A-Tech Fabrication HTPC Case: update - Page 3

work permit,

Did you place your order yet? The order form is up.

Just want to let you know that ordering information for "The Heatsink Case" is now posted at http://www.atechfabrication.com/prod...order_form.htm

The cases are now being built. Since this is the first run on these cases, I can not pin point a delivery time. I expect to start shipping in 4-8 weeks.

You will see in the text on the order form for several options where I indicate that this option or modification can be performed by advanced users, rather than purchasing the item from me. I plan to publish some how-to articles with detailed information and pictures to make it easy for anyone with a soldering iron to perform these tasks and save some money.

-Glenn

The hardest part was figuring out which options I wanted! I finally figured it out, and the order's in.

Actually, the hardest part will be waiting for it to arrive...

- Chris

I'm glad the case is finally available but I must pass. I may be in the minority here but I cannot justify $400 for a HTPC case. I would have easily ordered one if Glenn had made his target price of $250 but $400 is a little too steap. I guess I'll be ordering the DIGN or the new Digitalis when it becomes available.

Do we get to see pictures of the other options any time soon? Particularly the black finish, and the plain faceplate.

obezyana

Wow... probably getting what we pay for, but I'm going to have to hold off until I hear some independant reviews of the case here on the forum or elsewhere. I'd like to see more pics too -- black anodize and some closeups of the DVD transport buttons.

This -is- the case I'm banking on to make my HTPC everything it could be... just not jumping on this quite yet.

So Glenn -- links to 3rd party reviews, when they come in, would be great info.

Just ordered two! If they work, I'm getting a couple more.

This case + holo3d + Radeon + MB/processor/memory = Faroujda NRS

When Immersive comes out with their daughterboard, its equal to a faroujda DCS.

The case is a bargain.

For the USB/Firewire ports option...where's the firewire port? I see the 2 USB ports in the bottom right of the illustration, but the firewire port is somehow eluding me...

It's a ton of money, but the design, the size, and the hard anodizing should keep this a workhorse case for a VERY long time to come. When I start to get worried at the amount of money I'm putting into this thing, I just go look at the price tags on the latest Quadscan/etc. scalers, and remember that this will allow me to surf the web and play MP3s too! In light of that, this whole approach really is a bargain.

- Chris

After the first batch of cases have been made, I will have pictures of all the different options. But this will be, as I said, 4-8 weeks down the road. Only thing I can do now is provide 3D renderings. The machine finish will look the same as the prototype case. Black anodize and clear anodize are industry standards. Anodizing actually hides surface imperfections, that is why I am showing you the case in bare aluminum before anodize.

I will be adding the USB/Firewire ports and the DVD buttons to the prototype case before I process the current batch. If anyone wants to change there order at that time (either add the ports, or remove them), it will be ok.

The DVD buttons will look exactly like the reset button in pictures.

I am not trying to compete in price with the other stamped and folded sheetmetal cases with just a machined faceplate. This case is fully machined from thick aluminum plate and TIG welded. The material alone is very expensive. It has features that you will not find on any case.

Thanks for the comments.

-Glenn

Glenn, I just have one question that I haven't seen answered. Forgive me if I overlooked it. What "warranty" are you making on the fit of the case? I don't know what you are using for indexing drill points and such, so are you giving a warranty on proper component fit such as motherboard, expansion cards, etc.?

If it's designed to ATX and PCI specs (which I assume it is - it certianly LOOKS well designed!) then there should be no problem with fit whatsoever. Unless of course something being fitted doesn't meet the specs (it's happened before!).

Simple Question

I ordered two cases with the VFD and IRMan options. But how do I connect these devices internally to my motherboard? Most motherboards I know of have external com ports. At most perhaps they have only one external port and one internal com port jumper. So How do I connect these devices internallly?

Do I run the wires outside the case? Do I need a pci card? And if I do, what card has internal jumpers?

Alex,

Glad you brought that up. There is yet another feature that I did not discuss in the text. Next to the fan on the back of case are two small slots. These slots allow you to pass cables for the VFD and IRman to the external connectors. When you remove the fan, you can pass the bulky connectors through, which sometimes won't even fit through a I/O slot. Also I did not want to waste a expansion slot just to pass a couple of cables. I had my cables removed when I took the pictures.



Regarding fit, I designed the case around the ATX2.1 spec For processor heatsink clearance see page 17, Figure 7. My case has 3.25" clearance where the minimum is 2.80".

The stock intel heatsink works fine unless you are overvolting the core. I found you can lower the CPU temp about 8deg. C by getting rid of the thermal tape intel uses on their P4's. It uses a thin metal shim which has compound on both sides. The shim seems to act more like a reflector or barrier preventing heat dissipation. Instead get some Artic Silver thermal compound, that stuff works great.

-Glenn

Glenn_L
Is there a way to mill another slot in the front to accommodate a PCMCIA slot adapter. This is becoming the defacto interface and I use it often on my desktops to read Compact Flash cards and Microdrives from my video cameras. here is an example http://www.synchrotech.com/products/card-rw_13.html

Hi Guinn. Thats a nice idea. Is there space in the front to mount that deivice? looks like you would have to move the irman over

Glenn,

Any word on support for the Volume Knob? I'd like to order the case, but want support for mounting the powermate. I intend to use mine to support scrolling through and selecting menu options on the VFD Display, rather than for volume control.

Thanks

Guinn,

Because of the depth, the only place it could fit is where the IRman is now. It would be possible. It could more easily go in the back where the floppy drive option is. There are also external USB versions of the same thing: http://www.synchrotech.com/products/card-rw_04.html


phunge,

I took a closer look at the volume knob specs and found it is really too big to fit anywhere on the deluxe style plate. It could fit on the blank style plate, but I am not currently offering that version with a VFD display. You could program two of the DVD buttons for up-down scrolling?

-Glenn

Glenn,
On the deluxe plate, how long is it from the bottom of the recess to the bottom of the case (i.e. area with power, reset etc. buttons) and also from the top of the recess to the top of the case (area with DVD slot)?
On the Powermate specific thread, someone mentioned that taking it apart was a fairly easy job. What I'm thinking would be possible, is to seperate the knob skirt (bottom and blue plastic) from the knob, then mill or cut a hole the diameter of just the knob, place the knob through the front, then reassemble the skirt behind the face plate and affix it to something so it's stable. This would also take care of the USB cable placement problems as well, since it would be behind the faceplate. The knob w/o skirt looks to be only around 1.5-1.6" in diameter instead of the 2.1" w/ skirt. Note that I'm not asking for this as an option or anything, just for the measurement specs so I can hurry up and wait (I'll probably order one of the limited black PowerMates, and "wait and see" what the black anodized A-Tech and some of the options look like once you get the first run out and have some pics of them and the new options). Thanks .

I just went ahead and ordered a Griffin Technology volume knob. I will take a look at it next week and see what can be done to get it mounted.

-Glenn

Wow! That is the nicest case I have ever seen. Makes my DIGN look plain.
I want one, but as my main PC! This Case is meant to be seen, not tucked into a theater closet. But Alas..... I have to wait. It's just too steep for my current budget. Hopefully by the time I can afford this, it will be available.

Marc

This was EXACTLY the same line of thinking I had. I think this will be sweet looking and have great functionality. Can have a menu system that won't have to look at the screen for making a few choices that I have planned. Have you gotten your powermate knob yet? Did you order black?

Mike Zemina
mike.zemina@wcom.com

Glenn_L

When do you expect to have your invoice template setup and send final confirmation of our order details?

This thing is finally starting to move! Too bad the configuration I want will cost nearly $700 (including display, IRman and P/S) before even thinking about motherboard, CPU, Ram, HD, DVD, video, TV Tuner/Capture or anything else. I hope Glenn is still making them by the time I save up enough to get one!

Alex,

Order confirmations went out today.

-Glenn

Can anyone recommend a quiet, clean power supply for this case (2U-shape?) that is around ~450W?

Hi Salsbt.

Here's a 400W supply , but its probably loud.

Unless you're overclocking, you may not need a 450W psu in this case, since you don't have that many drive bays, and you're not driving too many fans.

As point of reference, I have a Soldham pc with a shuttle FS51g motherboard. I'm running a PIV 2.8Ghz processor, AtI radeon 9700, stick of 512MB DDR333 C2 memory, 80gig wd hd, Plextor Plexcombo, case fan, cpu fan...all with a 200W 1U psu. No problems (so far), not even the dreaded radeon cold boot problem

Alex, thanks...that's encouraging!

My inclination to go so high with the wattage is based on two factors:

1) in the reference KBK thread on electrical noise problems (analog video capture/record is very important to me), he recommends 350-450W, and...

2) The machine will have a hipix, Pentium4, MAudio Delta410, XCapture and Radeon 7500ProAgp (with fan, unless I mod it).

However, if 450 is still overdoing it, perhaps the less-noisy built-in 350W that Glenn can provide will be a better choice.

What do you think?

TIA,

Low noise and high power are somewhat mutually exclusive for a power supply. As a modern switching power supply gets hotter, it puts out less power.

The two points you make are valid. I'm planning on trying glenn's power supply. If it proves inadequate, I'll have to start searching.

BTW, I have a delta card in my current HTPC, but for these new machines I was planning on trying the S/PDIF thats built into the motherboard. Yeah, yeah I understand jitter, etc, but I've become less anal about these things over the years

Alex,

I think I'm aiming for two sound devices: one (built-in, no spdif) to receive audio from my cable STB and the other (the Delta) for all output. My reasoning is that the Delta's volume can't be controlled by DScaler as of now... although I might be wrong about that (?).

I'll be using the Delta for digital decoding and analog output, and I don't think I'll get that from an on-mobo sound device!

Anyway, unless anyone else has thoughts to the contrary, I think I'll see if Glenn can revise my order to include the 350W PSU.

Thanks for your input, regards,