This shoe box got any potential? ASUS TM-210

[mcbry]

Hi all,

I'm contemplating my first build, and I'd like to do a quiet, low-power system with a pico-psu. Thinking about cases, I loved reading about the NSK 2480 and NSK 3480, but I can't find them without the powersupply, and the whole idea of separating the PSU from the rest of the case I think becomes moot with a picopsu, especially since without an ATX PSU, you wouldn't have any air moving to cool the optical drive.

Anyway, I saw this case from ASUS and figured it could be good enough for what I need with some damping, maybe cutting out the fan grill, maybe changing the fan, and rigging up some kind of HDD suspension. The good news is its cheap enough (30€) that I wouldn't feel too bad about banging it up a bit to get a decent final result.

There are some pictures here: http://www.alternate.es/html/productDet ... tno=TQXVD0
(click on the bigger picture to get a better look.)

At this site, the specs are as follows:
Format µATX
Mini Tower

Measurements 170 mm x 355 mm x 395 mm

Weight 4,3 kg

Bays

5,25 ", external 2
3,5 ", external 2
3,5 ", internal 3

Fans

80 mm: 1 x included additional 1 x (not included)

Material
0,6 mm SGCC

Back
ATX, 4 x expansion slots
Front
LED blue power button, 4 x USB, 1 x FireWire, 2 x 3,5 mm jacks

There's more info at http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=7& ... odelmenu=1

So, any thoughts? Any fatal flaws? Pls keep in mind that this will be my first build, so any details, suggestions, or warnings no matter how obvious, will probably be helpful for me.

Thanks!

[dougz]

So, any thoughts? Any fatal flaws? Pls keep in mind that this will be my first build, so any details, suggestions, or warnings no matter how obvious, will probably be helpful for me.

I often find the comments of newegg customers to offer helpful insights --
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductRe ... 6811173013

You might want to search this site for "asus and tm-210" as I got five other hits.