I built my first HTPC in an Nmediapc 6000S yesterday from old parts and wanted to give my impressions of the case for others looking for a full ATX HTPC case. Over all I am pleased. It was definitely not the easiest case I have worked with, but it was about what I expected working in such cramped environments. It matches the look of my Harman Kardon receiver and can hold a full ATX board, so the case was a no-brainer for me.
The case is advertised to have a 120mm mount on each front side, but the right side mount is half blocked and semi-useless. I compared the stock 120 fan on front left with a Yate Loon D12SL and found the YL to be a degree louder without blowing a degree more air, so I left the stock fan in place. The rear fans are 2 X 80mm fans. The stock fans are super quiet, but have no airflow. I tried out Rosewill, Panaflow, and Apevia 80mm fans and decided the Apevias were the best combo of airflow and noise. I can barely hear them, but I can feel the air being exhausted, unlike the stock fans which I could not feel.
The Drive rack is a tad tricky to get installed and requires adjustment and readjustment to get the tray on the Bluray drive to line up properly with the front door on the case. I ended up with only the rear two screws installed and a rubber grommet under the front to push the tray up so it aligned. Overall it was 30 minutes that seemed like it could have been engineered better.
The PSU mount also seemed like it missed the mark. There are side vents along the right side, but the PSU will only mount with the fan facing into the case. A removable plate to mount the PSU, similar to a Lian Li, would have allowed the PSU to mount in either direction and given the better option of isolating the PSU by pulling cool outside air and exhausting without affecting case temps or airflows.
My other qualms were the lack of a case speaker, so no wonderful post beeps, but they did include a front panel card reader. Seems strange they would neglect a case speaker and include a card reader, but I guess they wanted to save the 99cents. The drive mount holes would have been much better in an oval shape instead of holes that do not line up easily, especially with the Blu-ray drive mount as it had to be a set distance from front panel so eject button would work. The top panel has decent ventilation with vents over the CPU to pull cool air in.
Over-all I am pleased with the case and would recommend it. It keeps things relatively cool for what it is. I just wish they had extended the right side fan mount vents so they didn't block half the fan, done a little bit better job with the drive rack mounts, and offered the ability to mount the PSU fan to pull air from outside the case and exhaust without affecting case airflow.
The case is advertised to have a 120mm mount on each front side, but the right side mount is half blocked and semi-useless. I compared the stock 120 fan on front left with a Yate Loon D12SL and found the YL to be a degree louder without blowing a degree more air, so I left the stock fan in place. The rear fans are 2 X 80mm fans. The stock fans are super quiet, but have no airflow. I tried out Rosewill, Panaflow, and Apevia 80mm fans and decided the Apevias were the best combo of airflow and noise. I can barely hear them, but I can feel the air being exhausted, unlike the stock fans which I could not feel.
The Drive rack is a tad tricky to get installed and requires adjustment and readjustment to get the tray on the Bluray drive to line up properly with the front door on the case. I ended up with only the rear two screws installed and a rubber grommet under the front to push the tray up so it aligned. Overall it was 30 minutes that seemed like it could have been engineered better.
The PSU mount also seemed like it missed the mark. There are side vents along the right side, but the PSU will only mount with the fan facing into the case. A removable plate to mount the PSU, similar to a Lian Li, would have allowed the PSU to mount in either direction and given the better option of isolating the PSU by pulling cool outside air and exhausting without affecting case temps or airflows.
My other qualms were the lack of a case speaker, so no wonderful post beeps, but they did include a front panel card reader. Seems strange they would neglect a case speaker and include a card reader, but I guess they wanted to save the 99cents. The drive mount holes would have been much better in an oval shape instead of holes that do not line up easily, especially with the Blu-ray drive mount as it had to be a set distance from front panel so eject button would work. The top panel has decent ventilation with vents over the CPU to pull cool air in.
Over-all I am pleased with the case and would recommend it. It keeps things relatively cool for what it is. I just wish they had extended the right side fan mount vents so they didn't block half the fan, done a little bit better job with the drive rack mounts, and offered the ability to mount the PSU fan to pull air from outside the case and exhaust without affecting case airflow.
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