In my search for the perfect case, I've gone through the following in the last two years:
Thermaltake Tsunami: too big. Ended up not liking side window. Other intangibles.
Thermaltake Bach: poor ventilation.
Thermaltake Tenor: less than adequate ventilation. 60mm fans were whiny.
Shuttle SN25P: too small.
Antec Sonata II: too big. Front became uglier by the day. Other intangibles.
Lian-Li PC-V800B: pita assemblage, too expensive.
Some generic but sharp looking case: POS material construction. Sharp edges made assembly an amputation risk.
Asus Vento: thought the design might grow on me. It didn't.
(What can I say, I'm finicky as hell. If I didn't spend $$$ at the local computer store, I'm sure the owner would kill me for returning all but two of the above.)
I think I finally found one that meets all of my needs: the Antec NSK2400.
Assemblage was a breeze, I think it took 45 minutes, meticulous cabling included. It's an Antec, so quality construction & lack of sharp edges aren't surprising. The only hitch was that a strangely placed metal lip had to be bent back to allow access to the sata power connector on one of the hard drives.
Pros:
1. I was skeptical of the cooling ability given it has two 120mm exhaust fans & no intake fans. There are, however, lots of ventilation squares in the right places. There is an adjustable length baffle on the back which directs airflow over the cpu cooler. The wall dividing the hdd compartment from the mobo compartment is open at the top, so it pulls air over the hdds.
HDDs are both in the upper 20s/low 30s. CPU is in the low/mid 30s. GPU (6600GT) is also in the cool-to-average temperature range. The two exhaust fans come with speed controllers (low, medium, high). Those temps above are with the fans set to medium.
2. Noise. Or lack thereof. At medium the exhaust fans are barely audible, but my hearing isn't that great so they might be too loud for someone else. HDDs are in rubberized trays, and are inaudible. (Zalman fan is likewise inaudible.)
3. Aesthetics: nice, sharp looking minimalist design. Hidden optical drive bay covers would have been a nice touch, but two black bezel drives look just fine to me. I really like the looks of this case, but of course, that's subjective.
4. Horizontal orientation: just what I was looking for given my deskspace.
5. PSU: proprietary Antec PSU with two sata power connectors, and a 24 pin mobo connector. No need for ripoff adapters!
6. Price: $85 through Newegg is a good value to me.
Cons:
1. There is more than enough room for another hdd tray had the front area been designed differently. (I used the space as an excuse for lazy cabling.) This is my only major gripe.
2. The I/O area seems to be recessed into the case relative to the top of the case. This makes reaching back to hook/unhook devices up annoying. (Can you tell I'm reaching here to find faults?)
3. No frontal firewire port. I don't own a single device that uses firewire, but this could definitely be annoying to others.
4. Height. A Zalman 7000 fits just fine, but a heavier duty/taller hsf like a Scythe wouldn't fit.
Conclusion:
I would strongly recommend this case if its configuration suits your needs. I think it would be a fantastic htpc case.
Thermaltake Tsunami: too big. Ended up not liking side window. Other intangibles.
Thermaltake Bach: poor ventilation.
Thermaltake Tenor: less than adequate ventilation. 60mm fans were whiny.
Shuttle SN25P: too small.
Antec Sonata II: too big. Front became uglier by the day. Other intangibles.
Lian-Li PC-V800B: pita assemblage, too expensive.
Some generic but sharp looking case: POS material construction. Sharp edges made assembly an amputation risk.
Asus Vento: thought the design might grow on me. It didn't.
(What can I say, I'm finicky as hell. If I didn't spend $$$ at the local computer store, I'm sure the owner would kill me for returning all but two of the above.)
I think I finally found one that meets all of my needs: the Antec NSK2400.
Assemblage was a breeze, I think it took 45 minutes, meticulous cabling included. It's an Antec, so quality construction & lack of sharp edges aren't surprising. The only hitch was that a strangely placed metal lip had to be bent back to allow access to the sata power connector on one of the hard drives.
Pros:
1. I was skeptical of the cooling ability given it has two 120mm exhaust fans & no intake fans. There are, however, lots of ventilation squares in the right places. There is an adjustable length baffle on the back which directs airflow over the cpu cooler. The wall dividing the hdd compartment from the mobo compartment is open at the top, so it pulls air over the hdds.
HDDs are both in the upper 20s/low 30s. CPU is in the low/mid 30s. GPU (6600GT) is also in the cool-to-average temperature range. The two exhaust fans come with speed controllers (low, medium, high). Those temps above are with the fans set to medium.
2. Noise. Or lack thereof. At medium the exhaust fans are barely audible, but my hearing isn't that great so they might be too loud for someone else. HDDs are in rubberized trays, and are inaudible. (Zalman fan is likewise inaudible.)
3. Aesthetics: nice, sharp looking minimalist design. Hidden optical drive bay covers would have been a nice touch, but two black bezel drives look just fine to me. I really like the looks of this case, but of course, that's subjective.
4. Horizontal orientation: just what I was looking for given my deskspace.
5. PSU: proprietary Antec PSU with two sata power connectors, and a 24 pin mobo connector. No need for ripoff adapters!
6. Price: $85 through Newegg is a good value to me.
Cons:
1. There is more than enough room for another hdd tray had the front area been designed differently. (I used the space as an excuse for lazy cabling.) This is my only major gripe.
2. The I/O area seems to be recessed into the case relative to the top of the case. This makes reaching back to hook/unhook devices up annoying. (Can you tell I'm reaching here to find faults?)
3. No frontal firewire port. I don't own a single device that uses firewire, but this could definitely be annoying to others.
4. Height. A Zalman 7000 fits just fine, but a heavier duty/taller hsf like a Scythe wouldn't fit.
Conclusion:
I would strongly recommend this case if its configuration suits your needs. I think it would be a fantastic htpc case.
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