The GMC AVC-S7 HTPC Case

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:31 pm

I'm looking to rebuild my HTPC since mobos are now using HDMI ports onboard and have some decents graphics power. These are the boards that I am looking over:

Asus P5E-VM HDMI
Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H
XFX MG-630i-7109
EVGA 112-CK-NF77-A1

Then I started to think about replacing my old Antec NSK2480. The silver model. I saw that a few people here ordered the black model from Austrailia and started to do so myself but changed my mind. I wrote to Antec about that model not being released in the US and they said that retailers never requested it and that it was a custom job from Japan.

So now I'm looking for another alternative. I came across a case over at PCAlchemy. I thought about ordering it to tinker with but I'll hold off for now. Here is the link:

GMC AVC-S7 HTPC Case

And from the official site:

Noblesse AV Series

And the only in-depth review that I can find on it.

GMC AVC-S7 HTPC

What do you guys think of this case?

derekva · Post by **derekva** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:19 pm

Per the review:

First thing to notice is the immense noise the fans of the PSU make.

That'd make it a non-starter for me. On the other hand, there is that mini Sparkle PSU that some folks have been talking about that is apparently fairly quiet - perhaps it would fit. This case is awfully nice looking but appears to be spoiled by poor thermal design. Perhaps if you found a mATX board with HDMI and combined it with a low-voltage CPU (Mobile Core 2 Duo would be ideal, but I don't think anyone makes an HDMI board that supports this processor), you could make something of it, but I think you'd have a hell of a time keeping it quiet.

-D

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:37 am

Yeah, I was starting to look around for micro PSUs. I may look further. But as for cooling I was considering using the Antec A/V Cooler. At least this could help to move some air through the case. The case is just a consideration. I'll keep looking for another solution while I do a little research for components for the GMC case.

Thanks for the input.

Jipa · Post by **Jipa** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:07 pm

I think the power supply in the Metku.net review may have been somehow defective. I did some research and other review claimed the PSU to be quiet and the CPU-cooler to make all the noise! And the PSU-manufacturer claims the unit has temperature controlled fans, but according to my experiences the noise is exactly the same atleast with loads ranging from 20 to 150 Watts.

Also worth noticing that there's no additional cooling in the case. Dunno if this is normal for such extremely slim HTPC-cases though. I've thought of making the AVC-S7 quieter via removing the fans from the PSU and placing a 120 mm fan to the bottom of the case in front of the PSU to blow air into the case and then add some ducting to make some of the air go through the PSU and some cool the HDD. Lets see if I have the time and motivation to try this idea out.

There were some other downsides with the AVC-S7 as well, but I really think that if it wasn't for the noise, I could still recommend it.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:59 pm

I like the size of the case. It would be even better if it didn't have those logos stamped on the lower right corner.

I would use this with a 160gb notebook drive. A Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H mobo with HDMI and eSATA ports. I'd use an eSATA external drive for additional file storage. And there are other options for the PSU if needed.

For additional cooling I would use the Antec AV Cooler. It's bascially a platform with a couple of fans blowing air down into the case.

The case would fit a lot easier into a cabinet or video rack than my Antec NSK2480. And it comes in black.

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:37 am

I'm considering getting this case for my media PC. For a system like this, < 25dB should be acceptable -- and hopefully achievable.

I'd be using the following components.

Abit F-I90HD Radeon X1250
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300
Hiper HFA-10828-C2 80mm CPU Cooler
2x1GB DDR2 800
Toshiba 2.5" 160GB 5400RPM
PicoPSU w/ 110W AC Adapter

I'm thinking the Hiper 80mm CPU cooler might be better than the provided one from a silence and cooling perspective. It looks like the one that comes with the case is 60mm. Or am I mistaken?

Using the PicoPSU in place of a mATX power supply looks like it'll allow me to mount two 60mm fans in its place. The screw holes even seem to line up perfectly for that. With some voltage adjustment, I'm thinking these fans could be fairly quiet and help with the airflow situation.

Anyone have any thoughts on this type of a setup? Or perhaps tried anything similar?

Post by **MikeC** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:27 am

No way the stock PSU is going to be quiet. Something like the picoPSU is the only way to go if you want quiet in this case.

The Seasonic and Sparkle flex/small PSUs will not fit this case, it requires a straight-through design, probably limited to 60mm fan, due to the low height.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:33 pm

Why the E4300? Price? Cool running? I'm still checking into the mobo and chips myself. But it look like the Gigabyte board may be my winner. If I could only find some reviews.

I was thinking of a E6400 myself. But I'm still checking thing out. Same for PSUs. Will you use a optical drive? I don't see one listed. I'll only need it for burning I guess. My PS3 will be my Blue ray player until I get a stand alone player.

My mobo choice also depends on what I can find locally. Most boards that I get through shipping end up being RMA'd. Waste of time and money for me. I was also considering the EVGA 112-CK-NF77-A1 LGA 775. They are both available at Microcenter.

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:25 pm

I would use the E4300 since I already have it.

Same goes with the motherboard and memory.

I would throw a slot load DVD drive in there too, but I forgot to list it. I don't think we'll see slim slot load HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drives around and at reasonable prices for quite some time, but it would make a nice addition at some point.

Since this case doesn't seem to have much ventilation, getting low power components in there is going to be key I think. Otherwise, you'll probably have to run some fans at high RPM to expel all that heat and you probably wouldn't be looking at these forums if you wanted that

. The picoPSU should help by removing the PSU's heat and freeing up some more air space in there. Avoiding expansion cards should help too.

I have no idea how much is too much though in terms of processor power. The E6400 might be okay. I'm certainly hoping the E4300 is okay. If I were getting a new processor, I would probably consider the E8000 series. Those 45nm parts use quite a bit less power, which should translate to less heat.

That motherboard looks good, though those DOA comments are disconcerting.

You could look at the AMD route if you haven't already. You'll probably get better idle power consumption with a 690G board and BE-series processor. You might even save money. Of course, if you plan to leave your computer in sleep most of the time like me, the better efficiency of the Intel processors might come in handy.

Earlier I mentioned I was looking at the Hiper CPU cooler, but after looking at the pictures of it more closely, the heatsink doesn't seem to have much metal on it, so I'm a bit weary of what its performance might be versus the cooler that comes with the case. I wonder if there are any better options out there for ultra slim CPU coolers.

Jipa · Post by **Jipa** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:16 am

I don't know if the cooler seen on the Metku.net review always comes with this case, but I reckon it's not half bad. Haven't tested it too extensively though, but it doesn't seem to make too much noise and judging by the weight and the size it should be a better performer than the boxed coolers.

And the fan height is definitely limited to 60 mms unless you make an extra hole to the bottom and place a larger fan horisontally. I thought of making this, but now I already have a new mATX case to be reviewed...

And the case also comes with the slot loading drive. It only reads DVDs, but I think that's not a problem if the HTPC isn't your only rig.

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:49 am

It seems like the case comes in different configurations from different places, but as far as I know, it's only available from pcalchemy.com in the US. From there, no power supply or DVD drive is included. The CPU cooler and PCI riser are included. This case also doesn't seem to have the writing all over the front like the one in the metku.net review either.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:25 am

I stopped by my local Microcenter on the way home yesterday and picked up a few things.

EVGA e-7150/630i
XMS2 2GB PC-6400 DDR2
Intel E4500

I may get a new SATA Optical drive and a PCI-E HD tuner card. For now, I'll just put everything into my current case. The silver Antec Fusion. I think that's what it is? I'm going to email PCAlchemy and ask if the case does indeed come without those unneeded logos stamped on the front of the case. Hopefully it does. They take aways from the cases looks.

Unfortunately, this setup can't be run with passive cooling. But we'll figure out something. If I do go with this GMC case I'll need to find a slim optical drive. I need to find out if there are any models that use SATA connections.

The other case that I was considering is the Antec NSK1480. Of course it only comes with a silver face in a market where 98% of optical drives have black faceplates.

The old case is the NSK2480.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:48 am

The email has been sent to PC Alchemy concerning the logos on the front of the case. I will let you all know when I get a reply.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:42 am

All the GMC S7 cases we have do indeed have the logos removed. We were not big fans of those on the case and ordered all of our cases with no logos.

Let me know if you have any more questions about the case that we can answer, we build systems in them and have quite a bit of experience using them.

Jesse
Support Administrator

And then...

Just an FYI, the review of that case on Metku.net uses GMC's OEM PSU which we have tested to be very loud. The two PSU's we offer as options (Athena Power 350 and 450 watt) with the system are much quieter. Just wanted to let you know.

Jesse

So if we have more questions they will answer what they can for use. That's pretty cool of them.

Should we ask some cooling questions? Vibrations?

Jipa · Post by **Jipa** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:50 am

I can tell you there are no vibration killers of any kind for the HDD, so some sort of modification might be a good idea again. Ask them how they like the cooler? Is it enough for more modern CPUs than the 3500+ used in the review.... And if they've snapped any mounting brackets

EDIT: And good to hear they also think the stock PSU is noisy, one review I saw claimed the PSU to be quiet and the cooler to make all the noise.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:06 am

This is what I'm going to send.

Thanks for the timely response. I have posted you responses over at the SilentPC forum. Now they are questions other questions.

1. HDD vibrations since there aren't any dampeners.

2. Cooling.
- Is the includes cooling fan sufficient for todays CPU's?
- Have you broken any mounting brackets?

I'll be using an Intel E4500 myself, but some of the other guys may want to use something with a bit more power. I would also use a 2.5 SATA notebook drive, suspended if possible. For additional storage I would use an external USB device.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:37 am

Here is the latest response.

1. There is no noise isolation on the HDD mounts, we use Seagate DB35 drives which are very quiet so we don't notice much noise, but I would say a standard desktop drive would probably be pretty audible. A notebook drive would work well suspended in the mounting area (if possible, you guys do crazy stuff with your HDD suspension).

2. The fastest CPU's we have used with the included CPU cooler would be the Intel e6550 and AMD X2 5200+ EE. They have cooled fine. Haven't used a Quad yet; I'm sure the new e8400 series would work great in there with a P5E-VM HDMI (We've tested an e4600 with that board and flawless 1080p Blu-ray and HD DVD playback).

Jesse

Doesn't seem bad to me. What do you guys think?

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:35 pm

That's some good info. Thanks for sharing. I think that answers some of our questions about what kind of processors it can handle, etc. I'm sure an elastic suspension of some kind can be made to work with a notebook drive.

I think I'll still go the picoPSU route over the Athena mATX power supplies since I'm sure it'll be more efficient at low power load. If their mATX ones really aren't too bad on noise, they're certainly a cheaper (and higher power) alternative.

I'm a little torn between the 80W and 110W adapter for the picoPSU. Some people claim the 110W fan never comes on, and others claim it stays on all the time. I'm afraid 80W might be pushing it under full load. I don't like the 12V sagging that SPCR reported as it approaches that number either. Is a quiet 110W at a reasonable price just too much to ask?

The other bummer is that the silver case is sold out at PC Alchemy.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:34 pm

I'll go for the black case myself. These are the planned parts. I have the mobo, proc, RAM, Antenna, wifi and front end software already.

Front End - Sage TV Media Center 6.0
Case - GMC AVC-S7-B HTPC Case w/VFD and Remote
Motherboard - EVGA 7150/630i HDMI
CPU - Intel E4500 2.2 gHz
Video Card - Onboard - NVIDIA GeForce 7150 Video Chipset
Sound â€“ Onboard â€“ Will use the optical audio output
Hard drive - 2.5" Scorpio 160GB 5,400RPM SATA-150 Hard Drive OEM
DVD Drive - Panasonic UJ-85J-B Slim Slot Load
HDTV Tuner - VBOX Cat's Eye DTA-150 ATSC Terrestrial HDTV Receiver
WiFI - Netgear WG111 v.2
Memory - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240 pin DDR2 (PC2 6400)
PSU - Athena Power 350W MicroATX Power Supply, AP-MP4ATX35
Keyboard/Mouse - Logitech diNovo Edge Bluetooth
Antenna - Terrestrial Digital DB2 Multi-Directional HDTV

I will be using HDMI and optical audio outputs that will go into a stereo receiver once I get it.

I would like to upgraded the HD card to a PCI-E card so I need to find out about getting that part need to make it work.

An external storage system of about 750GB-1TB. They would be more than enough for years to come.

This is the plan right now. I'll see how it turns out.

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:59 pm

Looks like a pretty good system. Let us know how it works out.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:47 am

Ok, I've ordered the case with the 350watt PSU and slim DVD drive. Now to wait until next week to receive them.

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:00 am

Ok. Everything has arrived and I may start this project tonight or tomorrow night. I wish I had a digital camera to take some pictures.

I'll still have to get an external drive for additional storage. An eSATA drive hopefully.

redtyler1 · Post by **redtyler1** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:33 pm

Just as an idea, I think there is a 100w 12v ac adapter that is fanless available from this place.

http://www.idotpc.com/thestore/pc/viewP ... roduct=147

I emailed them directly and asked if the 100w and 110w versions had fans in them. The tech responded and said on ly the 110w version had a fan. So, this might help with the noise dilemma and power ceiling issue. Just a thought.

Alex

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:59 pm

I actually went and ordered all the parts to build my machine with this case too. I have pretty much everything except the case itself, which should be arriving tomorrow. I forgot about the slim optical to standard IDE converter and ordered that today, but there's a chance it will actually come in tomorrow, so maybe I can get it all running this weekend.

I'll report back on how everything goes (with pictures).

redtyler1:

I just ordered the Edac 110W brick that SPCR used. I was worried since some people reported the fan was always on for them, but I tested it out with the parts I'll be putting in the AVC-S7 and it never turned on. It's dead silent. Maybe the people who complained about noise just had higher power consumption than they thought. From the wall, this system measures at 44W idle and 70W under load. It'll go down some more when I switch to a 2.5" drive.

Edit: That 100W brick does look interesting though. I didn't realize there were any others at a reasonable price.

redtyler1 · Post by **redtyler1** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:19 pm

blaster5k,
I can't wait to see those pics! I am intrigued by the 100w brick. I am awaiting a mobo with the new RS780 or MCP78 IGP chipset to offload HD/BD content 100%. Plus, supposedly, the MCP78 chipset does 8 channel audio as well. So, Your experience will be really helpful to me in the coming month!

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:00 am

Be careful with the case screws. They were on so tight that I stripped the head on one. Now I have to buy a Dremel set today just to get that screw head off.

The cover is a bit ill fitted. with all the screws in it forces the chassis to twist a bit. Two of the cases feet are not on the ground and the case rocks. Once the screws are loosened the feet will go back down.

The case, the black model for me, looks great! None of the logos or even the GMC logo. It's a great size compared to the cases normally used for HTPCs. But I'm still waiting to see if the heatsink/fan can work in this case. It looks kind of big.

From what I can see inside of the case, suspension HDD setups are going to be a bit different. There are only side holes with nothing to suspend from. So the elastic will have to stretch between the holes like a spider web. But I also have another set up in mind.

The diNovio keyboard is charged up. I may connect it to my PlayStation 3 since it's bluetooth. Hopefully I'll have this put together this evening or tomorrow.

More to come soon.

blaster5k · Post by **blaster5k** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:37 pm

It seems my case got held up by "adverse weather conditions", so I guess I'll have to wait until next week before I can put everything together. Ugh.

redtyler1 · Post by **redtyler1** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:08 pm

Man, I'm sorry to hear about your case. That sucks! How are you thikning of mounting the HDD? As a side note, how do you generally suspend the hard drive in a case? Do you have a tried and true method or do you just eye-ball it when you get the case? I was hoping you could shed some light on it for me with pics or a description. Any help would be apreciated.

Have you seen the Omaura cases yet? They seem similar to the GMC case but they aren't available in the U.S. yet. But, Chris Morley is supposed to be remedying that in the near future.

Thanks and good luck with your case!

Alex

Jackal5 · Post by **Jackal5** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:30 pm

Why did you tell me about those cases!!!

Those are sweet!

Omaura

seraphyn · Post by **seraphyn** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 5:19 pm

That Omaura TF8 looks sexy..

The GMC AVC-S7 HTPC Case

The GMC AVC-S7 HTPC Case

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