Moneual Labs MonCaso 312 HTPC case - Page 27

nice,
which OS and mediacenter are you running ?

Heuer,

If you are using MCE7 have you also go the VFD working properly? Using the standard (M Play) software or LCDWriter?

Also, what sort of cabinent/rack is the case in. Mine will go in a doored tower with partially open back so that may affect cooling, hence I am concerned whether a fanless PSU is a good idea.

I am using WMC/MB under Win 7 64 Pro (I like to maintain it via remote desktop so the Home edition is useless unless you hack it). The VFD was working until I installed a tuner card but when running WMC TV the display goes mad and rapidly flickers through various messages for some reason. Works OK running Mediabrowser though. I have yet to understand what is going on so it is currently disabled. I also gave up on the remote despite spending many hours with Mplay and LCD Writer. I plugged in a generic Windows IR receiver (you can see it under the right foot) and set up a Harmony 900 accordingly and never looked back - took about 15 minutes to set up compared to the hours I agonised over the supplied/alternative stuff.

The case is in a cabinet with a vent at the rear:



The Popcorn Hour C200 (next to Bugs) is now redundant as is the Humax PVR which is temporarily on top of the Moneual. The Denon Blu-Ray will be rehoused with the HTPC shortly. Temperatures of the HTPC are very low because the PSU seems to generate no heat whatsoever (or the heatsink is very good) and the Sparkle GT430 sits under the lid vents so natural convection keeps it cool. The Moneual lid also has a grille right over the CPU fan which must help enormously. Although I have one small case fan running under system board control it typically spins at around 1300 rpm and even after a couple of hours use the case is cool to the touch. I also used four hi-fi cone 'feet' to lift the case higher off the shelf to help airflow. The Moneual seems to be a very well thought out case design - shame they spoiled it with the half hearted remote and VFD. If it did the excercise again I would go for the display free 312.

Thanks Heuer. That is what I am worried about. I really love the look of the 320 but also want a display. I found that Pcomazzi on posts #423 and 424 (avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18994102#post18994102) replaced his - have you considered that? It is something I am toying with! As part of this, could I please trouble you to tell me what the window size for the display is (ie the area which a display would be visible through)?

Window is approx 5 1/2" x 3/4". From what I can see VL Systems have not updated anything for years even though their web site claims "New" against a few products and downloads. The L.I.S. display they talk about says it is now compatible with XP for example. My current display has stopped flashing after a re-boot and half heartedly works in WMC TV. When you are looking at the guide it says 'Guide' and will display the programme name you select ......... once ........... before returning to saying TV and the time in HH:MM:SS.

Thanks Heuer,

Two last questions...
Can you confirm you are are using the M.Play SW when you say "half heartedly works in WMC TV". I would prefer it to give the channel name/number but what you have doesn't seem too bad. Not sure that other systems (iMon etc) in this case anyway!
How high are the VFD letters?

FYI - looks like you have a pretty sweet set up.

Yes I am using the latest M.Play software (March 2007 IIRC) and it does not like WMC TV. Despite disabling all messages to do with temperature etc it will only work for a short time before the VLF starts to rapidly switch between two messages - so fast I can't even work out what they are. If I stop and restart M.Play it will work OK for a while, by which I mean it will say 'Guide' when I am in the TV guide and it will tell me the name of the programme if I select it for viewing. It only shows this once however and then goes on to say "Watch TV 20:17:23:HH:MM" scrolling. If I then change channel the display goes crazy to the point where it is a distraction. The display sort of works in Mediabrowser but does not tell you anything meaningful unless you choose the default messages of Hello, Goodbye, ip address, time, date, system temperature etc.

To be honest I can't see the point of a dedicated screen on a HTPC because it is all obvious on the big one. The Popcorn Hour C-200 has a big onboard screen and I have always set it to 'off' as it was redundant. Tells you it is playing 'The Dark Knight' which is rather obvious from the sound and vision!

So any form of display on a HTPC (unless it is in a dedicated equipment room) is pointless, expensive and dated. The Moneual 312 is a much more sensible purchase than the VLF equipped 320 and a saving of $40+.

Having now got WMC TV setup via a TBS6981 DVB S2 tuner card I am being irritated by the constant HDD head seek clicking when recording a programme. The Samsung Spinpoint 2TB HDD F4EG HD204UI is normally quiet during playback of mkv's or TV recordings so I was searching for a method of silencing the drive in record mode. The first option was a Grow Up Japan Smart Drive Classic SATA HDD Silencer for the 2TB Spinpoint but it requires a 5.25" bay which is not available in the Moneual case. The second option is to add a Samsung 1TB 2.5" HDD enclosed in a Grow Up Japan Smart Drive PROOF 25 2.5 inch HDD Silencer which mounts in a 3.5" bay, and use this exclusively for recorded TV material:



Although I can move all the mkv movies etc to a NAS there is no reliable way of doing this with WMC TV. Not a cheap option (the silencer costs as much as the drive!) but the noise really spoils all the work and expense gone into making my HTPC build as quiet as possible.

Just installed the Grow Up Japan silencer and it is 100% effective - total silence from the drive - no start up noise, running noise or head seek noise. Fantastic product which has finally given me a truly quiet HTPC under all conditions.

I have pulled the Samsung 3.5" HDD to use elsewhere and all media (except WMC Recorded TV) is now on a NAS. Only problem is MediaBrowser/WMC cannot send a 'magic packet' to Wake-On-LAN the NAS - unbelievable it has not been included in MB at least. I am trying a work around involving MC-WOL.exe and WakeUp.exe which have the advantage of being able to send a magic packet as the HTPC comes out of sleep:



I put the mc-wol.exe in C:\\ along with wakeup.exe. I then created a .bat file containing the following line:

c:\\mc-wol.exe XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

(where the X's are the NAS MAC), called it 'wakemynas.bat' and put it in the same directory as the others. Clicking on the bat file will run mc-wol and send the magic packet. Open WakeUp and tell it to launch the bat file when the HTPC comes out of sleep to trigger the magic packet. Click x to close WakeUp and it will go to the system tray. Right click on the systray icon and check both run and minimise at start-up.

WakeUp 1.7: http://noeld.com/download/wakeup.zip
Wake-on Lan 1.0: http://www.matcode.com/wol.htm

Seems to work seamlessly but I am all ears if anyone has a better suggestion!

Just a quick heads up on a narrow escape I had when rebuilding my PC. I previously had a Asus P8H67M-EVO MoBo and replaced it with a P8Z68M PRO. The CPU location is even tighter with this motherboard in the Moneual case.

Previously I had a few mm of wiggle room to get the optical drive in and out, now I have had to put the heatsink on as the very last thing and the heatsink really touches the SATA plug (90 degree angled plug). It was close to not fitting at all! I just hope the plastic can withstand the heatsink temperature.

It's a shuriken scythe rev b and LG bluray drive (I'll post the model number when I find it).

I'm seriously considering another case since at the same time as the rebuild I put in a 3rd 2Tb HD and running the cables was an absolute pig. I feel a bit uncomfortable at lack of airflow because with 3HDs and 2PCIe cards (incl. a hot TV tuner) it seems a bit stuffy!

SBR

nas?

Fair point!

If I was to go there, I'd probably go smaller Ã* la fanless ITX for the HTPC especially with IvyBridge on the horizon....

Now there's a thought.

SBR

@Heuer, I see that you have Sparkle GT430 with low-profile bracket. Did you buy it like that or did you modify it yourself?

The Sparkle GT430 comes with a low profile bracket as well as the full size one, or at least mine did. It would not be difficult to modify the tall one if that is all you have.

OK, thanks! Asked the same question in another forum (Media Portal)but guys there didn't receive the low profile bracket with it... Must be different packaging in different countries.

I'm ready to push the order button so I wanted to check with you all...

Target use-case is pure living room HTPC, i.e. watching TV and videos in client-only configuration (with MediaPotal). No gaming, MS Officing or anything like that. The only must have is smooth and trouble-free playback of video material in all resolutions (including 1080p) and all flavours of compression; and smooth and trouble-free playback of TV, both SD and HD. Nice to Haves are ability to pass-through HD sound, sleep/resume technology that works well with MP and low power consumption. My current HTPC will become dedicated TV-server and all media is stored on NAS.

After few weeks of browsing and forum-researching, this is what I'm looking at to start with:

Case: MonCaso 312
PSU: Seasonic X-400FL 400W
MB: GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3
CPU: Intel Core i3 2105 3,1GHz
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL9 2x2GB
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 SATA III 2.5" SSD 60GB
BD: Samsung SH-B123L

If I find boxed CPU fan too noisy, I will instead use Scythe Shuriken

If integrated HD3000 graphics are not good enough, I will add Sparkle GeForce GT430 1G-P

If I get into cooling issues with too many passive elements and no case fans, I will add a couple of SilenX fans to create some airflow through the case...

What do you think?

Thanks!

d95mlad

My recent experience with a very similar build...

MB: Intel BOXDH67BLB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
PS: SeaSonic X series SS-400FL Active PFC F3 400W
CPU: Intel Core i3-2105 Sandy Bridge
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB
BD: ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS (Cheapest., shortest drive I could find)

All assembled without issue.

Only a couple of adjustments:

With the stock fan it was running at about 65 degrees. So I replaced it with Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm and one case fan (Scythe SY124020L 40mm). Now sits at 45 degress, while inside a cabinet (with a couple of inches above and the hole in the back for fan)

I had to remove the front bezel on the BluRay drive and use the one with that comes with the case, so that it would fit the slot in the case. Looks great.

As with others, the BD button is touchy. Mine is right up against the front of the case and you have to depress it far to open the tray. Almost needs pencil or other poker. I have not put in a sponge between the buttons, because I don't plan on using it much.

Watch the length of the BD with the fan.

As with some others, my wife complains that the ring around the volume is too bright for nighttime movie watching. A change of colour will probably not be enough. Looking at options there.

Overall, it works like charm. Boots W7 almost as fast as my plasma TV turns on. Great for watching 720p movies on my NAS and online mlb.tv etc. sites.

Hard to justify the price from my old WD Live TV which was a great value, but I'm happy.

Question: Due to noise and heat I'd love to watercool my HTPC inside the Moncaso 312... but I have no idea how to go about making it all fit. This caught my eye:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11...tl=g30c95s1311

Looks perfect to me, but I was wondering if anybody has tried to liquid cool their systems and if so, what other components did they use? Where did you stick everything?

Thanks!

Ya. Me too. What a waste of money. The thing that bugs me is that you can access the Win7Pro computer with the cheap versions. What system admin is using a cheap version on their main computer?

BTW nice system.

I have been using the case for well over an year now and things have been good so far once I was able to settle with the correct parts.

However I have noticed that the Shuriken rev B cooler now comes more often now after I have started to use the MadVR as the default renderer in MPC-HC. I use the basic settings in MadVR with my core i3 2100 CPU. This is when I ran into the new Noctua L12 low-profile cooler. The height excluding the top fan seems to be 66mm which will work. But not sure if the width and length dimensions will permit that in the Moneual 312 case without any hindrance to the LG optical drive. Has someone tried this cooler yet in the 312 case ?

Per the reviews noise is better than the intel stock cooler but not sure if it will help when using madVR to what the Shuriken rev B has to offer.

I've been using this case (312s) for a couple of years, but after a recent mobo/ram upgrade, i had to reinstall the os (win7x64-same as before), when i install the mplay software from the disc, or from the download from moneual site, the remote control will only turn on/off the unit. No other functions of the remote control do anything. I've uninstalled/re-installed software to no avail. Every time i've had to install this software before it was a breeze & once software was installed the remote just worked perfectly.
Anybody got any ideas?
Very frustrating.

Thanks in advance,
J

Update: when i install m.play software under programs when i expand M. Play MX program the only entries are: M.play mx, schedule, & uninstall. There is no "configure" entry. When iI right click on the m. play icon in the notification area, the only option that appears is "close". I feel like maybe the software is not installing properly? Honestly, i'm not real sure what is not going right. I saw something about downloading the ftdi driver. I did & installed it, but wasn't real sure about what else to do with it, however nothing changed. Thanks for any assistance in advance.
Edited by jmwbama311 - 6/7/12 at 9:49am

Just make sure you've connected the USB connector properly at both ends (or not dislodged/damaged it). It's easy to get the USB connector the wrong way round on the MoBo. Try another USB connector on the MoBo.

The on/off function is independent of the USB if it isn't configured, or drivers installed I think and operates via the MoBo power connector rather than via USB->Windows.

SBR

I like this setup although I'd probably use the 312 instead of the 320. My intentions are to run a box with:
1. XBMC/Hulu/Netflix streaming
2. Digital cable recording with same infiniTV 4 tuner card.
3. Running a FTP/webdav server in the background that automatically extracts rar files upon user upload. (Much the same as a newsreader would do to news feeds)

My question is, do you think I can/should use a i5 2500 with the otherwise same specs that are in this case, or will an i3 suit this purpose?

Will I have a heat issue, and how to mitigate?

Do I need a more significant PSU.

Anyone can really answer these questions for me. Thanks in advance.

I've been running this case for quite some time, and love it. Recently I swapped out the e-350 I originally put in it for a more robust AMD chip with a dedicated Radeon 6450... That being said, I have also switched to using Plex for all movie pLayback because it is the ONLY way I can get true HD audio from my system. I am hoping the new (Frodo) release of XBMC will fix that, but time will tell. So, in that vein, I have also been playing with other HTPC viewing options...to include a short foray with the fast loading OpenElec...

Question: has anybody successfully gotten OpenElec to play nice with the infrared receiver in this case?

I hope this doesn't violate any rules ... but I am selling my 312 Black case as I never used it and it's factory sealed and NIB ... in case anyone here is interested I posted it in the classified of the forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1462011/moneual-black-aluminum-moncaso-312b-micro-atx-media-center-htpc-case

I am in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Scott
Edited by anywhereanytime - 3/6/13 at 5:54pm