Athenatech A100, Aspire X-Qpack, Antec Aria or something else.

[coolred]

I am editing my post to now show smy interest in both the aspire, antec and athenatech cases. I like the X-qpacks ability to take a standard sized PSU, I like its interior room, but dislike its exterior size a bit. I like the looks and size of the athenatech and its the cheapest of the cases. Its nice cause it can be mounted as a desktop or tower style case. The aria is the most readily available to me, is a decent case with decent interior and a modest exterior dimensions. I dislike the non stands PSU. I have heard it can be loud and hot, but with what I am putting in it, that shouldn't be a problem. I am not a huge fan of its looks. It seems old looking to me.

So I am leaning towards the athenatech and the aspire, but the antec is still a possibility. If the athenatech had a standard size power supply it would almost definately be my case.

 

[PClark99]

I would be concerned that the PSU is not up to the task. It is only a 300W unit.

 

[coolred]

Up to what task, its only gotta power a fe wcomponents. If it can't handle what little I am putting in it, then it should not be on the market. I have heard of people putting a lot more then that in them and they work fine.

 

[0roo0roo]

do you really need it? arias too big to be cute, and too small be practical. its pointless.

 

[marincounty]

I built one for a friend with an asus p4p800-vm and celeron d 340, 1 gig corsair value ram ddr400, 80 gig hard drive, and he loves it. He has it connected to his 42" plasma in the living room and I got him a nice wireless keyboard.
You've never surfed till you've sat on a couch looking at a 42" plasma. Games look awesome. He now wants to get a nice video card to improve the gaming experience. Unlike a lot of the tiny boxes, this one can take a FULL SIZE video card. Don't listen to the haters.

 

[Dman877]

Aria is more then adequate for that setup. It's when you add a high heat video card that the Aria begins to show its limits. The PSU is more than enough for your setup too. I recommend a zalman 7000AL-Cu or Cu for a cooler, it'll be quieter than the stock cooler.

 

[coolred]

I am just not a big fan of the arias non standard PSU. I am also now strongly considering the Aspire X-Qpack, and the athenatech A100.

 

[Zepper]

The Enermax Venus is also an option similar to the A-100 that has a very solid PSU. I like the A-100 series and the Aspire cases (but I'd use the Chenming 118 version as it has fewer or no windows). The A-100 series needs a bit of work on the cooling - removing restrictive fan grills, etc. and the hard drive(s) can get quite warm too. I put a fan in the (top) HD drawer that blows onto the HD below it in one that I set up for a friend.

Enermax sells a different case with an aluminum front that looks more like an HTPC if that's what you want. It's usually listed under a different name that I keep forgetting - I found it again NMediaPC. The PSU form factor in the A100, Venus and NMedia is becoming pretty widely available - but the stock Enermax 270W PSU is very sturdy. Make sure your mobo has the P4 connector for powering the CPU and you'll be all set.

.bh.

 

[coolred]

I will be using a AMD CPU, and nForce 430 motherboard. It has a 24 pin PSU connector and I believe a 6 pin connector. I do kind alike that venus. Especially the black on on the enermax website.

 

[Zepper]

More generally, I meant the the CPU should be powered off the +12 rail for best utilization of most of the PSUs used in these cases. And AOpen has one of these compact cases too (that is tall enough to handle full-height add-on cards) - it's the 420 or something like that.

.bh.

 

[DidlySquat]

I think the x-qpack is much better than the ugly aria. It keeps cool, has a decent psu, and looks really nice.

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: DidlySquat
I think the x-qpack is much better than the ugly aria. It keeps cool, has a decent psu, and looks really nice.

I agree the Xpack is probablly better then the aria. I just wish it was the size of the aria. But then it would lose some functionality. I am getting antsy though. I have all the parts I need for my new rig, except a case.

 

[RobsTV]

I have had all three.

Get the Athenatech. (perfect for HTPC. While not needed, almost any mATX PS will fit, if desired).
Followed by X-Qpack. (only have one, and only 4 months old, so far so good).
Skip the Aria all together. (like many others, PS died quick).

Athenatech has nice screen vent above CPU (not shown in pics).
Athenatech use FSP Group power supply.
Might seem like low wattage, but here, one is powering:
Jetway A210 Pro socket 939 with onboard HDA audio.
Opteron 146 @ 3GHz.
Zalman 7000 series HSF.
ATi x800 PCIe.
200 gig PATA HD.
DL BenQ burner.,
Twinhan 1020a PCI sat tuner card, (that also has to power dish motor!)
USB 2 Sasem HDTV tuner.
USB wireless NIC.
3 case fans (2 OEM 60mm rear, plus panaflo 80mm added in front).
Zero problems or issues.
Probably sold more than a dozen HTPC's using the A100 series.
Prior to socket 939, primary builds were NF2 and ATi 9700Pro. Again zero issues.

X-Qpack is not a good choice for HTPC, mainly due to it's size.
Great to work with though.
Good desktop replacement.
Nice clean looks.
It did require 7v mod for the 120mm fan, but now it is very quiet. Still stays cool.

Aria runs very hot unless you chop it full of holes.
Fan is not quiet.
Power supply sucks. Pure garbage proprietary PS (can not swap out with other).
Cheap looking front plastic. Card reader always looks dirty.
To big for HTPC, too small to easily work on.
Must remove PS and bend it's funky support anytime you want to work on it.
No cross shipping, so when the Aria PS fails, you will be without the PC for at least 2 weeks, because they have to receive and test defective before they send you another. Sucked. Will never purchase another Antec again.

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: RobsTV
I have had all three.

Get the Athenatech. (perfect for HTPC. While not needed, almost any mATX PS will fit, if desired).
Followed by X-Qpack. (only have one, and only 4 months old, so far so good).
Skip the Aria all together. (like many others, PS died quick).

Athenatech has nice screen vent above CPU (not shown in pics).
Athenatech use FSP Group power supply.
Might seem like low wattage, but here, one is powering:
Jetway A210 Pro socket 939 with onboard HDA audio.
Opteron 146 @ 3GHz.
Zalman 7000 series HSF.
ATi x800 PCIe.
200 gig PATA HD.
DL BenQ burner.,
Twinhan 1020a PCI sat tuner card, (that also has to power dish motor!)
USB 2 Sasem HDTV tuner.
USB wireless NIC.
3 case fans (2 OEM 60mm rear, plus panaflo 80mm added in front).
Zero problems or issues.
Probably sold more than a dozen HTPC's using the A100 series.
Prior to socket 939, primary builds were NF2 and ATi 9700Pro. Again zero issues.

X-Qpack is not a good choice for HTPC, mainly due to it's size.
Great to work with though.
Good desktop replacement.
Nice clean looks.
It did require 7v mod for the 120mm fan, but now it is very quiet. Still stays cool.

Aria runs very hot unless you chop it full of holes.
Fan is not quiet.
Power supply sucks. Pure garbage proprietary PS (can not swap out with other).
Cheap looking front plastic. Card reader always looks dirty.
To big for HTPC, too small to easily work on.
Must remove PS and bend it's funky support anytime you want to work on it.
No cross shipping, so when the Aria PS fails, you will be without the PC for at least 2 weeks, because they have to receive and test defective before they send you another. Sucked. Will never purchase another Antec again.

I agree the qpack is not ideal for an HTPC due to its size and looks, but mine will not be in a entertainment center(at least not any time soon)it will sit on top of my desk in my computer room. I definately like the athenatech and if it was going in my entertainment center, then I would definately go with it. But since it will remain at my desk, I am still debating between it and the aspire. I like the desktop/tower ability of the athenatech, but I like the extra space inside the aspire. I wish I could see the athenatechs in person first. I have seen the aspire and it looks okay.

Got any pics of the athenatechs you have built?

 

[Zepper]

Some of the A100 series use a fortron/sparkle 200W rated PSU but the one I had used a High Power brand, 230W PSU made by Sirtec (who also make Enlight and Thermaltake PSUs). It was also a pretty solid PSU but perhaps marginal for a modern mobo and CPU. You can also find them with the Athena Power 400+W PSU - which from what little I've seen about them, don't seem very reliable.

.bh.

 

[coolred]

Okay heres the deal, I am almost definately getting either the aspire or athenatech. My other case is a rather large, and noisy Antec SX1030B. I had planned to put my file server in this case. But the more i think about it, I keep thinking I should replace that case as well. I really want to get this server together, so maybe I will pick up a mid tower locally till I can get a better feel for which of the other 2 cases i want for my main rig. I had been considering this for a while, but can't seem to pick a mid tower case either. After anands review, i was looking at the P150 and radimax X1. I am just afraid the P150s paint would end up scratched sitting under my desk and with a kid in the house. Pluss most of my stuff is black/silver, so white wouldn't match to well, although not that important. I wasn't too impressed with the looks of the raidmax X1, but other then that it does seem like a nice case, and its not horrible looking, just something about it I can't quite figure out that i don't like. I also like the P180, but its pretty big, does not come with a PS, and has quite a few issues. I would prefer somethign I can get locally at like circuit city, best buy, compusa or microcenter

 

[DidlySquat]

I have Antec Sonata for my server and think it's really good - great glossy black paint job, solid construction, decent size and fairly quiet (cooling is average but is not critical for a home file/web server). For my gaming machine i have the aspire x-alien aluminum - a case with 6 fans but I don't mind the noise (which is not too bad) cause my other components are also noisy - A8N-SLI chipset fan, and 7800 GTX (not too bad). I really don't notice the noise while gaming or for that matter even while doing other tasks on that machine. The X-Alien looks really cool but now they also have the X-navigator. Aspire makes decent quality cases similar to raidmax and NZXT but if you want top quality go with coolermaster but their cases are not that flashy. The X-qpack is in fact good enough for high end rig and is also luggable and looks nice on a desktop (and doesn't take too much space).

 

[coolred]

Yeah i like the sonata, I just worry, like the P150 about its paint job. My desk is pretty open, it would be sitting on a stand below mydesk, but it would still be wide open to knicks and scratches.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: coolred

Originally posted by: RobsTV
I have had all three.
X-Qpack is not a good choice for HTPC, mainly due to it's size.
Great to work with though.
Good desktop replacement.
Nice clean looks.
It did require 7v mod for the 120mm fan, but now it is very quiet. Still stays cool.

I agree the qpack is not ideal for an HTPC due to its size and looks, but mine will not be in a entertainment center(at least not any time soon)it will sit on top of my desk in my computer room.

Sitting on a desk is perfect for the qpack. It is the best choice for that. My primary gaming rig is qpack on desktop. Since it is closer to ear level, all that was needed was the simple 7v mod, and it then was quiet. Get it. You won't be sorry!

I would suggest the Athenatech only for uses where you want the PC to blend into the surroundings, such as in an entertainment center, or on top of a TV or rack, or basically anywhere you would put a stereo receiver or cable/sat box. Perfect small HTPC case, not a desktop PC, unless space is extremely limited..

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

The PSU in the Aspire Qpack is reputed to be horrible. I received my Qpack yesterday and was surprised that the PSU now supports dual 12v rails. However, the PSU still feels pathetically light. I've ordered an Enermax Liberty 400w to replace it. Note that most users have said a standard sized PSU and a standard sized optical drive may not both fit in the Aspire.

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
The PSU in the Aspire Qpack is reputed to be horrible. I received my Qpack yesterday and was surprised that the PSU now supports dual 12v rails. However, the PSU still feels pathetically light. I've ordered an Enermax Liberty 400w to replace it. Note that most users have said a standard sized PSU and a standard sized optical drive may not both fit in the Aspire.

Yeah the aspire is looking pretty good to me. I have heard that a standard sized PSu and optical drive may not fit. I have heard that right angle power copnnectors may help it fit.

 

[coolred]

But I am still somewhat interested in replacing my sx1030b, with something qioeter and maybe a bit smaller. Since it will be for my fiel server, holding at least 3+ hard drives is a must, but since it will likely only have one 5.25" drive, I can always use adaptors to mount drives in those bays as well. So really any case should hold enough hard drives for me. Good cooling is pretty important, quiet is somewhat important. I can always just transfer my PSU, so that is not totally required.

 

[coolred]

Okay I got a sonata 2 yesterday which I plan to put my file server in. I also plan to pick up a Q pack today for my main rig. I have an antec 500 watt PSU that I would think would probablly be better then the aspire PSU, so I need to know what optical drives will allow this PSU to fit.

 

[Ivan05]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

...all that was needed was the simple 7v mod, and it then was quiet. Get it. You won't be sorry!

I too am looking at buying an X-QPack. Can you please explain in a little more detail, the "7V mod"?

TIA

 

[Zap]

That's probably referring to undervolting the 120mm exhaust fan instead of buying a quiet one to begin with. These fans run on 12v. The normal molex connectors have 12v, 5v and ground. If you "ground" your 12v fan to the 5v connector, the fan will "see" 7v. The easy way is to just pull the pins from the molex connector attached to the fan (leave the PSU side alone) and reinsert them in the appropriate places. Many people (including myself) have done this but it is not a "standard" setup so don't hold any of us responsible if your computer blows up in your face.