Looking for microATX full height case

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kleptophobiac

Supreme [H]ardness
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Sep 24, 2001
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What I'm looking for:

+ (1) 3.5" external
+ (1) 5.25" external
+ (1) 3.5" internal
+ Full height
+ Expansion slots mounted normally (not horizontally like in some SS lascala cases)
+ MicroATX
+ Clean, minimalistic look

I'm finding that most of the cases are either bling boxes with tons of LCD's, LED's, and other junk or have their slots turned to goofy angles.

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Why an external 3.5?

The Antec NSK2400 might work, though it has two 5.25 external and no 3.5 external....it would require a bay adapter for any 3.5 device. Otherwise it's a clean front, supports normal expansion cards, and is relatively inexpensive.
 
valve1138 said:
Thats what I have. fucking rocks!
Click to expand...
Yep I liked it so much I added one to my main rig as well....I used to have to find a floppy drive laying around to jimmy into my main rig long enough to install XP on a SATA drive, just to pull it back out again, where it would sit until I had to flash a bios or reinstall XP. I said screw that....so for $20 I ripped out my card reader and replaced it with a card reader/floppy!
 
I'm aware of the possibilities for a 3.5 external bay ;) I asked simply because it may be something another htpc case already replicates (card readers are common in nMedia cases), or something (very unlikely) that couldn't be adapted to a 5.25 bay.
 
I had a card reader/floppy combo in mind... so I suppose I could fairly easily use a 3.5-->5.25 bracket. Though, where would I get an adapter that matched the paint job?
 
or get a dremel. I atually put a card reader in one of mine and find that I never actually use it. I tend to edit the photos first, so I just copy them from my workstation.
 
Newegg is out of stock on them at the moment, but directron has the case that I bought:
http://www.directron.com/htpc100s.html

It's the nmediapc 100 enclosure. It has everything that you're looking for, with a 270w power supply included. The 3.5" is on the side, behind a sliding access panel, and already has a card reader in there, but you could take that out and put in another if you're determined to have a floppy.

The following are my only critiques of the case:
60mm exhaust fan (I took it out and mounted an 80mm fan to the top of the case and it's been higher flow / lower noise since)
A little bit flimsy: the case is thin steel. Insides are finger friendly, thank god.
It's cramped: this just goes with the territory of a sff pc, though :(

The adjustable fan on this unit is a nice touch, as are the temp probes. I wish it allowed for dimming of the front lcd panel, but I'm gonna just replace it outright sometime soon (probabbly when i upgrade the guts of the htpc).

Hope this helps!

-q
 
IDversusEGO said:
or get a dremel. I atually put a card reader in one of mine and find that I never actually use it. I tend to edit the photos first, so I just copy them from my workstation.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Since most successful htpc's get networked anyway, it's more efficient to edit and then move directories than to shuttle cards or disks from one room to another..

Card readers tend to be a lot like vfd's....when you don't have one they seem like a nifty thing that you've got to have, but when you have one they don't get used much and you don't bother making room for it in the next revision. Cleaning dust out of the 6 or 7 slots that never get used is an annoyance.
 
The particular HTPC I'm building will not be networked.

The main reason I thought a card reader would be cool is for mythgallery, but I can see how it might end up being useless.

I was looking at the nmedia 100, but the bright blue lights and LCD turned me away. Too much bling.

Those asus cases look like they're towers, and I really want to have the CD drive horizontal when I put the computer down. Little kids can't seem to figure out those locking tabs for drives mounted vertically.

I think I'm getting the Antec NSK2400. Thanks for the suggestions guys!
 
Here's a Newegg search that lists all their uATX cases with 1 external 5.25" bay, 1 external 3.5" bay, and 1 internal 3.5" bay.

Directron also has one 2 external 5.25" bays, which is more than you're looking for, but it's nice and all black, and not too expensive.
 
IDversusEGO said:
the nsk2400 looks like a great case. It will be the next one i buy.
Click to expand...
I'm loving mine, I should have a Fusion sometime in July as well (thats when they're getting released according to my Antec contact).
 
CrimandEvil said:
I'm loving mine, I should have a Fusion sometime in July as well (thats when they're getting released according to my Antec contact).
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Ooooh thanks for the info. I've been wondering when the release date is. Has anybody mentioned pricing? My main rig is likely going into one of those, to replace my SFF htpc, once my main rig gets upgraded to Conroe.
 
All of the early previews of the Fusion case mentioned a $199 MSRP. I hope it's a little less than that from the usual vendors, but that may not be the final MSRP anyway.
 
I build my HTPC with the Yeon Yang A211
only point of attention: you need a smal form psu
so no ATX or shuttle psu but SFX

It has it all
5.25" external
3.5" external
usb and firewire frontpanel
and 2x3.5" internal in a removable drivecage

Did I mention inexpensive???? ;)
 
Ooh, I really like the way the fusion looks, but at $200, it's too expensive for my taste.
 
kleptophobiac said:
Ooh, I really like the way the fusion looks, but at $200, it's too expensive for my taste.
Click to expand...
It comes with a VFD, adds firewire to the front ports and has a 430w NeoHE PSU in it but yeah I do wish it was, like, $20 cheaper atleast.
 
If it came with a remote control compatible with windows XP and MCE then I can whole heartedly plunk down the money, and that front bezel better not be plastic.
 
the preview I read said that the fusion added an aluminum front. I can't remember where that was though. And the plastic is OK on an $80 case, but not on a $200 case.
 
I like plastic bezels because they're harder to scratch and better match drive bezels. They're also less reflective (read: less distracting in the dark)

Here're the changes I would make to the fusion:
- Get rid of the VFD. Those are useless and are just excess light pollution
- Go with very dim red LED's (I mod all my HTPC gear to have red LED's, may blue die a horrible death)
- Add a USB IR receiver and card reader instead of the VFD. Have them plug in to a mobo USB header.
- Provide at least one plastic bezel cover for an optical drive to make sure the color matched the front panel exactly.
 
Ouch, you got a 3550? Those are one noisy SOB.
kleptophobiac said:
I like plastic bezels because they're harder to scratch and better match drive bezels. They're also less reflective (read: less distracting in the dark)
Click to expand...
I like it too and would have loved it if they carried it over to the Fusion as well (aluminium can scratch too easy IMO).
 
It shouldn't be noisy the way I'm going to use it. I have a DVD/VCD playback script that slows the drive down to 1x before playback. I don't care how loud it is while burning. What would you recommend instead?
 
Well they tend to be noisy no matter what speed they're at. Lite ons are generally quiet as well as Samsung's and Pioneer's drives.
 
Eh, I didn't see any of those with a silver panel. The sharpie method doesn't really blow my skirt up either. :)

The optical drive will be used maybe once every four months, so it won't be a big deal.
 
It's not hard to stealth it. :cool:
closed9ji.jpg

drives2uq.jpg
 
Awsome combo.. I am wanting a simular setup with an AM2 version of that MSI 6150 board.

A couple of questions -
Any pics of this 'Fusion" mobo? I did a search on antec.com but saw nothing..
Opps, I learned how to be a big boy in the internet and used Google (1st hit)

CrimandEvil - nice sealth mod. BTW, what do you mean by "fixing" nMedia HTPC200? Are you modding that as well?
 
Alright, everything is assembled (though not plugged into the TV yet). The machine is fairly quiet, though I think I will replace the tricool fan with something else. The stock AMD HSF also has to go. I'm not using an HDD so I can't comment on how good the isolation is (but it looks pretty serious).

As far as the NEC 3550 - yes, it's a hurricane at full speed. Quite disgusting, really. But wait! Using "hdparm -E 1 /dev/cdrom" sets the speed to 1. It's whisper quiet, only detectable from a few inches to a foot away, depending on the ambient noise level. Of course 1x speed is all that's necessary to read a DVD or play a CDROM. I let it run full speed for ripping and burning.
 
Nice to hear about the drive. :) I'm planning on buying some Yate loons from Jabtech ( I hope they still have them on sale) when payday rolls around, the fans are okay on low but I think theres room for improvement, you know?
Az Syndicate said:
CrimandEvil - nice sealth mod. BTW, what do you mean by "fixing" nMedia HTPC200? Are you modding that as well?
Click to expand...
The guy flashed the BIOS and borked something so I'm replacing the chip, replacing the door (something happened to it and it broke), putting on some 60mm to 80mm adapters for the case fans and cleaning up the wiring for him as well as a few other little things (cutting down the mobo's chipset heatsink and the like).
 
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