I don’t know why I always do this to myself. I decide I need something that I really don’t need and I spend money without thinking about it. The other day I decided I wanted to get a new case for my computer because I wanted to put it in the living room, so an HTPC sounded like a good idea. However, a lot of the ones I looked at only took a micro-ATX motherboard, and I have the older, full-sized ATX. I decided I didn’t want to spend a whole bunch of money to buy a new motherboard (and, in turn, a new processor, which would probably end up costing me another $400 more) when the one I have works perfectly. I found a case that used the ATX form factor, read some reviews, and decided at $70, I couldn’t pass it up. For kicks, I threw in the optional LCD, which cost $30. In all, $100. Not bad. Bought it, took it home, and said goodbye to my old friend.

RIP old gaming PC case

Took my old girl out to the garage and used some compressed air on her insides. Brought it back inside and carefully removed everything starting with the wires and ending with the motherboard. I cleaned everything off inside my house, which was probably a bad idea because those fans were FULL of dust, but I wanted to make sure I started off with clean components so everything ran as smoothly as they could for as long as they can.

My workspace.

I took a total of fifteen minutes to turn my old computer inside out. I was already sweating so I decided it was time for a dinner break. A trip to Cici’s was called for.

Daddy was hungry.

I didn’t imagine it would take more than an hour to put my computer back together again, so I ended up making someone very mad, but when I become invested in something or someone, it’s hard to pull me out.

Around midnight, this is where I stood. I had a video card, a USB PCI card, and lastly, the LCD the manual told me would be last (I thought). Cables were all over the place.

At the end, I looked at the manual for the LCD, which stated it was to go first. First. After four hours, I had to take out the optical drive bay, which I’d already screwed two hard drives and a DVD drive into and plugged into the motherboard and power supply. I kicked myself, but pulled everything out to put the LCD in. It was a pain in the ass, by the way. The instructions were written in broken English, and I was confused as all hell. It told me to remove screws that didn’t need to be removed, so I had the daunting task of trying to maneuver around the inside with a straight screwdriver and no light. Finally got it in though.

After everything, I had a working HTPC. Biggest problem? No internet as I had no wireless card.

Pros:

ATX form factor for those who do not want to upgrade to a smaller motherboard.
Extremely sleek. Looks like a receiver.
LCD is customizable with messages, time, music, visual equalizer, etc.
Plenty of ports/card readers in the front concealed by a compartment door.

Cons:

Edges a little sharp, but not a huge deal.
My own fault, but it’s a bit deeper than I thought for my entertainment center, meaning I can no longer close the glass doors. An option would be to cut out a square in the back of the stand.
It’s also about an inch taller than a lot of HTPC cases since it accepts the ATX motherboard.
If you have a wireless keyboard, you’ll probably have to plug the dongle into a front port because it might not pick up in the back. This means this compartment will always be open.

Definitely worth the $100 for now.

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