Installation

Once again, what you should note before I cover installation is that this case manages to maintain a very minimal footprint while still providing support for larger components.  With that said, space is very limited and there were a few minor issues I encountered during install.

We start with the motherboard and expansion card install.  Installation of the motherboard was simple and there was just enough room to work comfortably.  We also see above a shot with a longer PCI-E 2.0 HD3850 graphics card.  Its support for the latest full-sized graphics cards is due to a number of reasons.  This includes the somewhat wider surface area, the location of that particular slot, the awkward optical drive mount and the raised top exterior panel. 

The beauty of this chassis is the support for a standard ATX power supply.  In this build, I used their very own ST50EF-PLUS short cable edition.  This excellent PSU sports some shorter, fully sleeved cables to better support such a setup.  As expected though, it was a very tight fit and the PSU wasn't installed without a bit of difficulty.  The most apparent was the rear install screws.  I couldn't use the standard PSU screws bundled along with this power supply and quickly found why they include some screws particularly for the PSU.  Due to the location and proximity to the exterior housing, a standard PSU screw will not work.  Using the screws provided, which have a smaller head, worked well but I couldn't screw them in as tightly as I would like.  However, thanks to the rubber support grommets, it was secure enough to prevent any unwanted noise.

Moving on to the drives, we start with the 3.5" hard drives.  What you'll find is that the external cage is removal via just one screw.  However, the very bottom external 3.5" bay is fixed and despite playing with the side lock switch for a while, could not get the front bay cover to come out the front.  It would only come out the rear and due to the fact that I installed a 1TB drive after the install was complete, I had to remove the PSU in order to get it mounted.  Again, a very tight fit due to its size but just enough to get by without a major complications.

**click to enlarge**

A final shot with all components installed, with the exception of the optical drive.  For those wondering, due to its height, there is just enough clearance to support both a water-cooled CPU option or a fairly decent sized air-cooled fan/heatsink.  Both were actually tried during this review and can confirm there is just enough room, even with a slightly longer optical drive like the excellent LG GGC-H20L.

Due to size constraints, the very last thing you'll install is the optical drive.  The panel that runs from front to end is removal and installation of the drive is fairly straightforward.  However, when it came down to installing my drive of choice, I ran into quite a number of issues that will be covered in the next section below.

**click to enlarge**

Finally, above is a shot of my ultra slim TV stand.  I don't like extra large TV stands, especially for slim HDTV's.  The smaller the better.  Fortunately, this case is able to fit nicely where other HTPC cases simply can't.  In fact, the overall depth of this particular chassis is actually less than the nMedia chassis I reviewed here.  Mind you, the nMedia chassis does not support a standard ATX power supply nor will it support most graphics cards either, especially the one used in this particular setup.

Performance

Testing its performance was based on a number of factors.  Let's start with the most important...cooling performance.

First, a quick look at the HTPC test system specs...

When choosing to build an HTPC, I strongly recommend you take the time to do your research and choose your components wisely.  Yes, you can still have the latest and greatest, but you don't necessarily need to sacrifice potential heat issues or noise as a result.  With that said, the above components were chosen for least amount of heat in such a small enclosure.

Temps were captured both idle and under load.  Idle temps were captured after at least 30 minutes of operation.  Also, note that one of the new 45nm Intel processors was used.  These new processors run at remarkably low temps and therefore, temps were provided both at at normal and overclocked settings.

The results were quite impressive considering the size of this particular case.  However, these low numbers are mostly a result of the components featured in this particular build.  The Intel E8200 would not budge past 19C under normal idle operation.  Even the max temperatures were on the low side for such a setup.  Also note that these results were captured with only one of the two exhaust fans running.

Fans & Noise Levels

The two 80mm fans do run fairly silent.  However, I'm quite finicky with noise only when it comes to such a setup.  Therefore, when choosing the right components and taking the above results into consideration, you can run this case with only one fan without any problems.

**click to enlarge**

The final comments I'd like to make are not positive.  While the front stealth optical drive cover appeared to be well-designed and of high quality, it was when I attempted to install the optical drive that I ran into many issues.  First off, the mechanism broke when attempting to mount this drive cage.  Second, it doesn't necessarily support every single drive out there.  One example are LG drives.  These drives tend to have an eject button in a location that is not what you would consider standard.  One of the best possible choices of such a setup is the excellent LG GGC-H20L.  This hybrid HD/Blu-ray drive is a full-featured drive and there are many reasons to consider it and one that many enthusiasts many choose.  Other than the broken bay cover, I had to modify it slightly to support this drive.  The best possible way I could get it to support it is by adding a couple of spacers and only using two of the four mounting screws that support the drive cage. 

Next:  Conclusions