Question What's a good stealth, high airflow case for media PC in living room

[TheBasementNerd]

I have a Home Theater PC in my living room that's designed to hold my entire media library, and stream games off my Gaming PC from upatairs. Its built out of my spare parts, and one of those is an old case with almost no airflow or proper ventilation, and my CPU runs at 75°-80° when doing literally anything because it can't seem to get good air no matter how many fans. Tax returns are coming in, so I figured I'd ask the question: What's a stealthy, black, good-airflow case to use for my media PC. Only limitation is I have about 7.5 inches width on the floor to place it, bonus points for noise dampening

 

[NightHawkRMX]

What form factor is your motherboard.

 

[TheBasementNerd]

What form factor is your motherboard.

Micro ATX

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-M68MT-S2-rev-13#ov

 

[Karadjgne]

190mm give or take is stiff. Most cases are @ 210mm or better, figure 8.5" or more wide.
Case: Inwin - 301C Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($82.00 @ Amazon)

For silence, I'd be looking at a good 240mm AIO (not the Corsair h100!) like nzxt Kraken x52 or Evga CLC240 or the new corsair h100i pro as they run extremely quiet to silent under normal usage

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I can agree the H100I pro is a good cooler.

 

[TheBasementNerd]

190mm give or take is stiff. Most cases are @ 210mm or better, figure 8.5" or more wide.
Case: Inwin - 301C Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($82.00 @ Amazon)

For silence, I'd be looking at a good 240mm AIO (not the Corsair h100!) like nzxt Kraken x52 or Evga CLC240 or the new corsair h100i pro as they run extremely quiet to silent under normal usage

I feel the RGB LEDs kinda ruins the whole point idea of stealth, lol. I want it to be unnoticed as bright obvious lights would kinda ruin the experience of watching movies and such. However I might, if it fits, take this for my actual gaming desktop and use the gaming case down here, because my current case on the gaming is an all black Cooler Master HAF with minimal lights

Do you have any other suggestions in the meantime?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP3JT6397&ignorebbr=1&source=region&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-NothingButSavings.com-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-9SIA6ZP3JT6397&gclid=CjwKCAjwkcblBRB_EiwAFmfyyxJosQOzP1hU4eyhdUHxbFUsxB-U1HIZXBlEpwvekE083Ev8ngNjihoCMnoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Antec VSK2000-U3 Black Micro ATX Computer Case
DesktopHeight: 4"Width: 13.3"Depth: 14
This has one front fan but I think it should do an acceptable job at sound deadening. This needs an ftx psu
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147098&ignorebbr=1&source=region&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-N82E16811147098&gclid=CjwKCAjwkcblBRB_EiwAFmfyyx-soQ8dPTHJ0mpNDkSaWDIPkzWvhSChna7B5IZ0BhfrwEuEUG7HlhoCvwUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
This may have better airflow but has included psu.
What psu do you have?

 

[TheBasementNerd]

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP3JT6397&ignorebbr=1&source=region&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-NothingButSavings.com-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-9SIA6ZP3JT6397&gclid=CjwKCAjwkcblBRB_EiwAFmfyyxJosQOzP1hU4eyhdUHxbFUsxB-U1HIZXBlEpwvekE083Ev8ngNjihoCMnoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Antec VSK2000-U3 Black Micro ATX Computer Case
DesktopHeight: 4"Width: 13.3"Depth: 14
This has one front fan but I think it should do an acceptable job at sound deadening. This needs an ftx psu
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147098&ignorebbr=1&source=region&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-N82E16811147098&gclid=CjwKCA rjwkcblBRB_EiwAFmfyyx-soQ8dPTHJ0mpNDkSaWDIPkzWvhSChna7B5IZ0BhfrwEuEUG7HlhoCvwUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
This may have better airflow but has included psu.
What psu do you have?

Most likely getting a new PSU as well to accommodate my better GPU so its irrelevant. Current only has one 6pin PCI power connector, GPU has two of those

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Ok. New case will determine psu form factor. I think a slim matx case is right for you. Its hard to determine airflow from picture tho.

 

[Karadjgne]

Case: Antec - P6 ATX Mini Tower Case ($64.99 @ Newegg)

200mm, that's 7.8". Will fit a 160mm cooler, so a Noctua NH-D14 or NH-D15S will fit perfectly for serious quiet.

 

[TheBasementNerd]

Case: Antec - P6 ATX Mini Tower Case ($64.99 @ Newegg)

200mm, that's 7.8". Will fit a 160mm cooler, so a Noctua NH-D14 or NH-D15S will fit perfectly for serious quiet.

Also not stealth, but might get for my gaming desktop

 

[Karadjgne]

You don't have to turn on, or can turn off any lighting, on any case that doesn't have LED fans as LED fans are powered by the same power as the fan. To have total stealth, you'll need to need a solid side case, which is what you'll get with most cheapo cases.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

You can just take cover the window

 

[Karadjgne]

Case: Silverstone - PS07B-W MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($98.28 @ Amazon)