Here's my new setup - put together before the SPCR review came out
Honest...
Case - Antec NSK2400
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice
MB - DFI RS482
HSF - Thermalright XP-90 & Nexus 92mm
HDD - Samsung MP0402H 2.5", Hitachi 250 GB 3.5'
DVD - NEC ND-3550A
RAM - 512 x 2 Corsair Value Select
Video - XFX 7600GS
Sound - onboard plus M-Audio Transit
TV - VBox TDA-151, Hauppauge PVR-500MCE
OS - MCE 2005
My previous machine was an Intel CPU in a Silverstone LC-03. Worked well, but was always too hot and too loud. I knew the 2400 would be my next case as soon as I saw the pics from CES.
OK, so here's some pics of my own. First, some shots of the empty case.
One of the things I don't like about the case is the silver color. Why, oh why can't they offer it in all black? Anyway, I've been painting things lately so I decided to try painting the faceplate black. Here's a shot with the front panel removed.
Now the front panel separates into 2 parts, only the outer panel is silver as noted in the review.
Here's the painted front panel. I had mixed success with this - the material is very slick and the paint does not adhere well, even though I used plastic primer and prepared the surface, etc. In the end, it just looks OK, not great, and it scratches very easily.
My other idea for the system was to use a 2.5" drive for the OS, and a 3.5" for the recorded TV programs, using elastic suspension for both. The 2.5 would be suspended vertically in the regular HD cage, and the 3.5 horizontally in the 5.25 cage. I'm using the 1/8" round elastic, and I've come up with what I believe is a new way to attach the drives. It uses heat-shrink tubing to attach regular HD mounting screws to the ends of the elastic. Pic=1000 words.
One thought I had about the 5.25 cage in the 2400 at first was - this things gonna rattle. The "feet" on top do seem to press firmly against the top panel which helps alot. Also, by wrapping the elastic around the top and sides of the cage, it acts as a damper between the cage and the rest of the case. Happy accident.
The Hitachi HD is not the quietest, but it was in my old machine with my recorded shows already on it. So I just transferred the drive data and all to the new machine. I thought the drive bay cover would be a noise leak so I lined it with a small piece of Acoustipack.
The rest of the components went together as expected. The wiring holes inside the case make it easy to do a decent job with the wires. I ran the fan wires and the 4-pin power lead underneath the MB. I wanted to run the front-panel wires underneath, but the wasn't enough room between the edge of the MB and the case wall for the wires to exit.
Here's a couple of shots of the inside, showing the HSF, etc.
And finally, the finished product alongside my Denon components.
The drive bay cover obviously came out a different shade and texture than the rest of the front panel. In the harsh light of the camera flash it looks really bad, but in the semi-darkened HT room it's no big deal. Better than the silver anyway.
So how's it run? In a word - great! My standards for silencing aren't as strict as some of the SPCR regulars. In my environment, this thing is effectively silent with the Tri-Cool fans on low. I can hear what sounds like a flutter coming from them if I put my head right next to the case. This may be the "resonance" referred to in the review.
I'm running the Cool & Quiet software, and confirmed it's operation with CPU-Z. In addition to the Media Center functions, I do some moderate gaming with the machine, which is why I wanted the 7600GS graphics card. My temps for the CPU are 31 C idle, 45 C after running CPUBurn for an hour. The GPU temp is 68 after playing Unreal for an hour. The air exiting the vents seems cool to the touch. Based on my example, the reports of this card running super-hot seem exaggerated.
What would I change? Well the silver of course. Also, I wouldn't mind if the case was a half-inch wider with a little more room around the edges of the MB. It's tight to work with as it is.
Otherwise, this thing flat-out rocks. I know some people will take issue with the mATX form factor, but I have my main storage on a separate media server, and the 2400 is perfect for a front-end machine. Kudos to MikeC and Antec for a terrific product.
DE
and had to cope with the stock Intel cooler at first. NOT good.