The Case, For A Case..... HTPC Case That Is

Lets start here; the silver version of my main HTPC's case. Why the silver version, vs. the black that I actually own? It's easier for you to see what I'm talking about. It's very high end, but not well known. The style and execution completely mimics that of top notch audio gear. Machined, billet aluminum, and heavy duty. Really nice! What's the problem?

Notice anything about it.... other than the really nice finish? Notice the almost complete lack of ventilation!?! Fine for my old machine based on AMD's first generation APU. The Zacate core machine had a TDP of 18w. My replacement is from the Kavari generation and the draw is 45w. It's a whole lot more powerful, but that's still quite a bit more heat to get rid of! The interior of the D.Vine5 is large, but it doesn't flow much air. You can barely see the vents under the drive cage for intake and the exhaust are 2 60mm just above the I/O shield. Can you say "high-pitch whine"? Not very good situation. Oh yeah, the case only takes an SFX power supply! There's some nice ones out there now, but they are pricey!

So, the whole time that the build finishing and doing my OS load, I'm nervously watching the processor temps on Piriform's Speccy utility. .....and it's not looking very good. We're talking 78 to 80+ degrees. That Celsius!!! I try reapplying thermal grease, and even changing heatsink/fan. It's not getting much better.... a little bit, but not much. At this point, I'm trying everything from reading the forums, seeing about a returning of the APU to the seller and  different cases. 

In the end, it was more than one thing and a bit of luck. After reading a lot of forum traffic, I came across some discussing the fact that AMD's APUs often gave erroneous reading to monitoring utilities like Speccy, CPUID, etc. And that you need to use AMD's own software such as their Vision Engine Control to get a fully accurate readings, plus these APU can and often did have momentary spikes where the temps would jump from the 50s (c) to over 80, then back down seemingly at random. This and good old fashion experience showed me that there wasn't anything really wrong. ??? What I found was that even when the temps were showing to be very high (over 80c), I could hold my hand over the CPU fan and the air was cool, plus I could actually put my fingers on the heatsink which was only warm. 

Of course, paranoid me, what's my other reaction? Another case! OK, there have always some issues with the D.Vine case that have irritated me. So, I found this nMedia 7000b on Craigs List (more on this later) for $40. Note the 2 USBs on the front. Can't tell from this image, but that display actually connects to the motherboard and shows stuff! The guy also included his IR receiver as well. Now I have to find drivers for it. Funny story about this case. Like I said; I saw it on CL, but it was in WACO!!! That's an hour and a half south of here, but I contacted the guy anyway. Turns out that he needed the money quickly and was willing to drive it up here if I paid for the gas. I figure getting it immediately and not having to go get it was worth the $10 extra.. making the total $50.

Here's the main reason I switched though. See all the ventilation? And the two big (120mm) fans? And the full-sized power supply opening (ATX)? WooHoo!!! Can you say Goodbye to the molex-8pin EPS adapter!?! However; I can't emphasize enough..... it's all about the air-flow. How do all these extra features make their way into a case and not only is it NOT bigger, it's actually smaller? It only takes a micro-ATX or smaller MB, which conveniently I happen to have. There's also virtually no wasted space in it..... at all. I love efficiency! I sure feel a lot better now that I know that my processor isn't about to melt, plus it's be a lot easier to keep it cool.