X-bit labs

Cooler Master Media 260 HTPC Case: One Step Away from Perfection

Category: Multimedia

by Vasily Melnik

[ 06/20/2006 | 10:51 AM ]

If you need a compact system case that allows using standard hardware components and features clever design and ergonomics, then this review is for you. The solution we are going to talk about today is almost a perfect choice in its class, and with a few tricks we will describe, you can put together an ideal HTPC system. Read more about it in this review!

Table of contents:

• Exterior Design and Features
  
• Assembly
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Thermal Performance
  
• Conclusion
  

We’ve recently been paying a lot of our attention to using the PC as a multimedia entertainment center and we would be wrong to do otherwise since this is one rapidly developing sector of today’s computer industry.

We have tested many HTPC system cases from a number of popular brands, but they all share a common drawback: intended for standard hardware components, they are too big, unfortunately. So, a natural question to ask is “Can they make something like that, but smaller?” The multimedia PC is usually not a single PC in a household and you don’t install top-end graphics cards and a few add-on controllers into it, yet it is desirable that it allowed using full-size mainboards, power supplies and drives to make it easier for the potential customer to pick up the components.

The attempts to implement the HTPC concept in a thin case like those of today’s DVD players are hardly usable. They are usually equipped with notebook-oriented optical drives and a rather noisy CPU cooler. The latter fact is understandable. Considering the use of low-profile heatsinks, there’s no talking about low-speed fans until mobile CPUs come to this area. But the concept of HTPC solutions implies a total lack of noise because who would ever bear to hear the incessant humming of the cooling system fans in the pauses between the songs or even as the background of quiet music compositions? Moreover, it would be odd to get a noisy system for $800, which is the bottom price for ready-made multimedia PCs.

So, we need a compact system case that permits to use standard hardware components and features a clever design and ergonomics. Our long wait for a system case that would meet these requirements has finally been rewarded. It’s not ideal, but very close to that, and you can even make into the ideal system case with your own hands as will be described below.

Cooler Master Media 260 is the number one pretender to the title of the best case for building a HTPC system using standard parts. Learn more about it in this review!