New Hive Logx mini-ITX HTPC/NAS/PB Case!

P

pcd

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Hi [H]'ers,

This is just a quick note to let you know that we're launching a new mini-ITX box! Here's the specs and a few pics!

HLX-SYS-Blue.jpg


Overview

Designed and produced by PC Design Lab's "Hive Logix" division, this versatile mini-ITX enclosure has two external 3.5" bays to install any combination of desktop/laptop hard drives, hot swappable bays and multi-function bay devices. Its advanced cooling solution is designed to provide the airflow needed to cool modern high performance hardware. Use the latest hardware to build the smallest and most powerful systems with this forward thinking enclosure!

Applications

-Home/Business Computing
-Media/Network Attached Storage
-Industrial/Commercial

Specifications

Mainboard: mini-ITX w/ Standard I/O Panel

Power Supply: Pico PSU (Sold Separately)

Drive Bays: (2) 3.5" External Bays

Storage: Up to (2) 3.5" or (4) 2.5" HDD

Cooling: (2) 60x25mm Fans (Not Incl'd), Stock 1.875" [48] Intel Heatsink/Fan Supported

Mounting: Adhesive Rubber Feet and Removable L-Brackets for Attachment to Most Surfaces Provided

Construction: 0.040" Aluminum w/ Durable Powder Coated Finish

Dimensions: 12.50" [318] W x 2.75" [70] H x 8.75" [222] D

Weight: 2 lb [0.91 kg]

HLX-mITX-HTPC-NAS.jpg


The product can be found here: http://hivelogix.com/cases/case-mITX

Regards,
PCDLAB
 
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Hey I personally love it but i think it's expensive, I mostly sell boxes around the SG05 or the Antec ISK 300 and both are a lot cheaper considering they include PSU and fans.

But still, nice case, especially for a NAS application, i love the layout
 
fr500 said:
Hey I personally love it but i think it's expensive, I mostly sell boxes around the SG05 or the Antec ISK 300 and both are a lot cheaper considering they include PSU and fans.

But still, nice case, especially for a NAS application, i love the layout
Click to expand...

Thanks! The obvious difference between this box and the ones you mentioned are that they don't have front accessible 3.5" bays and this can hold more HDD's, bay devices, LCD display, multi-function panels, etc. so it's much more customizable. It's also more rugged and better suited (as well as mountable) for commercial/industrial applications. Also, it may seem pricey when comparing it to a shoebox case but it's a ridiculous bargain when compared to propitiatory NAS boxes like QNAP's stuff and right on par with typical Travla case pricing... and this box can take much faster and hotter hardware. In fact, the price is actually pretty good when you consider that it's a small first run, precision laser cut and machine fabricated, by a US mfg. Anyway, the price will come down naturally over time as we get the orders moving on this thing.

In regard to the fans, we've always considered that to be a highly personal choice. Some want uber quiet ones for their HTPC while others want more airflow or higher MTBF. So rather than have the customer pay for something they'll just end up replacing... we leave it up to them to choose the ideal fan for their application. (I feel it's better to think this way than the typical case mfg who is more concerned with just adding the cheapest one they can find.) The PSU will also be chosen based on need. Some want a low powered green ATOM system while others may be more concerned about stuffing a quad core in there (which this case can cool properly) and since the choice of PSU will directly effect space, size and cost concerns... this is once again best tailored to the system desired.

Anyway, it's a pretty versatile little box and I've definitely been been having fun playing with it. :)
 
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Yeah you're mostly right, well an APEX MI-100 or MI-008 can do mostly all of the above but build quality leaves a lot to be desired. And indeed it's close to travla pricing, it's just not mainstream of course.
 
I tried the APEX cases and while they looked very promising... they have serious fit/quality issues, terrible cooling and are once again a different animal. The new case was also designed to reach new markets and we're on track for it to be picked up by the same stores that carry Travla products. ;)
 
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Try to get on Amazon, if you can get on Amazon could give one a shot
 
Nice solid case. Is there a version with space for an optical drive in the works?
 
Hofy said:
Nice solid case. Is there a version with space for an optical drive in the works?
Click to expand...

I considered putting a slim optical drive in this first version but felt that they are going the way of the floppy as people are either streaming their data directly to their machines or moving them around with thumb drives. For those cases where a CD/DVD is needed... we're offering external USB optical drives for sale which have a perfect little home on top of the box as can be shown in the first pic.

HLX-SYS-Blue.jpg


Steeeeve said:
I want the enthusiast case to come out :)
Click to expand...

This version is obviously designed for home/business PC (it'll light game with the newer NVIDIA onboard chipsets), HTPC, NAS, commercial and industrial applications but the design is scalable so a future model that holds an internal gfx card is likely to happen. ;)

Edit: It would have to be a single width PCIE-x16 slot powered card (75W max.) but you can play Crysis with that these days.
 
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pcd said:
I considered putting a slim optical drive in this first version but felt that they are going the way of the floppy as people are either streaming their data directly to their machines or moving them around with thumb drives. For those cases where a CD/DVD is needed... we're offering external USB optical drives for sale which have a perfect little home on top of the box as can be shown in the first pic.

HLX-SYS-Blue.jpg




This version is obviously designed for home/business PC (it'll light game with the newer NVIDIA onboard chipsets), HTPC, NAS, commercial and industrial applications but the design is scalable so a future model that holds an internal gfx card is likely to happen. ;)
Click to expand...

get out of my head!
 
I have my WHS running on an Atom mITX mobo in an old Shuttle K45 case. When that PSU unit dies I may just go with this nice looking unit. (In [H]ard black/red of course!)
 
Question.. what would be the maximum possible heatsink height? That intel stock cooler looks to just about hit the top.
 
perrosky said:
nice little case but I think it cost too much $$:p
Click to expand...

The subject of cost was already thoroughly covered in this thread but it's the same price range as the nice Travla stuff and a ridiculous bargain compared to the proprietary QNAP NAS systems... and this case can handle a more powerful CPU and is more customizable.
 
kencheeto said:
Question.. what would be the maximum possible heatsink height? That intel stock cooler looks to just about hit the top.
Click to expand...

The stock Intel heatsink pictured is the 1.875" [48mm] one that typically comes with their dual cores now. (This is all covered in the first post specs.) There is about 1/4" to spare and the case cools extremely well due to the 2x60mm fans and front to back airflow. Most importantly, the HDD's run in the low 30's C at room temp which is much better than the other mini-ITX cases where they are trapped inside the case. For quad cores, you'll want to choose a sub-100W CPU and cool it with a Titan TTC-NK54TZ heatsink/fan which we sell here...

http://hivelogix.com/cooling/titan
 
pcd said:
The stock Intel heatsink pictured is the 1.875" [48mm] one that typically comes with their dual cores now. (This is all covered in the first post specs.) There is about 1/4" to spare and the case cools extremely well due to the 2x60mm fans and front to back airflow. Most importantly, the HDD's run in the low 30's C at room temp which is much better than the other mini-ITX cases where they are trapped inside the case. For quad cores, you'll want to choose a sub-100W CPU and cool it with a Titan TTC-NK54TZ heatsink/fan which we sell here...

http://hivelogix.com/cooling/titan
Click to expand...

This should work too: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=46_185_530&products_id=25719
 
pcd said:
The stock Intel heatsink pictured is the 1.875" [48mm] one that typically comes with their dual cores now. (This is all covered in the first post specs.) There is about 1/4" to spare and the case cools extremely well due to the 2x60mm fans and front to back airflow. Most importantly, the HDD's run in the low 30's C at room temp which is much better than the other mini-ITX cases where they are trapped inside the case. For quad cores, you'll want to choose a sub-100W CPU and cool it with a Titan TTC-NK54TZ heatsink/fan which we sell here...

http://hivelogix.com/cooling/titan
Click to expand...

Yep, needed that ~1/4" measurement, thanks. I should have ~48+6 or ~54mm then, which should be a useful figure for others.
 
I just popped an Intel heatsink into a system I have here and took a direct measurement for you. It's almost exactly 3/8" from the top of the stock cooler to the bottom of the cover when in place. So yeah... you can go another 1/4" with a 1/8" gap that would probably be needed for airflow.
 
I really love the design of this case Dave! It's a lot more practical, albeit industrial, than a lot of other designs. It happens to fit my upcoming needs perfectly.
 
craigbru said:
I really love the design of this case Dave! It's a lot more practical, albeit industrial, than a lot of other designs. It happens to fit my upcoming needs perfectly.
Click to expand...

Thanks! We'll have to see about getting you one to play with! ;)
 
would the pico psu 150W be able to support a quad core with a GTS 250 Low Profile or am I just dreaming?

Looking to build a new system and that would be the perfect case.
 
Based on my experience, the 150W PicoPSU would probably take it if the quad-core was a low power 65W version and the graphics card only ran off PCI-Ex16 slot power which is 75W. I once ran an E7200 C2D with a 8600GT using their 90W PicoPSU and didn't encounter any issues as the system rarely (if ever) ran at it's peak draw. (This included playing a little America's Army on it.) You'll obviously want to double check with the mini-box.com guys though.
 
Looking good, I'm an international buyer and I prefer buying from amazon. I'm interested on one for testing around may I'm developing a firewall appliance for my customers.

Some things:

You should make inserts so they are stackable (ie feet go into the inserts of the one below)

How could you fit a PCIe adapter? there is no expansion slots?
 
fr500 said:
Looking good, I'm an international buyer and I prefer buying from amazon. I'm interested on one for testing around may I'm developing a firewall appliance for my customers.

Some things:

You should make inserts so they are stackable (ie feet go into the inserts of the one below)

How could you fit a PCIe adapter? there is no expansion slots?
Click to expand...

We are an OEM mfg and this design is scalable so we can build a box around any hardware specification you'd like and integrate your branding into the enclosure. Please contact us at [email protected] to discuss details for your project.
 
Thanks for the mention Dave!

As a follow up to that review, I've decided to get the little box under water. I'll be using this system on my CNC machine once it arrives. This isn't a big project, but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing it's progress anyway. I've only just begun, but I do have a sneak peek for you...

This is just a test fit of the water loop. Everything fits as it should, so it's time to break out the dremel... :D

1000407.jpg
 
A few more pics of work in progress. I'm almost done, so expect me to fill in the blanks with more pics and a proper photo shoot once done. I've got to clean things up a little, and hide some wiring. Also, I've got to wait for different DDR2 to arrive. The Mushkin Redline you see in the pics is just a temporary filler.

p3090292.jpg


p3090294.jpg
 
Right now it's just an Atom 330 (dual core). Yes, it's not putting off much heat, but this board was needed because of it's native parallel port. This box is specifically for my CNC machine. That said, it would be relatively easy to drop something more powerful in there should the need arise. The water cooling should be able to cool almost anything that will drop in a box this size anyway.
 
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