December 2004 HTPC Case Roundup
by Purav Sanghani on December 27, 2004 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
NMediaPC HTPC 100
NMediaPC is a new company (opened 2004) that provides complete HTPC solutions in one fell swoop. Their products include Home Theater PC Suites, Plasma TV's, and HTPC barebones kits. NMediaPC sent us their HTPC 100 barebones kit, which includes a Foxconn uATX Intel motherboard, a Zalman CNPS 7000 Aluminum Copper heatsink fan, a 270W power supply, and of course, the HTPC 100 chassis.This roundup is, however, based solely on the performance of the HTPC/desktop chassis, so we swapped out their hardware with our test bed to compare it to the rest of the pack.
External Design
The bezel of the HTPC 100 looks very similar to a set top DVD player. The middle section of the bezel is composed of an optical drive door at the top, which features the "DVD" logo printed at the center. This will work in conjunction with the optical drive's own bezel, so there is no need to replace it. Underneath the tray door at the right is the optical drive's eject button, which is labeled "Open/Close".
Click to enlarge.
The bottom half of the middle section of the bezel is composed of a backlit LCD temperature display instead of the VFD's featured on the LC10/M and D.Vine 4/5. To the left of the display is the IrDA receiver and to the left, the power and HDD activity LEDs. The silver power button is placed at the right of that section and features the power logo molded onto it.
Under the LCD temperature display is a fan control knob as well as controls for the display; Reset, Set, and CF.
The sides of the bezel feature sliding doors. The left door covers the auxiliary ports, which include two USB, audio in/out, and a FireWire port. The right side door hides a 7-in-1 flash card reader (which was included) that accepts CompactFlash I/II, SmartMedia, SD/MMC, and memory stick/memory stick pro flash media. We are beginning to see many components, including television sets, that feature memory card readers and this is a nice touch to an HTPC.
 Click to enlarge. |
 Click to enlarge. |
There are a number of vents on the HTPC 100's body. On the left side, there is a ventilated area that will aid in providing air to or pushing warm air from the expansion cards such as graphics adapters.
There are also a couple of vents at the top of the case, again, above the expansion card area, as well as above the CPU area like we saw on the Cavalier 2.
Looking at the backside of the HTPC 100 case, we notice that it will only accept uATX boards, since there are only 4 expansion slots. We also notice that there is only one area to mount a fan, so we may see some poor thermal performance in our benchmarks.
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Pandamonium - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
I concur w/ #12. There seems to be incredible bias towards Silverstone here. Despite my research in the world of HTPCs, I had not even heard of NMedia. This article may have introduced me to my future HTPC chassis - my current choice is with the Ahanix X235 (Formerly D.Vine 5)Excellent job on the thermal maps though. This was the first time I've seen thermal readings taken at every square inch and then visually reported in such a manner. If more reviewers pick up on this trend for case reviews, I'd be extremely pleased.
SunTzuTech - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
Agree with #12. The review seems to be slanted to the SilverStone, despite it's cost and obviously audible intrusion. Perhaps if there had been some more detail into the IR remote that's talked about in the conclusion, comparing and contrasting the other components, I'd buy the review. However, in the end, it doesn't pass the sniff test.If you don't like the NMedia because it only supports mATX, say so. But the fact that it's quieter than the rest, should be the first consideration for an HTPC case.
#11 - I found a LianLi PC9400 and 320W mATX PS in about 3 minutes of searching on the internet. Nice case, but the IR remote is something you'd have to add.
hoppa - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
also agree w/ 4 and 5. what is with anandtech recently and giving so much praise for big, loud, expensive cases? the nMedia is about half the price, half the size, has half the noise output... for some reason, you didn't give it an X for 'thermal' in that chart (i assume the X means good?), even though its highest temperature was the exact same as that of the silverstone, and overall temperature seemed to be quite the same. and how about these quotes..:from thermal page:
"It is evident that while the NMediaPC's HTPC 100 case had only a single 60mm exhaust, it performed almost as well as the LC10/M and the Cavalier 2, and better than the D.Vine 5 in our thermal benchmarks due to its smaller size as well as the numerous ventilated areas on the shell. On average, the ambient air temperatures per square inch varied by only fractions of a degree."
from conclusion:
"NMediaPC's HTPC 100 did not perform as well in our thermal benchmarks as the LC10/M or the Cavalier 2"
that kind of editorial slant in the conclusion is completely unfair. for someone that reads only the conclusion (which im sure many do), it sounds as though there is actually some real difference in the thermal performance, even though you say originally on the page that performance only varies by fractions of a degree.
so what we have here is a much louder, much more expensive, bigger case than the nMedia, with equal thermal performance and included features, and you give this the gold?! plus, the thing is ugly.
you may give accurate numbers, but lately your conclusions are making me wonder.
gonzo2k - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
Full size motherboards MUST fit in a HTPC case to be considered practical for my needs.I have an extemely rare Lian-Li PC9400 that gives these three a run for the money.It took me weeks to locate a 300+ watt psu for it (mATX). Finally scored a 320 watt!
Bought the case used (like new) on AT for $150 (came with an FSP-200 psu... the replacement 320W psu was another $35/shipped. Added Vantec Stealth 60mm fans to replace the stock ones & all is well. 2 HDDs, 2 optical drives and a floppy bay for a 7-in-1 media reader make this case a keeper.
JKing76 - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
I'm failing to see how the rollover temperature data images back up the claim that the Silverstone has better thermal management than the Nmedia.CrystalBay - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
Nice review, I also like the NMedia for the looks, and quietness. Seems like some manufacturer could find a spot for a low noise, low rpm 120mm fan.mrdudesir - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
I'd agree with #4 and 5, the NmediaPC seems like a much better buy than the silverstone. Of course astethics depend on the person, but it is a 100 dollars cheaper, and produces less than half the noise of the silverstone. Especially in an htpc environment, 51db is unacceptable.joeld - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
Why disable the fan on the power supply for the audio tests? Think about it - the power supply comes with each of the chassis's, so why not test the sound "out of the box"? I've got a shuttle XPC, and the loudest fan is the little 40mm power supply fan!Spacecomber - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
Thanks for taking on this subject for a review, as it is one that I find worthwhile.Besides sound levels and cooling, another factor that I think is particularly important with these HTPCs is their overall external dimensions. Typically, these will be used in a cabinet or other entertaiment stand, and these often have relatively shallow and narrow shelf dimensions. Many computer cases tend to be too long or too wide to conveniently use in these situations.
Perhaps something along these lines could be added in future reviews. Maybe some "group photos" could be incorporated that give a graphic look at how these cases "stack up" against each other, when viewed from the side as well as the front.
Space
sonicDivx - Monday, December 27, 2004 - link
umm 51dbs for a HTPC are you kidding? It would be nice if you included sound files to hear difference. Also would be good to measure the PSU sound level as someone may wish to switch out the PSU for a quieter model.I recommend www.silentpcreview.com to see nice ways to measure sound and report them.
Other than that not a bad review, just needs more depth and analysis