aopen H360: thoughts please on this small case

[splice]

anyone have one of these? though not truly a SFF it seems like it could be quite quiet for a quite small case. people have had mixed opinions about the other aopen slimline cases but this one could be better, with a bit more room and a standard 90mm (92mm?) fan in a 250w psu...

http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/housing/h360.htm


If anyone has any thoughts i would REALLY appreciate it....even poring for hours over all the forums here it is still exceedingly difficult to decide how to build a small machine which will be nearly inaudible running a P4.......

[Ralf Hutter]

The biggest problem with building a "nearly inaudible" P4-based SFF type of PC is that the CPU puts out a ton of heat that will need to be removed and very few of these small cases have ventilation that I would consider better than poor at best. A small PSU and a bunch of holes punched in the side of the case make for poor airflow, as does a noisy little 60mm fan or two. That''s about the norm for these types of cases.

The pic in your link isn't loading so I can't comment on the specifics of the case but from the one pic that is there it looks like many of the other m-ATX style of cases with poor ventilation.

[splice]

The pic in your link isn't loading so I can't comment on the specifics of the case but from the one pic that is there it looks like many of the other m-ATX style of cases with poor ventilation.

thanks for the reply, the pic on the aopen page is actually a tasteful little flash presentation that details quite nicely the specs of the case. It is rather a departure from previous ugly aopen generic style cases, it is a pretty new product and there are no reviews on the internet at all of this that i can find.
Try installing/updating your flash plugin and see what you think of the specs. To me it seems like it has substantially more potential than the average poorly designed matx case.....but i am just a newbie on a quest for a small quiet pc....

[Semm]

Actually, that's kinda interesting. It has a 92mm fan set up like the 120mm in the SS Tornado, as best I can tell. Doesn't mention another fan in the PSU, though, so it might get stuffy inside. Quite a nice touch, the flip-up front drive bays. Assembly-wise, anyway. The case perforations are pretty generous for a SFF, but I think the plastic in the front will negate most of that benefit. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it. Might be decent with some modding, though. Hard to tell these things from a picture, though, particularly one that's a rendering rather than a real picture

Semm

[wumpus]

Yes, I think this case is interesting as well. The number of good mini-itx or micro-atx cases to choose from is incredibly small.

I have one, which I posted about here, that I can recommend.

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=7038

But the h360 appears to have a much better ariflow design, and is more clever in general. I wouldn't mind having one..

[grandpa_boris]

splice, any progress on H360?

[edwardhuggett]

I just recieved one of these today in the UK. (£45 incl. VAT)

Not had chance to test properly yet but the 92mm fan is very quiet - from what i can hear over the server room here at work. Once I get it home I will be able to do more testing.
The build and design are excellent - have had previous experience of the 340H Silver case and it is a similar concept with flip down bays.

I am running a p3 750 inside passively colled by a thermaltake SilentBoost with no fan. THe 92mm psu fan should be plenty enough to keep it cool. The front air intakes are on the bottom under the HDD and along the front platic bezel underneath.

You can have two cd-rom drives rather than a floppy too - may put in a cd burner.

Aopen make very solid little cases and this one in particular has lots of bonus features to make assembly easy.

The only drawback is you really need integrated video and network, or else hunt for low profile PCI Network, Video and TV Tuners if you are planning on making it a media PC. It would make a great file server or firewall - and should work out cheaper than an mini itx alternative. The main advantage mini-itx have is a fanless PSU ..... but then mini - itx is very restricted performance wise and component wise (slimline etc).

Hope this helps!
Ed

[edwardhuggett]

After further useage of this case I can say the following:

Not quiet by silent pc enthusiast standards, though quiet compared to the majority of desktops.

Hard drive seek noise appears to be amplified. (maybe i am used to a decoupled HDD?)

Older CDROm drives which are longer than ususal are a tight squeeze

Build quality i thought was quite good, though a few reviews say the opposite.

Very heavy!

Good Points:

- Compact and solid IMHO.
- Front styling depends on personal taste. I like it.
- Fairly good airflow for SFF PC due to 92mm fan. (i beleive it is also thermally regulated)
- Good for a "spare" PC for your family?

Bad Points

- Not quiet enough for a bedroom for example. My modded Althlon PC running a HSinked GF4 seems quieter ....... !!!
- Would be usure about keeping it running 24/7, depending on components used. (HDD heat etc)
- Quite expensive for what it is - paying for Brand and extra features.
- Spend money on mini-itx case instead? (Fanless PSU )
- ...because the old PSU problem still a pain - fan still to noisy for my taste!! (probably noisier due to small size of power supply)

Conclusion

- Not bad for a small desktop with basic useage. Give it to your granny with your old 15" monitor.
- Would not buy new components for it, get some micro ATX mobos on the cheap maybe, and cheap processor.
- Better off getting a barebone system (Pundit?) or mini itx case in all hoensty.

[edwardhuggett]

PS. If you mod the PSU fan to be fixed at say 7v it may make it very quiet, though i am unlikely going to test this. Then it may be more of a useful case. Woudnt want to run a P4 in it tho.