I've been using a full ATX system mounted open-air to a single panel of plywood as my HTPC for several years now. It's quiet, but quite ugly, and I'm thinking of building something that's actually in a case. I've already got a lot of relevant parts, but no complete system, and I'd like some thoughts on what the best way to complete it is. The parts I already have are at the end of the post. My use case is mostly streaming and music, but I run a full windows installation and sometimes use this machine as a backup desktop (though not for gaming). Connections are HDMI for the TV and USB sound out to my amplifier (although having optical out instead would be a plus).
My main problem is that I only have full ATX motherboards, and nobody makes a half-height case that fits one. I think these are my choices:
1. Is there anywhere I can get an mATX LGA 1155 or AM3+ board these days?
2. If not, what new mobo/CPU is reasonable given that I already have a case that fits an mATX board and a full size PSU, and have a good low profile CPU cooler?
3. How would a cheap prebuilt mini-PC compare to the other options?
These are the relevant parts that I already have:
Case:
SilverStone ML03
A pile of standard PSUs:
SeaSonic x650
Corsair CX 430
Antec EarthWatts 430
Antec EarthWatts 350
Two low profile video cards:
GeForce GT 610 (fanless, double-wide cooler)
Radeon HD6450 (fanless, single-wide cooler)
Two low-profile CPU coolers:
Noctua NH-L12
Noctua NH-L12S
A pile of standard size internal CD/DVD drives (I do want one of these in the finished system)
Two CPUs, but I only have full ATX motherboards for them:
i5-2500k
Phenom II x6 1090T
Some RAM compatible with the above CPUs:
2x2GB DDR3 1600
2x4GB DDR3 1066
My main problem is that I only have full ATX motherboards, and nobody makes a half-height case that fits one. I think these are my choices:
1. Is there anywhere I can get an mATX LGA 1155 or AM3+ board these days?
2. If not, what new mobo/CPU is reasonable given that I already have a case that fits an mATX board and a full size PSU, and have a good low profile CPU cooler?
3. How would a cheap prebuilt mini-PC compare to the other options?
These are the relevant parts that I already have:
Case:
SilverStone ML03
A pile of standard PSUs:
SeaSonic x650
Corsair CX 430
Antec EarthWatts 430
Antec EarthWatts 350
Two low profile video cards:
GeForce GT 610 (fanless, double-wide cooler)
Radeon HD6450 (fanless, single-wide cooler)
Two low-profile CPU coolers:
Noctua NH-L12
Noctua NH-L12S
A pile of standard size internal CD/DVD drives (I do want one of these in the finished system)
Two CPUs, but I only have full ATX motherboards for them:
i5-2500k
Phenom II x6 1090T
Some RAM compatible with the above CPUs:
2x2GB DDR3 1600
2x4GB DDR3 1066