TechREACTION » HTPC

[Review] Nexus LOW-7000 R2

GSG-9 — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:34:13 +0000

Recently, Nexus sent us their newest product in their war on noise; the Low-7000 Revision 2 Low Profile cooler.

Silent Low Profile CPU Cooler

Balanced performance

Ideal for HTPCs

The Low-7000 R2

The heatsink itself comes with mounting hardware for the following configurations:

Socket:

LGA1366
LGA 1156
LGA 1155
LGA 775
AMD AM3
AMD AM2

Nexus Low-7000 Fan 02

Manufacturer’s Description & Specifications:

The Nexus LOW-7000 cooler combines some of the most advanced technologies in the market used for CPU coolers. Heat pipes, SkiveTek and ultra-thin fins combined with a near-silent 12cm PWM controlled fan delivers ultimate performance which has never been this quiet before. LOW coolers are crafted out of the purest aluminum and copper materials. The heat sink covering the heat pipes and the copper base is made using SkiveTek technology. We have managed to apply the best technologies at the best position on the cooler. And the result is astonishing… The 120mm fan is PWM controlled and the speed can vary between 500 and 2000 RPM creating a noise-output of an inaudible 15 dB(A) up till a still truly quiet 24 dB(A) The LOW-7000 is an ideal cooler for your HTPC the ultra low, only 7cm high, CPU cooler with a silent 120mm fan. Now also compatible with AMD AM3/2 and Intel Core i5!

Featuring a single 120mm fan and 4 heatpipes, the Low-7000 R2 comes in at an overall height of 7cm. The contact area of the Low-7000 R2 features heat-pipe direct touch (HDT) technology for the most effective transfer of heat from processor cores to the cooling fins, and from there to the air of your computer case and wherever that’s exhausted to.

The fan equipped on the Low-7000 R2 runs at between 500-2000rpm. The fan is held in place by 4 soft plastic retention pins that isolate the fan and its vibrations from the heatsink, cutting down on noise. Controlled by PWM signal, the fan runs only as fast as is needed for optimal cooling and noise levels.

Nexus Low-7000 Fan

Next: Specifications and Dimensions

[Review] Silverstone CW02 HTPC

The Duke — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:10:49 +0000

The CW02 from Silverstone’s Crown Series is crafted to allow users to really appreciate the design of this high quality HTPC chassis. At first glance, the all-aluminum construction and reinforced aluminum dress plates in the front set off the already classy case. The interior design of the CW02 is able to accommodate extended length graphics cards, proficiently displaying the HTPC system at its best. Capable of supporting CPU coolers of 160mm in height for additional cooling options, its spacious interior assures the highest performance system possible in this market segment. The suspended, vibration-dampening hard drive cage and dual control knobs for volume and navigation control also add even more to the feature-rich CW02. You can have up to six hard drives for multi-terabyte storage, allowing far more flexibility than merely serving a an HTPC. Users can enjoy their system’s state-of-the-art, multi-language display functions and, with a 52-in-1 card reader under the hood, the CW02 looks like it has the potential to be named “Best of” in quite a few categories… but should it? Keep on reading to find out just how well it does in our testing.

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Next: A look at the Silverstone CW02

[Review] Sentey SS2-2807

The Duke — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:16:57 +0000

Sentey has sent us one of their Slim Series cases, the Sentey SS2-2807. This case is aimed at people who need a good case with some expandability, and most likely will need to fit in a tight space. The SS2-2807 could do very well in the HTPC market as well with the high gloss black paint job and the slim design. It has three 3.5″, and one 5.25″ drive bay to help give the user a decent amount of choices for storage space. It does come equipped with a standard ATX PSII 250w PSU to help give people one less thing to worry about when buying a slim design case.

Now, let’s toss the Sentey SS2-2807 on our test bench and see how well it does in our testing. Will it be a good or possibly great choice for an HTPC setup?

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Next: A look at the Sentey SS2-2807

[Review] Thermaltake Element Q Mini-ITX Case

The Duke — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:00:30 +0000

The Thermaltake Element Q mini-ITX case was made for space-limited conditions, such as HTPC installations. This small form factor case offers a compact, stylish and convenient solution for housing a mini-ITX system with features arranged to do the job neatly and efficiently. The cooling system utilizes a fanless design to save energy and keep your operating environment quiet. Perforations in the panel vent hot air to keep heat from building up inside your system. The concealed front I/O panel gives hassle-free access to two USB ports and audio jacks.

Inside the case, you’ll have space for your mini-ITX motherboard, a 5.25” external drive, a 3.5” external drive, an internal 3.5” drive, and an expansion slot. Everything will be powered by the included 200W PSU. Let’s move on and toss this itty-bitty thing on our test bench and see how well it does in our testing.

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Next: A look at the Thermaltake Element Q

[Review] Enermax AURORA Micro Wireless Keyboard

The Duke — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:14:28 +0000

The AURORA Micro Wireless, from Enermax, is a wireless compact keyboard featuring total media functionality. With integrated trackball, left-right buttons, and a scroll-wheel, this wireless compact keyboard is looking to be one of the best solutions for using media center and home theater software. This product won the prestigious “red dot design award: product design 2009″ against 11,000 submissions from 61 countries in 14 categories. With the sleek brushed aluminum look of the keyboard and the laptop feel to the keys, it is impressive right out of the box.

We will be throwing this on our test bench today and give it a good looking over to see if this really is one of the better HTPC keyboards out there. Keep reading to see what we come up with.

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Next: The Enermax Aurora Micro Wireless KB008W-B, Usage, and Conclusion.

[Review] Silverstone GD06 – Grandia Series

The Duke — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:44:02 +0000

Building off the successful GD04 and GD05, SilverStone created the Grandia GD06 to again raise the expectation enthusiasts have for HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer) chassis. These improvements were made with the compact depth maintained (340mm) and exterior visuals enhanced as the GD06 fits perfectly in the living room. Its five hard drive storage includes two hot-swappable bays for maximum flexibility while a front door lock and a rear Kensington Security Slot ensure security for the installed drives. Cooling is provided by three 120mm silent fans with filters for exceptional performance, quietness and effective dust prevention. For those in doubt that a small footprint HTPC chassis can be used to build a powerful and fully loaded media server, the Grandia GD06 will change their minds, or will it? Read on..

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Next: A Look At The Silverstone GD06

[Blog] nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Steel HTPC 3000B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Archer — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 02:20:46 +0000

Introduction:

Inexpensive cases are many times seen as sub standard and garbage; this is not always the case; though, it does apply (in part) to this case. Generally you get what you pay for and this case is no exception; though, the design, fabrication, fit and finish are of very high quality some things are substandard and to a point make this case a looser to the builder who has no patience. For the builder who does not mind fighting with a component here and there and removing parts this case can be a winner. Twenty minutes can turn this case from a “wish I hadn’t” to a “glad I did”

Shots above from manufacturers website and manual.

Specification:

Model	HTPC 3000B
Color	Black
Dimension	Case: 6.3′(W) x 17.1″(H w/ feet) x 16.4″(D w/ panel) Metal Chassis: 17″(H) x 6.3″(W) x 15.4″ (D)
Material	Aluminum panel & Steel
Motherboard	Support ATX and Micro-ATX
Power Supply	Support ATX PSU (not included)
Drive Bays	External 5.25” Bay x 1 Internal 3.5” Bay x
Expansions	7 Slots / Full Size
Cooling	80mm Silent Case Fan x 2 120mm Case Fan x 1
Front Connection	eSATA x 1 for your external hard drive High Definition Audio x 2 (support AC 97) All in one Card Reader (SDHC 2.0 compliance – high capacity & speed) IEEE 1394 x 1 \| USB 2.0 x 3
LCD Display	Non-Programmable LCD display module to display case temperature and CPU fan speed

Next: The Good – Design, Fabrication, Fit and Finish

[Review] MSI Brazos E350IA-E45

Archer — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:46:15 +0000

Meet The New Kid In Town:

MSI has seen the potential in the new AMD Fusion CPU. The MSI E350IA-E45 is a feature rich micro ITX board with the potential to be the heart of your next HTPC with it’s excellent integrated graphics; an effective home server with its 4x SATAIII ports, or even an adequate daily driver with DDR3 support and low heat output.

The packaging is pretty standard, including two SATA cables. The rear panel has a nice set of external connections. With 8 USB ports (two of which are USB 3.0), PS2 port, Gigabit LAN, Optical audio out, COAX audio out, standard audio jacks, D-Sub and HDMI out, this board is not lacking.

Internal headers and connections include: com port header, 2x USB 2.0 connectors, 1x front panel audio connector and a TMP connector. This little board seems pretty well outfitted.

The HSF is well designed with a decent amount of surface area and is also pleasing to the eye. In addition, the PCIe slot is good for those wanting a little more horse power out of an add-in GPU. Keep in mind that it is only 4x V2 and big cards may not work due to the proximity of the 24 pin connector and the memory slots.

The standard slots and sockets are great compared to some boards that require a non-standard power supply and use laptop memory.

The only potential issues with the design of the board were the single fan header and the battery location. The other limitation is the 4x PCIe slot, but that is more related to the CPU/Chipset than the actual board design itself.

Next: Background

[Review] Zalman CNPS8000A – A Simple Top-Down Cooler

miahallen — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:36:42 +0000

Today we have a quick look at a top-down cooler from Zalman, a 4 heatpipe design with an integrated fan known as the CNPS8000A. While I will hold to our HSF testing methodology as best I can, I will only be testing with the integrated fan, and with the CPU at 2.8GHz. This cooler is not designed for serious overclocking, and fell flat on it’s face when presented with our overclocked settings. Not that I expected anything different from this cooler, it’s just not designed with a heavily overclocked Bloomfield in mind. With the introduction out of the way, let’s get right to it.

The CNPS8000A arrived after taking a few bumps in shipping.

CNPS8000A boxed

After opening the package and extracting all of the goodies, a task made quite easy by simple packaging (thanks Zalman!), I was greeted by the cooler itself, a handful of mounting hardware, a 1-time-use pack of TIM, an installation manual, and a fan speed controller.

CNPS8000A package contents

Next: Getting to know the CNPS8000A

Silverstone @ CES: TJ11 Is Here!

The Duke — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 02:54:19 +0000

Continuing on with our seemingly never ending journey this week, Alex and I made our way to the Silverstone suite. Impressed with what we found could very well be an understatement. Silverstone had great looking chassis on display for our viewing. The FT03 was the first chassis we stumbled upon in the Silverstone suite and it was an eye catcher. The Raven and TJ11 were also both extremely great looking as well and I will cover those two more in depth later on in the article.

Silverstone RV03

Yes, the RV03 sure does have gold lines accentuating the front and top of the case. Gold seems to be making a slow comeback these days and now it has made its way onto a chassis. The RV03 keeps what has made the previous generations great and and added flare with the golden stripes. The two massive 180mm Air Penetrator fans on the bottom of the case to help remove excess heat effectively. The RV03 looks to still have great wire management options, but I would need to test it in person to actually see if that holds true.

Silverstone TJ11

As you can see, the TJ11 is HUGE! It has nine 5.25″ exposed drive bays, with the hard drive installed in the bottom by default. You can take the hard drive bays out and install them in the 5.25″ drive bays if you want more room for water cooling. In the bottom it can hold a PSU and two 4×120mm radiators, which will make the TJ11 one of the best water cooling cases on the market. It also has the 180mm Air Penetrator fans helping to remove the unwanted heat. Silverstone did not want to completely modify this case themselves, but would rather have the user modify it and make it completely unique.

The Silverstone suite was impressive with three cases catching our eye. The release date of the TJ11 was supposedly by the end of this month, January, and RV03 around February. It is looking like a big year for SIlverstone with these three cases helping lead the way in the chassis market.