Those of you that know me personally through the years know of my fascination and small obsession with home theater PCs. I’ve been building HTPCs for many years now – and only recently decided to move the HTPC away from the television set in favor of the Microsoft Media Center Extender solution provided via the Xbox 360.

Now despite this, I’m still keenly interested in what goes on in the world of HTPCs – especially when it comes to case designs. This is why I found this recent ExtremeTech article interesting. The site profiled four HTPC cases from Antec, Chieftec, nMedia, and of course SilverStone and wrote up their impressions here.

The truth is.. I personally find these cases really.. how shall I say it.. UGLY? but hey.. what do I know right? In any event, the four cases profiled are:

Antec Veris Micro Fusion 350

Chieftec HM-02

nMedia PC HTPC 1000B

SilverStone Grandia G02

Enjoy!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: HTPC cases, ExtremeTech

At first glance, the new ASUS VENTO TA-F computer case looks like any other DIY case. It supports an ATX or micro-ATX motherboard, has plenty of room for drives (4 internal 5.25 inch drives, 1 internal 3.5 inch floppy drive, and 4 internal 3.5 inch hard drives), has loads of easily accessible expansion ports, and room for seven PCI slots. However, collapse the sides of the case together, and you’ll soon realize the VENTO TA-F is a case designed for portability. Yup, that’s right – the sides of the case fold inwards, collapsing the case to a flat square thereby bringing the overall dimensions from 190 x 426 x 469mm to 434 x 87 x 434 mm.

The VENTO TA-F is a tool-less chassis design which means drives, and expansion cards can be placed into the case without the need of screws or tools. The case also supports a pair of front and rear 12 cm large fans to maximize airflow inside the case. The VENTO TA-F consists of the black TA-F11 and the silver TA-F21.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: ASUS, VENTO TA-F, computer case

At first glance, you might think the above contraption was a funky CPU heatsink/fan. It is in fact a complete computer case. Yup.. that’s right.. a case. Known officially as the Antec “Skeleton”, the system is billed as the “world’s first open air case” and features a front 92 mm fan, and a top three speed 250mm fan with multi-color LED illumination. The system leverages a layered tray design with room for up to four drive bays, 7 expansion slots, and a standard ATX motherboard. Front ports include 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 FireWire port, 1 eSATA port, and in/out audio ports. It might look small but the Skeleton actually measures 13 x 14.8 x 16.5 inches – or more than a foot square all around. Build a system with this case and you might want to make sure you keep the liquids away.. far away.

No word on when this case will hit the streets.

[Check it out via DVICE.com]

Technorati Tags: Antec Skeleton, PC case, Open Air Case, ATX Motherboard

Ha.. I’m on a roll with computer case reviews news eh? Here’s another computer case for you to check out (if you’re into this of course). This one isn’t quite as exciting as the previous posting about the SilverStone case, but it’s still an interesting design (though I’m not sure about the A logo in the front. It’s the Tagan Monolize (Model CS-Monolize) case which features:

• Two blue illuminated side 250mm Fans
• Black chassis design
• Blue illuminated Aplus logo in front with on/off switch
• Up to 13 disk drives can be mounted inside the case
• ATX and Extended ATX support
• 26 screwless rails for easy drive mounting
• Easy installation of PCI cards with clip system
• 4 thumb screws on the back for easy opening the case

TechwareLabs has a review of the case here on their site and has this to say about the chassis:

The Monolize case from Tagan is definitely a case worth considering. It offers not only a very nice looking place to put all of your hardware in, but also offers a significant performance boost with its twin 250 mm fans.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Tagan Monolize Computer Case, TechwareLabs, Review

3DGameMan.com has published a review of SilverStone TJ10 ESA Edition Tower Case here on their site. Introduced by NVIDIA, ESA stands for “Enthusiast System Architecture” and is a standard for real-time monitoring and control of PC devices such as power supplies, the chassis, and cooling systems. Basically – this allows greater control and communication of the entire system as a whole – from the case all the way to the motherboard and its various components.

Features of the TJ10 ESA Edition include:

• ESA controller built into the chassis which works with ESA certified motherboard for full system monitoring and thermal control
• 100 % control over five 120 mm LED case fans, three lighting devices, and four temperature sensors
• Mid-section fan dedicated to graphics card cooling
• Removable motherboard tray
• Pop-up front I/O ports
• Premium all-aluminum chassis for extended ATX, ATX, SSI motherboards
• Air duct dedicated for graphics card cooling
• User-friendly layout with multiple tool-less access

Here’s the verdict from 3DGameMan:

This case is very well constructed, made from solid aluminum, has fantastic air circulation and the motherboard tray is removable. It’s simply one of the best cases money can buy!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: SilverStone TJ10 ESA Edition Case, 3DGameMan, Review

Designer Ross McBride has come up with an awesome design for a PC tower case. Imagine the looks you’ll get from your friends as they pass by your desk with one of these babies looking straight at them. Unfortunately this is just a design right now so you won’t be able to purchase one yet for your home or work place.. but we can dream can’t we?

[Check it out via GearFuse]

Technorati Tags: PC Case, Face, Ross McBride

Cooler Master had a small yet notable booth at CES 2008 primarily because of all the gamers that were fragging one another there. They were of course using systems housed in Cooler Master computer cases.

On display prominently at CES 2008 were Cooler Master’s new CSX lineup of cases. CSX is a new division of Cooler Master and stands for Customized Style Xperience. This new division is a result of Cooler Master teaming up with Smooth Creations to create hand-painted limited edition cases in several cool and unique designs. The following are pictures of several CSX systems. Specs on these new cases include:

• 250 x 536 x 638 mm
• Supports E-ATX, ATX, M-ATX, BTX, M-BTX, Pico-BTX
• Aluminum materials
• 4 hidden 3.5 inch drive bays
• 9 exposed 5.25 inch drive bays
• Up to 9 – 120mm fans – 3 in the front, 1 in the top, 1 in the rear, 4 in the side
• 7 expansion slots
• Dual I/O panel in the front and top

You can find out more by going to www.cmcsx.com

Technorati Tags: Cooler Master, CSX, Customized Style Xperience, Computer Cases, CES 2008

GlacierTech has introduced a new line of home theater PC cases called the Adularia 380. The new chassis is built out of lightweight aluminum and features a home theater appearance. There are two color models for the 380 – rock black and glacier silver. What the heck is “Adularia” you might ask? Well according to GlacierTech, the “Adularia” series is named after a Quartz crystal found in India. The Adularia 380 features 2 USB ports, audio and speaker ports, a 52 in 1 card reader, and an IR receiver. The full specs are as follows:

• Measures 430 x 100 x 380 mm
• Weighs 6 Kg
• Comes with 270 watt power supply unit
• Two USB 2.0 ports
• Audio and speaker port
• 52 in 1 card reader
• IR receiver
• Made of 6063 Aluminum and SECC
• Two expansion slots
• One 5.25 inch drive bay
• Two 3.5 inch drive bays
• Compatible with ATX and Micro ATX motherboards
• Features dual 60 x 60 x 20 mm fans spinning at 1500 RPM at a noise level of 19 dBA

I just wish the product image was a bit more detailed.. we’ll keep track of this and see if we can find something a bit clearer in the future.

[Check it out via Daily Tech]

Technorati Tags: GlacierTech, Adularia 380, HTPC case

The folks at 3DGameMan have posted another review of the new SilverStone SG03 Small Form Factor Case. We last saw this case a few days ago when ExtremeTech published their own review of the chassis. Just to repeat what I mentioned back then, the SG03 features:

• Support for MicroATX motherboard
• 1 – 5.25 inch external drive bay
• 1 – 3.5 inch external drive bay
• 2 – 3.5 inch internal drive bay
• 1 – 120mm front intake fan
• 2 – USB 2.0 ports
• 1 - IEEE 1394 port
• 1 – audio jack and 1 microphone port
• Standard PS2 power supply
• Measures 200 x 360 x 312 mm and weighs 3.5 kg

We know ExtremeTech liked the SFF case but what did 3DGameMan think of it?

The SilverStone SG03 Case is one of the very best Small Form Factor cases on the market. The reason being is you can fit just about everything you need inside with very few restrictions…. The overall design and build quality is exceptional. If you are in the market for a Small Form Factor case, this is it!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: SilverStone, SG03, 3DGameMan, Review

Are you looking to build a small form factor PC? Not exactly thrilled with Shuttle XPC designs? Well check out this review of the SilverStone SG03 Small Form Factor PC by ExtremeTech. According to the online publication, the SG03 isn’t a perfect micro-ATX case but it’s still a very good one – warranting a score of 9 out of 10. Here’s the verdict:

This is the best microATX case on the market, but be aware of its limitations before you buy one. This is one slick, impressive PC case

The SG03 has the following specs:

• Support for MicroATX motherboard
• 1 – 5.25 inch external drive bay
• 1 – 3.5 inch external drive bay
• 2 – 3.5 inch internal drive bay
• 1 – 120mm front intake fan
• 2 – USB 2.0 ports
• 1 - IEEE 1394 port
• 1 – audio jack and 1 microphone port
• Standard PS2 power supply
• Measures 200 x 360 x 312 mm and weighs 3.5 kg

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: SilverStone, SG03, Small Form Factor Case