-purpose into an HTPC upgrade and was tired of the chunky/desktop sized HTPC cases out there. I also didn't want anything tiny. Since I wanted to re-purpose my parts, I had very specific requirements. I needed a case that was Slim form factor, able to fit micro atx boards and able to fit larger PSUs. I also wanted something that looked really nice. I don't like them looking too plain and I don't like them looking gaudy. This case was perfect for my needs in every way.It's just an all-around great case. It's one of the nicest ones to look at that I've dealt with in a while. It's solid and nothing feels overly flimsy or wobbly. Since you get so much frame space, there's a bar to hold the frame so it doesn't become warped or bent when you load it up with your parts.The case is 105mm from top to bottom and 140mm of comfortable PSU room so you really must plan accordingly. Things get cramped fast.Here are a few tidbits of advice for your build experience.- You want to remove the frame bar and the nylon/rubber drive cage before you do any work in the case. This is in the instructions, which I recommend reading.- You have 140mm of PSU room before you cut off some of the 2.5" drive bay on the floor beside the PSU bay. Any longer and you'll also likely hinder your ability to install anything but 2.5" drives in the 5.25" bay (maybe you won't be able to install anything at all).- At 105mm top to bottom, make sure you get the right CPU fan. Depending on your build you may not need anything too big or powerful. I did, as my build is a re-purposing of my recently redundant system (Q6600, 8GB RAM, 750w Modular PSU, 3 1TB HD). I got a Cooler Master M4 GeminII Slim which worked perfectly for me. This fan is both powerful and very quiet. It keeps my Q6600 at 45c idle and 50c load while running at its minimum speed.- If you're placing a 3.5" under the 5.25" bay, install the cables to the drive before you place it. It will be very difficult to do it afterwards. Keep in mind that installation of this drive will involve turning the case upside down to secure the drive to the case.- If you're placing a 3.5" onto the Nylon drive case, be wary of whatever on your microatx board is close to it. If there's a mobo power connector or ram slots there, connect / install whatever needs to be before you put the drive in, as it will block whatever is under it. Not sure if these issues would be present with itx boards.- I highly recommend sourcing a PSU with the right dimensions. The case is pretty tight on space. Failing that, do yourself a favor and buy a modular PSU. For reference, my Ultra X4 750 is ~160mm and at that size, took up 1/2 of the 2.5" drive installation space on the base of the case as well as rendered the 5.25 useless for me, unless I install a 2.5" there (which I likely will when I decide to add an SSD to the system. The good news is that you're flexible IF you don't need anything installed to the 5.25" bay. My plan was to buy an external BR drive anyway so I didn't need the space.- My system is somewhat of a legacy system, so I don't expect others to have this issue but just in case, heads up - if you buy a USB 3/SATA add in card and it has a power connector of any kind, make sure the connector doesn't face the roof. I made the mistake and now the card is useless for me. There's almost no space between the edge of any cards installed to a board and the roof of the case.- There's no going around it, the case is cramped. It'll be really hard to route cables after the fact so if it's your thing to make it nice and need, pre-route as many cables as you can.- Ultimately, my recommendation would be to pre-build your system (put the mobo, cpu, fan, ram together) outside of the case and just drop that in when ready.- If this were a new build for me, I'd have skipped on using 3.5" drives and stuck to 2.5"s for ease of installation. I am using 3.5"s because I had them readily available and this is more of a revamp/retrofit than a brand new build.That's about all I can come up with. In terms of some nice features you may have missed:- Light has a dimmer, REALLY great feature- Front panel can be locked- Power button can be locked / Reset button is behind door so no accidental resets if you lock the power button and the door- Comes with a filter for the roof. The filter has magnets so you can just leave it on the top above the fan ventIt's an amazing case. I have no regrets. Building wasn't too challenging but it definitely does take some work and planning if you want to get it right. It looks really nice among my entertainment center equipment. I will likely use this for many years. My next HTPC upgrade will probably be housed in this same chassis, that's how much I love it.I recommend it with flying colors for anyone who is looking for a SFF case that isn't tiny or an HTPC case that isn't big and chunky.