Moneual MonCaso 301 Desktop HTPC Case

Post by **MikeC** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:05 pm

roadie · Post by **roadie** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:46 am

Obviously the temp sensor in the CPU is broken, as it's reading at, and 3 degrees under the ambient in the test results table on page 5.

Post by **MikeC** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:32 am

roadie wrote:Obviously the temp sensor in the CPU is broken, as it's reading at, and 3 degrees under the ambient in the test results table on page 5.

Uh, not really. I think it's normal for that board. Same one used in our heatsink test platform. Note that the full load temps look perfectly normal.

Jipa · Post by **Jipa** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:46 pm

Lol'd bad at the virtual keyboard shot.. I've watched one and a half seasons of The Office recently. I even used the line once today by accident

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:22 pm

I just don't understand the appeal of these pizza box style cases for HTPC. They seem too short, for no good reason (forcing you to use low profile cards), yet impracticably deep for most shelves. What is the application where you only have room for ~4" in height, but can accommodate 16" of depth? I admit if you've got a high-end AVR it doesn't matter much, since these things are usually 16" deep or more -- but they're also usually at least 6" tall. It seems to me the ideal dimensions for an HTPC case would be those of the NSK3480, just with a desktop orientation. What's amazing to me is that Antec doesn't make such a case, but instead makes HTPC cases with the typical impractical dimensions.

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:59 am

jessekopelman --

I beg to differ. >6" height shelves in TV-related stands are not common, imo. But >16" deep shelves are. And those monster AVRs are difficult to house. Case in point: After much searching for a suitable AVR, I bought a cheap 5' wide TV stand from Ikea (under $100 iirc) for my 40" panel TV. It is typical -- it stands 14" tall and has one shelf that spans the width. The shelf is 6" tall and 21" deep. It will not fit my mid-fi 5-yr old Denon AVR. If the feet on the Deonon were removed, it would fit but probably overheat due to the tight spacing.

The Moncaso 301, on the other hand, would fit nicely, and there would be no worry about overheating. Ditto the Fusion & NSK2480 -- w/ some space around the sides.

There were stands with taller shelves -- but they were unsuitable for many other reasons, and the ones that really seemed sensible were super pricey, >$2000 in some cases!

I don't pretend to keep track of AVR stands, but that's my experience -- circa ~2 yrs ago.

NSK 3840 is 7.75" wide, btw -- no way that dimension would fit in my stand.

EDIT: OK, here's the only ikea stand that would fit the nsk3480 -- http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/30104478 -- but it's too fugly to consider.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:16 pm

MikeC wrote:I beg to differ. >6" height shelves in TV-related stands are not common, imo.

So many models have adjustable shelf height or removable shelves. I can understand people who are trying to fit something new into an old school entertainment center having an issue, but if you are looking to buy something right now, there is no reason for it to be. Anyway, my point is that there are tangible benefits (better component choice) for greater height; so I'd rather try and accommodate it over greater depth. Optimally, you could get everything you wanted integrated onto a m-ITX package at a good price and this wouldn't be an issue, but we aren't there yet.

MikeC wrote:And those monster AVRs are difficult to house.

That's why I said if you have one the size of your HTPC case is probably irrelevant.

MikeC wrote:I bought a cheap 5' wide TV stand from Ikea (under $100 iirc) for my 40" panel TV. It is typical -- it stands 14" tall and has one shelf that spans the width. The shelf is 6" tall and 21" deep.

I think the stand you bought is far from a common choice. $100 is very cheap for this sort of thing. Also, I'm not surprised something 5' wide is fairly deep. The only people who need a 5' wide stand are those with giant DLP that are also 18" or more deep. Your 40" panel TV is so light that it has no need of such a bulky stand. You could likely gotten away with something that isn't even the full width of the TV.

My point is why do you want to use a stand that is 21" deep with a panel TV? You can barely even buy a DLP TV that is deeper than 18" these days. I find most TV stands are now in the range of 12-18" depth. The style is for everything to be lower profile. Panel TV, panel speakers, low profile DVD players. Why are HTPC cases largely bucking this trend? The only one I can think of that is on the right track is the Silverstone GD02 (6" high, 14" deep) and it has some strange design quirks and a relatively high price.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:29 pm

MikeC wrote: EDIT: OK, here's the only ikea stand that would fit the nsk3480 -- http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/30104478 -- but it's too fugly to consider.

Actually, that's pretty much what I'd be looking to buy. I'd probably want more shelf adjustability, but looks-wise it's fine (I'd never put on the wheels), especially in white. I like that modern style for furniture (especially in conjunction with AV gear). One man's fugly . . .

You do know it's possible to buy furniture from places other than Ikea, right?

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:43 pm

jessekopelman wrote:
MikeC wrote: EDIT: OK, here's the only ikea stand that would fit the nsk3480 -- http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/30104478 -- but it's too fugly to consider.
Actually, that's pretty much what I'd be looking to buy. I'd probably want more shelf adjustability, but looks-wise it's fine (I'd never put on the wheels), especially in white. I like that modern style for furniture (especially in conjunction with AV gear). One man's fugly . . .

You do know it's possible to buy furniture from places other than Ikea, right?

This (in black) is what was deemed acceptable (by my wife) and more or less workable for our room -- http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/40105340 Unobtrusive. If the shelf had been 8" high instead of 6", it would have been OK for the AVR. A little less depth would have been ok too, but the pedestal of the TV measures ~15" front to back. I like how the shelf is deep enough that even with the open back, the cable mess back there is invisible from the front.

Yes, I'm aware of http://www.standsandmounts.com That's a US store. I find most of their stuff too gaudy and too expensive to consider. These would be ok in our room...
http://www.standsandmounts.com/index.as ... rodID=9193
http://www.standsandmounts.com/index.as ... rodID=7997

Vibrator · Post by **Vibrator** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:15 pm

That's what she said. :p