Antec Fusion HTPC Shootout
by Christoph Katzer on October 9, 2008 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Antec Fusion Remote Max
- Aluminum plate front bezel with LCD, built-in IR receiver, and volume control to work with media center applications
- Triple chamber structure to separate the power supply, hard drives, and motherboard for cooler and quieter operation
- Removable HDD brackets with extra soft silicon grommets to reduce vibration noise
- 5 drive bays
- External: 1x 5.25"
- Internal: 4x 3.5"
- External: 1x 5.25"
- 7 expansion slots
- Desktop 4U height fits in any environment
- Built-in washable air filters
- Cooling System
- 1 side 140mm TriCool fan
- 1 rear 120mm TriCool fan
- 1 front 120mm fan mount to cool the graphic cards (optional)
/> - Air guide brings fresh air to the CPU cooler
- 1 side 140mm TriCool fan
- Motherboard: Standard ATX form factor (12"x9.6")
- Front-mounted ports for easy multimedia connections
- USB 2.0
- FireWire
- eSATA
- Audio In and Out
- USB 2.0
- 0.8mm cold rolled steel for exceptional durability
- Dimensions
- 7.0" (H) x 17.8" (W) x 17.6" (D)
- 17.8cm (H) x 45.2cm (H) x 44.7cm (D)
- 7.0" (H) x 17.8" (W) x 17.6" (D)
- Net Weight: 19.6 lbs / 8.9 kg
- Gross Weight: 24 lbs / 10.9 kg
The Fusion Remote Max is a larger HTPC case that's almost 180mm tall. The VFD and optical drive are located on the right side of the front bezel, which is again made from aluminum. A plastic cover on the bottom of the front flips open to reveal the eSATA, USB, and multimedia jacks. The power button sits right above within the small silver line that separates the aluminum part from the plastic cover. The right side has a large 140mm fan installed that exhausts air from the motherboard/CPU compartment. The other side has a large perforated area that will be perfect for power supplies with a 120mm fan on the bottom (which will face to the left). That puts the power supply in a separate cooling zone, so it won't get any additional heat from the other components -- though it also won't contribute any airflow. The back houses another 120mm fan that will also exhaust air from the inside.
Looking inside the chassis, we can see how much space we have to work with. The Fusion Remote Max is able to accommodate a regular size ATX motherboard, although we won't do that for this test since we want to use the same components on all three chassis. There is space for four hard drives, two in the power supply compartment and two more at the front of the case. There are ventilation slots beneath the hard drives with air filters to keep out unwanted dust; however, unless you use a power supply that doesn't have a fan on the "bottom", the two drives on the left side of the chassis are not likely to get a lot of airflow. Between the different compartments are small openings through which we can pull the cables from the power supplies and for the hard drives. If you wish to install a longer GPU, you can remove the small plate that sits in front of the middle hard drives and you can install a plastic holder to secure the end of the card. However, you will also need to sacrifice both of these hard drives bays.
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joeythecat - Thursday, October 9, 2008 - link
More comments.I have the silver Fusion which comes with a VFD instead of the LCD, and contrast looks much better. But like you said, driver support is horrible and my VFD consistently freezes or displays garbage, and I have to actually unplug the power cable to reset it, just rebooting the PC doesn't do it.
And yes the IR receiver sucks. Although one nice feature is that it works with the MS MCE remote. But its easy enough to disable the IR from the software and not have to deal with it.
Overall, I'm fairly happy with the case, but I wish I got the one WITHOUT the built in VFD so that I can put in a card reader instead.
jajig - Thursday, October 9, 2008 - link
Expanding on a couple of your comments with my thoughts:1) I have the same case and agree that iMon LCD is of poor quality. I wouldn't say it is as bad as you make out though. The contrast is adjustable; it took me about 10 minutes, but the display looks nice now.
2)ir receiver is useless. For some people it is too sensitive and gets interference from other remote controls and for others it just doesn't seem to work.
SirKronan - Thursday, October 9, 2008 - link
AGAIN Antec misses a HUGE feature that should be included or at least a possibility! There's nothing more convenient than pulling that card out of your SLR and immediately being able to display your high resolution photos on your big screen after a trip. Antec again fails to even provide a SLOT for such a device. Only one 5.25 bay.The 120mm fans and superior design are wins, and I would love to have one of these, especially the Fusion, as part of my home theater, but I don't want to have to plug in my camera or use an external card reader. More sleek and simple is always preferred in home theater setups. Not everybody needs a card reader in their HTPC, but it's still a PC and a logical place for a convenient card reader.
It doesn't have to even be visible. Cover it by a flap or put it on the side, as I have seen some cases do. All that space on the front, the MAX even has a flap, and still no option.
/rant
puddnhead - Thursday, October 9, 2008 - link
"Huge?" you're kidding, right? They put the standard interface USB ports right on the front. Every media format in the world has a USB reader available for it like $3. I have this case, and I have two cameras, one xD and one SDHC. maybe i just have more manual dexterity than you but I have no problem plugging either of these into a converter & that into the USB.In fact, thank god they just put the USBs on here, instead of some ugly "11-in-1" set of ports for SD, xD, miscroSD, miniSD, CF, blah, blah, blah. I want this to look nice and sleek in my living room, not like some kind of crappy computer with plug sockets all over it that looks like it belongs in an office.
RMSe17 - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
More manual dexterity? How about more childish behavior? The user makes a constructive criticism of the case, and what do you do? Regardless of your view on his opinion, how about acting civil?SirKronan - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Maybe you don't want that feature, but I think a card reader dangling off the front of my home theater equipment, or a USB adapter sitting out a port is ugly, and inconvenient for something we use all the time. And like I said, it doesn't have to be visible. I've seen cases put it under a flap or even on the side.My wife likes to be able to bring the SLR home and stick the card right in the front without attaching anything, and I finally found a case that has them integrated. It still looks dang nice (1/4 inch black aluminum front bezel) and the card readers aren't an eyesore at all, as they are completely black, too. This is a convenience that we wanted, but that doesn't mean everyone does. I know another friend of mine returned his Fusion because of this, and I bought something else because of this feature. I wouldn't mind having at least an option to install one, either. Several Silverstone cases have a 3.5 inch external bay hidden behind a flap.
Oh well. To each his/her own.
strikeback03 - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
I was going to post the same thing you did. I can see not including a card reader on the Micro model, but especially the largest case with the door should have a card reader behind it. Using a USB card reader is a lot more of a hassle and looks far more out of place than a reader integrated into the system.Now I generally wouldn't use this with my SLRs as I shoot all RAW and process, but for family pictures and such would be useful.
SirKronan - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Yeah, I shoot in RAW for jobs I do for clients, too, but I use the same camera for family stuff too. (some day I'll be able to afford a second body!!) a It's nice to just stick the card right in and sit down with the family to view photos from a trip or a day at the park. My wife takes pictures at all her country concerts, too, and she loves being able to just slap it into the card reader and do a slideshow right on our TV. From there she can instantly burn the images onto a DVD, too. Card readers are much faster than plugging in the camera (up to 15MB/sec on reader vs. 5MB/sec plugging in camera). And Vista (with a free patch) gives you native raw support to at least preview images.ceefka - Thursday, October 9, 2008 - link
In that case (no pun intended) I suggest you buy a USB adapter stick that can accept whatever card is in your camera and keep that USB adapter close to your HTPC.Windblazer3 - Sunday, July 11, 2010 - link
I'm looking at buying the Antec Fusion Remote Black case, and I noticed that you said a PSU with an "80 mm fan at the front" would work well with this case.I really want to get a quiet, efficient PSU in the 550-650 Watt range, and I was looking at the Antec Signature 650 that you reviewed here (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2632/2), where the 80 mm fan is located at the BACK. Is that PSU not really compatible with this case, then?
I was also looking at the Corsair VX550W PSU (however, that one seems to run a bit louder in the ranges I'm likely going to load my system) and the Seasonic X-650 PSU.