Zalman HD160 advice (1 Viewer)

[aarond]

I am currently researching hardware for a HTPC. In particular, I am getting caught up on the case. There is so much choice out there, and it makes a big difference to the appearance of the case.

Has anyone had any experience with the Zalman HD160? IMO, aesthetically it is the best looking case out there. However I there seems to be mixed opinions in the reviews I have read. What is your experienc, and how well does it behave with MP?

I really like the idea of having USB and other slots hidden away from plain sight, behind a door. I am also keen to have a card reader for pulling photos off my digital camera card. The Zalan case has both of these.

On the other hand, I would have been more keen on having an imon VFD, which the Zalman doesn't have.

The other case I am quite interested in is the Antec Fusion. What do people think? And why?

 

[papas]

i am an owner of the antec fusion and i might add that im very satisfied with the case

the setup took me no more than 30-40 minutes everything is layout so sleek that there is no problem at all.
only downside if its a downside its the psu that is not sleeved but that can be easily fixed.

the vfg is great whenever you play a video or a music thing an equalizer shows up or when its idle you can customize what to show and what to do.
the 2 antec tricool fans are really silent and the psu is one of the most silent ive ever heard

but the big issue here tho is that fusion is matx and hd160 is atx
you have to consider that before proceeding tho

 

[pannivas]

HD160 is a good case with lots of space in it. You can also check out the new models HD135 and the new upcoming HD160XT.

I own an HD135, and its a very good case with lots of space. The cooling used for it sucks but you can fix it with some customizations.

 

[Phoeniks]

Hi there,

Below is are 3 reviews by the guys over at Silent PC Review and because silence is the most important thing for a HTPC, it is the reference that you need to make your choice

Review on the Antec NSK2400 and Postscript on the Fusion
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article591-page1.html

Review on the HD160
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article603-page1.html

Review on the HD135
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article711-page1.html

Also the other reviews can help you a lot

Regards
Phoeniks

 

[aarond]

Phoeniks: Thanks for the reviews, particularly the one on the HD135

pannivas: After reading these reviews I have renewed interest in the HD135. It looks fantastic. DId you have much problem finding a power supply that fit? Is your system very noisy? What did you do, if anything, to quieten it down? And did you get the VFD working ok with Media Portal?

Thanks all for your feedback.

 

[pannivas]

The Hd135 is amazing it has lots of space inside, but as SPCR said in its review you need to make a few customizations for airflow and noise. If you don’t mind doing that then go with it.

The two 80mm fans suck big time. They are very noisy and they hardly move any air.

I replace the top panel one with a 120mm Nexus fan connect to my P5B deluxe motherboard and set to silent mode with the Qfan control enabled.

Also because I am not using my HTPC as storage server I only have one 250GB WD Cavier S16. Its amazing how quite with a good performance this hard drive is.

I removed both HDD cages left and right. On the left side I put some isolation foam and on top of it I placed the HDD so that vibration will be minimized. Aluminum tends to make more vibration than steel and the HD135 is all aluminum.

On the right side I placed the other 120mm Nexus fan blowing inside the case as shown on the SPCR review. Again this fan is set to operate on silent mode set from the BIOS with QFan control enabled.

For the PSU I used the SPCR approved Enermax Liberty 500W. It’s modular and sleeved and it will help a lot with cable management which is very important for an HTPC case. Less cable mess better airflow in the case. A small steel bar was slightly in the way but nothing to worry about. I just bend it a bit with a hammer. Have in mind this steel bar is not part of the PSU. This steel bar is external and i think its there for mounting the PSU in a case, but its not needed for the HD135. It’s very thin and bends easily and you only need to bend a couple of cm’s to fit it in the PSU cage. Liberty's 120mm fan is also very quite and the PSU stays really cool because there is a 120mm hole just next to the PSU fan.

I disconnected the bottom 80mm exhaust fan as it does nothing to help with airflow and it’s too noisy. I order a Nexus 80mm to replace it but if it doesn’t help with system temps I will remove that completely as well.

For the CPU cooler I had an old CoolerMaster Hyper L3. Not the best 775 socket cooler but I configure it to a silent mode only from my P5B Deluxe Bios and its totally inaudible. It’s also a short cooler which allows me to install the 120mm fan on top of it. It doesn't do much cooling when set to silent mode but with 2x120mm fans one blowing directly on top of it and the other blowing air all over the Video card, Sound Card, Motherboard components the system and CPU temps are kept to an acceptable level for an HTPC system. Have in mind HTPC cases are small and mostly placed in places where airflow is not good so don’t expect temps to be as your desktop pc.

For Video card I am now using a Leadtek 7900GS Extreme. I also order a Zalman VF900-Cu GPU Cooler but after installing the 7900GS with its stock cooler I was amazed how silent it is. I haven’t replaced the stock GPU cooler yet as it does a good job but I haven’t had much time yet to test it.

The DVD front aluminum cover is a bit tedious as well and frankly I was amazed for the poor job done there for a 300USD case. The eject button mainly was the problem. It couldn’t eject the DVD slot because the space between the eject button on the case to the DVD’s eject button had a small gap. So I placed some layers of double face (duct tape) dont know the correct English name for this) between them to make it work. Nothing to worry about. I don’t use the DVD drive other than installing the OS because I play all my DVDs from my Network Server and I wanted to remove it, but I will need to attach the aluminum cover with some double face to make it mount correctly on the case. Haven’t done it yet but I plan to some time in the future.

The VFD is connected with the Power Switch so you can boot your pc with the RC. Also I believe there is a built in Infrared port somewhere there because the MCE RC is working without its Infrared. If you don’t have an MCE RC yet then try the one that comes with the case. I tried it for a bit and it works just fine with MP but I was used to my MCE RC layout so I don’t use it. But it’s a good RC and you can customize it with the software that comes with the case. The VFD has a really nice software. A bit complex for my taste but it looks that is fully customized. I don’t know how to make the VFD work with MP because I have never look into it. You can do many thing with the VFD and I believe there is no reason why it shouldn’t work with MP.

I think that’s pretty much it. Hope this is helpful enough. If you need anything else let me know. You can also check My System on the forums to see my complete list of HTPC parts that I am using.

 

[aarond]

Fantastic post, thanks for a comprehensive response. I think you have covered it all, and I will keep this as a reference when I purchase components.

I hadn't even thought about power on of the system from the RC. Not something I realised was possible. This is a good tip.

Cheers
Aaron

 

[pannivas]

I was thing about powering the PC from the RC as well but with HD135 the cable is there you just need to plug it in. Its actually a really cool thing to have, at least for me because i dont have my HTPC on all the time. I dont use TV from HTPC so i only boot it to watch my dl movies,shows.

I can post some pictures in a couple of days as well of the inside of the case mainly.

 

[aarond]

Would love to see some photos.

I notice you use the Auzentech sound card, and wondered why when the P5B Deluxe has on board audio. Is there a problem with the onboard?

 

[pannivas]

i havent yet received my Auzentech sound card. I expect to have it some time this week. The onboard soundmax is ok. Never really liked soundmax software. But the main and probably only reason i am changing it is because of my audio setup. I currently only can output via optical SPDIF to my Dolby headphone receiver and then from the DH receiver take the signal with Coaxial to my HDTV.

This only works if i ouput DTS live from my PC soundcard. Soundmax does not support DTS live. It has DTS connect which i personaly dont like a bit and the sound does not go through my HDTV with DTS connect. That is the only reason i changed it. I could have used a cheaper PCI sound card with DTS live support but i prefered to spend some money for a good sound card that will last me for at least 3-4years.

The X-Plosion is a very good soundcard from the reviews that i have read. Its not a good gaming sound card if compared with Creative XFI but i dont play games. They alos have their newer model the X-Meridian which is a really really good card. Far better than X-Plosion but its too expenssive for me.

P.S.
The onboard Sigmatel chip that is on all Intel Motherboards is far better than the soundmax and it does support DTS Live. I used to have an Intel mATX before and the HD sound from my Intel mb was far better than the current soundmax.