Pics, darnit! And Medions are apparently not that great- there's a big thread on badcaps.net about them having bad caps. Check the MB for that too, since it's so dusty.

aidanjm2004 - Yecch! No hard drive decoupling! (Shoot me for having no sense of humour later.)

OP - You can't go wrong with the P150. Antec even used it as the base for their Atlas 550 server case, which shows its versatility.

VF900 = Zalman VGA cooler.
HR-03 = Thermalright VGA cooler.
PWM = Power circuitry on the motherboard.

The NSK3x00 look like prime cases for eSATA drives. There's not really any good place for a HDD inside, except if Antec would have put a mount on the front wall like Dell and Emachines do. But they didn't, and there is no crying over spilt milk. eSATA would solve this problem by relocating the drive...

Looks like a very interesting fan blade design, and I'm not even an airflow scientist (word?). Basing it off an owl's wing seems natural, but I don't know the effects of rotational movement versus flapping. And 80cm is the next computer fan! 80, then 120, then 220, now 800 mm fans -- the latest fad.

mvanderjagt - Nice to see a Nexus rep here on the forum. I think that makes:
Aerocase
Antec
Silverstone
Nexus
have reps on the forum now. I think what sets SPCR apart is that manufacturers pay attention to it!

For a media centre, you'd be pushing it. C7's are really gutless processors. All I would use it for is web browsing and IRC/IM purposes.

I have to agree, qviri. I think it looks nicer than any Dell I've seen, save possibly for the original blue Dimension XPS.

Yeah, the green stuff is plastic, and it's called the substrate. You're right though except in terminology, bonestonne, because if the substrate starts delaminating, that is a sure indicator of serious overheating problem.

Interesting. Are all the fans running at full speed? If so, I don't see how it could be quiet. IME, LED fans aren't usually that quiet, the exception being Arctic Cooling.

Glad I don't have a Vento. Just a plain Ever Case 4252. Same internals, but without the stupid looks. The 7700 is even fuglier though - Asus have topped themselves.

To me, it's just that I view reductions in height with no change in footprint as less noticeable than reductions in footprint.

Note: Removing the optical drive wouldn't give you that much space, realistically. Laptop opticals are only like 11mm high.

NoizEnvader, that might just have a ticky analogue clock internally.

FInding stuff new is overrated. Flea markets ftw.

Maybe an AC-powered clock with a sweep second hand would be silent? That way you don't get the ticking from the movement since motion is continuous.

Hi Tim, I can agree with disphenoidal about trying to make a positive pressure case with removing the 60mm rear fans. I really recommend the Arctic Cooling Arctic Fan Pro2L case fan for the front spot. I have three; there is negligible sample variance and they are practically silent at the low setti...

Interesting. I liked my IBM clicky keyboards before I realised they were no good for stealth computing. So now I have a Logitech S510 wireless one, which has sort of a laptoppy keyfeel. That IBM board looks too big to fit in the limited space on my desk.

Andy: why be sorry? It's not like I'm an arrogant pig who denies his wrongness. NoiseFreeGuy, you can try a different PSU to see if it'll work. What you are describing can probably work, if it works for the Aopen rep.

Note: the Unnnn processors are not available in a form factor that the Aopen board can take advantage of, unfortunately. They're only available in NanoBGA package, IIRC.

Hmm; try 'former status'. I think this problem you're having is because your new board supports ACPI. It's likely the motherboard's "problem", although how it is working is by design (I think). A BIOS update may solve the problem.

Set your bios to turn on when AC power is applied.

I agree, Their products are ass.. The features are miles of target (lets say the given 16 dB(A) from my old Big Typhoon was more like 250 dB, like a nuke-bomb) No TT-products could be of interest to silencers, **** 'em That attitude gets you in trouble, you know. Don't let misleading marketing draw...

I say you go all out if you're willing to, and do what System Cooling did. Run the fans at 5v and they will be inaudible. Totally positive pressure worked for my old Dell server.

It'd have also the benefit of not blocking the bottom PCI slot or bottom optical bay. It will resonate no more assuming that the silicone grommets are used. One more thing - I have a different concept of the front HDD bay that is basically the same as in my sister's emachines case. I'll tear the box...

Antec NSK2400. It doesn't depend on having top ventilation, though you need to keep both sides clear.

Yup, I was thinking it's a rebranded 3D Aurora too. I personally prefer the front panel design of the Zero though. And it's not difficult to remove a hole if your case manufacturer has a good support department - they can send a replacement side panel!

You have a plastic front panel to block the noise though. Or maybe I am just approaching this with the assumption that one will use a 2.5" HDD as is in my sister's box.

... interesting. This might be my next case though, and I'll put a 200-some mm side panel fan au Felger Carbon. You can do so much with the side panel grille space.

One thing I never understood about the NSK3300/3400 - why not have an HDD mount on the front case panel? It works for my sister's Emachines T1100.