Silverstone LC03 HTPC Case (mnpctech investigation)

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar

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Bill Owen
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Silverstone LC03 HTPC Case (mnpctech investigation)

Post by Bill Owen » Sat Jan 29, 2005 12:17 pm

What attracted me to the LC03 HTPC case is that it accomondates a standard ATX Mobo and PSU. Those features scored big points while the 1 piece cover and small back board w/ 60mm fan had me gritting my teeth. HTPC market is growing fast. The LC03 looks like a great candiate for mnpctech to modify and resell..

Manufacturer specifications

This will be an ongoing investigation into modding the LC03. :cool:

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Bill Owen
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Post by Bill Owen » Sat Jan 29, 2005 12:17 pm

Simple goal here. Sort out a good cooling configuration w/o excessive fan noise.

Black LC03.

After peeling back the plastic wrapping, my mouth dropped at the black metallic paint. Wow, this is the best oem finish evar.

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Cover w/ black mirros finish. Or is it Black?
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Look Closer, pretty blue/purple metalflake finish :eek:
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After pulling off the 1 piece cover, youre exposed to a very basic chassis. The 60mm exhaust fan reminds me of an AT tower from the P1 era.
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Remove 2, 1/16th allen head screws on opposing sides of machined bezel
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My personal fav, thick machined alum bezel trim pieces
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Remove 4, phillips head screws that attach bezel to chassis
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All drive cages are removable! (shown w/ fasten screws)

left to right

2 - 3.5 bays, 2 - 5.25 bays, 1 - 3.5 bay (hidden beneath 5.25)
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Mount for optional 80mm intake fan
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Removable Mobo tray (2 screws)
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Pwr switch, PWR/HD LEDs, reset
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LED clips
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grandpa_boris
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Post by grandpa_boris » Sat Jan 29, 2005 12:46 pm

waiting to see what you'll do with that 60mm fan...

Bill Owen
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Post by Bill Owen » Sat Jan 29, 2005 1:48 pm

waiting to see what you'll do with that 60mm fan...
easy.. trash can :wink:

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:19 am

Bill Owen wrote:
waiting to see what you'll do with that 60mm fan...
easy.. trash can :wink:
And I'm waiting to see what he'll replace it with. :)

Bill Owen
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Post by Bill Owen » Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:47 am

I got some ideas, but I'm open to suggestions Ralf :D

burcakb
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Post by burcakb » Sun Jan 30, 2005 12:12 pm

Bill, have you considered doing advertising photo-shoots for Silverstone? Your pics look way more impressive than their web photos :)

Suggestion: How would opening up a vent hole wider than the 60mm and somehow mounting a larger fan a little back above the mobo? Maybe fix it to the support bar? Along with some shroud? There really isn't anything below except the USB/LAN/Audio connectors and some short capacitors on most boards. One could maybe fit a 92mm there. Sure the pressure would be a little higher, some airflow would be wasted but still better than 60mm.

grandpa_boris
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Post by grandpa_boris » Sun Jan 30, 2005 1:28 pm

Bill Owen wrote:I got some ideas, but I'm open to suggestions Ralf :D
could a heatsink designed for a side-mounted fan be ducted to that hole?

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Post by Rusty075 » Sun Jan 30, 2005 2:11 pm

It almost looks like you could fit a pair of 80mm's in the space above the IO panel, where the single 60 is now. If you could, that would be the ideal way to get more exhaust without doing something drastic to that beautiful paint.

As with most of these htpc cases, the intake area looks wimpy. Maybe make some openings in the bottom, near the front?

aston
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Post by aston » Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:47 pm

I bought this case last month, except mine has two 60mm fans in the back. Very happy that both fans start up at 5v, and they're fairly quiet even at 7v. Sorry, I can only provide a subjective measurement -- I don't have any equipment here to measure the dB.

Loudest thing in it is my lameass Enermax PSU, which likes to ramp up. I need to do something about it.

Can't wait to see what you do with this case, Bill. :)

Mats
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Post by Mats » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:17 pm

I really like this case! I think I'd make a 60x120 mm (something) hole in the back and make a duct from there to the CPU.

Aris
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Post by Aris » Mon Feb 07, 2005 10:04 am

personally id rather see you do somthing with the LC10's and LC10M's

i dont really like cases with bay covers that swing open. also the way the front bezel of this one curves just looks too weird for me. i want somthing more traditional to blend in with standard stereo/home theatre equipment.

no matter what you decide though, i am really interested in some site out their selling modd'd HTPC cases. my next case will be an HTPC case, and to have pre punched fan holes etc would be really nice.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Mon Feb 07, 2005 10:29 am

Bill, if you're going to be playing with Silverstone cases for the HTPC market, maybe you could look into installing a VFD or LCD into the system, similar to the Atech cases. This is probably the only thing I feel is missing in Silverstone cases (which is alright since VFDs will essentially double the case price).

Bill Owen
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Post by Bill Owen » Sat Feb 19, 2005 7:34 am

personally id rather see you do somthing with the LC10's and LC10M's
I didn't see any real challenge in modding them.

As you'll see, the LC03 chassis leaves no room for error when installing 92mm intake fans.

Placing a 92mm finger guard over 80mm fan location to reference insertion point for 1.5" hole saw before I can use hole punch.
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You must cut premilinary 1.5" hole to allow passage for hole punch shaft
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Clean cut with very little room to spare
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No room for error when using 92mm fans
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I finished the edges of the holes with our
U-channel
and fan grommets
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Inside view. TIGHT FIT :D
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GLO
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Post by GLO » Fri Sep 23, 2005 11:17 pm

CAn you still fit a HDD below the optical drives if a 92mm fan is fitted?

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Post by Bill Owen » Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:11 pm

GLO wrote:CAn you still fit a HDD below the optical drives if a 92mm fan is fitted?
No, you cannot. You must remove the 2nd HD cage.

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