what do you guys think about this itx case? aywun a1-8989.

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:12 pm

Features:
* Black case with Piano-like finish
* Expansion Bays: 1x external 5.25" & 1x internal 3.5"
* 150W PSU
* Front Audio & USB connectors
* expansion slot for full-height cards
* 303x200x166mm
* takes mini-ITX motherboards (EPIA/Atom)

pretty cool right?

really cheap too(60-70aud)! kinda offsets the motherboard price premium.
from their websites, aywun has the same cases as apex- i don't know who makes the cases but it seems that aywun is the distributor in Australia, and apex does the US.

for such a cheap case though, the power supply is probably sub-par

shleepy · Post by **shleepy** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:19 pm

Looks pretty nice, and it seems to be a good size. But you are right about the PSU... The first step after getting this case would be to take out the PSU and replace it with a DC-DC one, like PicoPSU. Second step, of course, would be to replace the fan with a Nexus.

cordis · Post by **cordis** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:27 pm

It does look pretty cool, and the power supply placement is interesting, putting it in the front under the drives. Should give you short connections to most of the components, and that area is usually unused in most cases like this. Of course, if the power supply is noisy, it's right in front so you get the full sonic effect. From the picture, it kind of looks like an old e-machine sized supply. Those were cool because they usually had the fan mounted outside the actual enclosure, so they're easy to swap out for something quieter. If it's one of those, you could be in great shape with a fan swap if it's too noisy. See if you can find any pics of the supply outisde the case. Otherwise, looks pretty cool!

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Fri May 08, 2009 6:38 pm

the slots in the bottom front of the case and the bulge suggests that the fan is either an intake or exhaust located near the front. putting the psu there to free up space over the cpu is a great idea!

truth is i'm not worried about getting it quiet since i'm confident i can change the fan either way, what i'm worried about is the quality of the power.
i don't expect much efficiency, but i am a little paranoid about the effect of 'low quality' power on my components over time- i started using antecs a long time ago, and pretty much never looked at super cheap psus ever again.

any thoughts on this?

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Sat May 09, 2009 8:21 am

Of the cheap, bundled power supplies I`ve had, few lasted for more than 2 years and some took other parts with them so your suspicion isn`t unfounded. It`s still a good deal if you need that kind of space around the cpu.

gbyss00 · Post by **gbyss00** » Sat May 09, 2009 6:55 pm

i want this of the looks but too bad it cant hold 8800gt in it

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon May 11, 2009 8:08 am

Hi,

If you get the case -- cut out the rear fan grill! It is an 80mm fan (at least), right?

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Mon May 11, 2009 5:07 pm

that is indeed an 80mm exhaust- and i expect the front to need some cutting too

the odds of me getting this is case aren't great though, this is what i'd get:
- smaller system
- a gpu that can actually play games half decently
- less money
- higher power consumption
- the pleasure of selling used parts <sarcasm
- warmer system

hard to justify right?

littlebigman · Post by **littlebigman** » Thu May 14, 2009 4:16 am

shleepy wrote:But you are right about the PSU... The first step after getting this case would be to take out the PSU and replace it with a DC-DC one, like PicoPSU. Second step, of course, would be to replace the fan with a Nexus.

I just bought this case with the 75 watt PSU (Comstars KT-T75FX-06A) .

While the CPU fan is OK at mid-speed (around 2.500 RPM), the PSU is loud enough that I'd like to replace it with either a picoPSU or some brand-name PSU. This is too bad because it's an otherwise very case, compact case.

Post by **MikeC** » Thu May 14, 2009 8:04 am

Looks like a case that could be hacked to take a Seasonic SFD300 type of PSU. There's got to be a decent intake in front, perhaps with some metal cutting if necessary. With the AC power cord already wired in like that, it looks doable. That's if you need the power... a picoPSU certainly would work fine if you're not going for a gaming video card.