Lounge Rack

When it came to choosing a CPU fan, there were only two real considerations:

• Quietness (obviously)
• Size (low profile)

In a low profile case, there isn’t much space to work with. Ultimately though, the choice came down to the Zalman CNPS 8700 (or one in that series) or the Scythe Shiruken. These are pretty much the only low-profile coolers I found to be worth considering.

After reading a few reviews, I decided to go with the Scythe Shuriken. I don’t know that it’s any better than the Zalman, but from what I’ve read it seems that Scythe are pretty much leading the field when it comes to silence and Zalman aren’t as strong as they used to be. Plus, I found that the Shuriken was cheaper and more available than the Zalmans.

As soon as I got the Shuriken and plugged it into my other PC’s fan controller straight away. It’s virtually inaudible until it spins at full speed. The heat-pipe technology is pretty hip, so I’m hoping it will perform well at low speeds. My CPU shouldn’t be maxing out anyway, as this machine won’t be used for games.

The mounting screws seem fairly innovative - it comes with every mount you could imagine! Looks quite easy to clamp the heatsink down, which is good because I hate the careful-yet-forceful approach one usually has to use.

The Shuriken has some fancy PWM controls, which the motherboard I’m getting does support, so we’ll see how that goes.

Here is a pretty good review of the Shuriken, with some nice photos and noise testing, if you want to take a closer look.

Cooling, HTPC General, Hardware Cooling, quiet, Scythe Shuriken

I want a very quiet case. This means fans at low speed, for the most part. So, I know that airflow is going to be important. If it’s not coming in/out the right way, this could lead to a lot of heat build-up inside the case. Especially since the soundproofing material is probably not a very good thermal conductor (although I was unable to find any conclusive evidence either way).

One of the main things I’ve realised is that the power supply fan will be crucial to case airflow.

Looking at the design of the case, it has a vent in the floor for PSUs with a 120mm fan to suck air from underneath the case, which will cool the PSU before being blown out the back. Now, this set-up is fairly self contained and doesn’t help the rest of the airflow.

So I decided I need to use a PSU which sucks air from inside the case, and expels it out the back. This needs to be the primary output fan, simply because there isn’t much space in the case for any other fans in any useful position.

The case has two large vents in the roof, to serve the CPU fan, and it has four vents in the side. However, there are only screw holes to mount one 80mm fan by the front left vent. I’ll be replacing the supplied fan, as it’s pretty noisy.

So, cool air in the front left, and warm air out the rear back via the PSU. I don’t see a need for the rear left vent, so I’ll cover it up to reduce noise output. Same goes for the rear right, as the PSU will be in the way anyway (really, I don’t see the point having a vent there.

Although there’s no fan in front of it, I decided not to cover up the front right vent, because there will be hard drives near it, which will benefit from some cool air being drawn through by the PSU.
As for the top vents, I decided that I only needed one, and I covered the other to reduce noise output. I also chose to cover the one nearest the CPU fan. This sounds odd, but let me expiain: One of the main sources of noise is going to be the ‘whoosh’ of air turbulence through the holes in the vents. Roof vent 2 (see diagram) overlaps the fan on the CPU heatsink, and I think that the proximity, while offering good cooling, will lead to more noise. So, I’ve left ‘roof vent 1′ open, because I believe that the CPU fan will still be able to draw air through, and it removes the direct line of sight/sound to the CPU fan.

My airflow design for the Moneual 301

Here’s my little diagram. It shows the ‘naked’ case with the key heat producing components shown. The yellow blocks are the fans. Most of the arrows are the result of direct fan blowing, but the little ones are what I think will happen in that corner.

I’ve tried to think of most things but any tweaks or comments would be welcome.

Cooling, Hardware case, fan, Moneual 301, quiet, soundproofing

The first thing I wanted to sort out was the enclosure for my HTPC.

The main attributes of comparison for me were:

• size (specifucally, height)
• capacity for hard drives
• aesthetics

My main desktop PC lives in an Antec P180 case, which I bought for its quietness and general design. Antec do make some cracking HTPC cases, so I looked at them first. The Fusion 430 was quite nice, but a little large I thought. The advantage is that you get full size PCI slots, but it’s a bit cumbersome. Also, the knob. I mean, I really don’t see the point. I guess it might make the case look like a hi-fi amplifier, but I wouldn’t want to have to get up to adjust the volume, and even if I could, I’d use a remote control anyway. Also, the chances are I’d be using a speaker setup which would have its own volume controls. This drew me to Antec’s Micro Fusion case, which does look nice, and is a great size, but only takes one 3.5″ hard drive which is not enough for my storage requirements.

Silverstone make some nice looking cases, but many of them seemed to need riser cards for PCI/AGP devices, which seems a bit fiddly to me. I couldn’t quite find one that did all that I wanted it to. I was warming to the idea of a VFD display, and none of the slimmer Silverstone cases had them.

There are plenty of other options - l looked at barebone systems, and nice slim systems with space for notebook optical drives - these aren’t great because I think it will be a while before I can get a notebook Blu-ray writer that won’t cost the earth. It also seems to be hard to find a small case with enough space for hard drives.

I eventually settled on the Moneual MonCaso 301. It ticks all my boxes and looks incredibly stylish. Here are some highlights:

• Space for a full size power supply, which gives me a wide choice there. 
• Low-profile PCI cards; with more and more low-profile cards (like TV tuners) becoming available this will not be a problem. No messing about with riser cards.
• Full size optical drive bay, with a bezel to keep with the case’s smart look. Not many of the HTPC cases I looked at had this.
• VFD display is an iMon display, and comes with the full iMon PAD remote. This is great because there is plenty of Linux support for both devices.
• Extra connectivity is great but doesn’t compromise the design. The 3.5″ device reads memory cards, useful for viewing digital snaps, and a firewire and USB ports, as well as stereo audio in and out. This is all hidden behind a flap which keeps the case looking sharp.
• Two internal 3.5″ drive bays, essential for my RAID intentions.

The build quality is excellent, and the case feels like it’s going to last a long time, and won’t be outdated quickly. 

I do have some gripes though:

• Price. This is the killer - it was almost £200. I think with all the functionality and great looks it is worth every penny but it’s still a financial blow!
• Optical drive bezel. You have to remove the very front bit of your drive’s tray, and replace it with this one. It has the DVD logo printed on, which will annoy me when I get a Blu-ray drive. The other problem is that it doesn’t clip on but it uses a self-adhesive strip. This could be a problem if replacing the optical drive.
• Supplied 80mm fan is noisy. I did half expect to have to replace the fan but really I expected better from such a high quality case.

Overall I’m really pleased with the Moneual. It does everything I need it to, and looks great in my lounge. I’m going to have fun configuring the display and remote control, and there’s plenty of space for expansion. One little surprise was that Moneual generously included a magnetized screwdriver with the case accessories. Nice touch!

Hopefully I’ll update this post with some images of the Moneual case.

HTPC General, Hardware Antec, fan, Moneual 301, Silverstone