Fusion Max -- ATX version of Antec Fusion is coming

el Filou · Post by **el Filou** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:58 am

Mikey, Anandtech has some good photos of the inside of the case: http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsu ... i=3427&p=8

This is now my production system for watching/recording TV so I can't easily make photos but I'll try to do it when I find time to fiddle with it.

I'd say you can fit a 160 mm-long PSU without any problem, maybe a 180 mm but anything longer (don't know if that sort of thing exists) would come very close to the hard disks and/or block the hole for passing the cables to the main chamber.

In the meantime I have some more remarks on this case:

- The front USB ports build quality is not very high nor very consistent. I noticed that when I plug an USB flash stick it moves very easily when connected. It seems to come from the USB port itself rather than from the way it's attached to the front panel. The effect is more important on one port than on the other. It didn't cause any problems with the devices until now but that's the first time I've seen that on a case, or on any USB port.
Same for the front headset jack, it looks like the connector is being held back by the plastic front panel, possibly preventing it from being fully inserted: I don't feel the typical "click" of the tip falling into place I usually feel when inserting a 3.5 mm connector, instead it makes contact with the plastic of the front panel. Do you guys think that might be the cause of my electrical noise problems? The grounding part not making full contact?

- I've come to tolerate the LCD display now. I still find it much worse in contrast than what I feared it would be, but after tweaking the contrast values it's usable (the range where its contrast is best is really small, 32-48 on a 0-128 scale. Lower and text becomes darker, higher and the inactive elements start emitting light), you just have a very limited viewing angle before it turns whiteish and the lag is still noticeable, you don't want to scroll text fast on it like a news ticker.

- The case emits a big vibration noise in some conditions when the hard disk is accessed. I've enabled AAM but it didn't disappear. This is coming from the top panel as when I push on it toward the front of the case the noise stops. I've tried tightening the only top panel screw (two screws may have been better, Antec) as hard as I can, and also tried to let it loose but it doesn't stop.
Therefore I wonder: have I tightened the hard disks screws too much?
That's the first time I fix a hard disk with silicon grommets, and I tightened the screws just until they stopped untightening by themselves from the self-expansion movement of the silicon grommets.
Do these things need to be more loose or, on the contrary, should I tighten the screws more?

- Which brings me to another design mistake: if you put a hard disk in the left position in the PSU chamber, the SATA power connector ends up making contact and pushing against a part of the metal flap the hd cage is fixed to. Maybe that's where my vibration noise comes from?
If the hard disk screws are tightened too hard, the metal flap really starts exerting pressure on the SATA power connector, to the point where you can't connect or disconnect it without untightening the hd screws. I put the hd in the left postion because I thought it would get more airflow and generate a bit less noise being less close to the side of the case, but I don't like that connector making contact.

- Speaking of noise, I enabled AAM at 128 on the WD Green (factory disabled) because I still heard its access noise when watching a movie, now it's gone and the performance hit is not really noticeable. That really is a nice hard drive for a media PC.

- The rear 120 mm fan is definitely audible even on Low. Maybe it's because I'm getting used to it and so its noise starts bothering me more, but it's definitely not silent as I thought when I first powered up the system.

-DeN- · Post by **-DeN-** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:21 am

Thanks for the feedback. But is there any updates on this product ? Review or sth ?

Magilla · Post by **Magilla** » Thu May 07, 2009 9:30 am

Just bought one of these, unfortunately the case itself was great but the LCD....what a disaster.

In all other respects the case more than lives up to expectations, but the LCD backlight is so bright that the display colours are distorted to cyan text on a pink background as opposed to blue on black.

There is no option in the iMon software to control brightness (as was stated in a post earlier), only to adjust LCD contrast. This makes zero difference to the brightness of the LCD, the backdrop is always bright pink regardless.

Also, the LCD on this case doesn't stay off when the computer is shutdown.

It does stay off when the computer is sleeping, but a propper shutdown fades it out only for it to come back on (displaying the time) when the machine finally shuts down.

I also have a black Fusion 430 (the mATX) version, with the same LCD display. On this case, the display is blue on black (as expected) and does stay off when the machine is turned off.

There's lots of complaints on the Soundgraph forum about the LCD staying on, but no posts from support offering any solution.

So all in all an excellent case, utterly ruined by the terrible display.

The backlight is so bright it's bleeding throught the LCD and coming up bright pink.

The display on mine was so bright it was like having a torch shining in your face. It's completely unfit for purpose as it lights the entire room and distracts from the TV. Everyone who saw was amazed at just how abysmal it was, simply terrible.

I've returned the case to the retailer for a replacement.
I'm not overly confident as I have read a huge number of reviews complaining about the overly bright LCD.

However "fangtastic" posted a picture of theirs earlier (thanks loads) and the display was not overbright, so I live in hope.

I'm now awaiting a replacement Fusion Max, hopefully with a non knackered display, but I have a feeling I'm going to be going back and forth quite a bit because of the LCD.

Oh, before I forget, I noticed a number of posts about the double LED's on the front. This is another annoyance.

Despite there being a HDD LED and power LED already built into the case, Antec have decided to make them crap by soldering them together and stuffing them on a molex connector so they're both forced on all the time....Shoddy!

If you can be bothered you can re-wire the panel and connect these to the motherboard so that the HDD and power LEDs work as expected (as they should in the first place). The molex pin 4 is 5v, as are the MB pins.

Beware: My MB flashes the power LED in sleep, so you might want to leave this on the molex so it stays off.

I didn't bother re-wiring mine as it's been returned, but I will when/if I get one with a propper display. I couldn't live without HDD LED

Magilla · Post by **Magilla** » Thu May 07, 2009 9:41 am

.......

whispercat · Post by **whispercat** » Fri May 15, 2009 7:05 pm

Ok, I'm confused.

The Antec Fusion Max is black and has the knob. It was reviewed here. However, it is not listed on Antec's website. The only HTPCs on Antec's site are the NSK 2480 and the Minuet 350 (both no knobs).

So, where did the Antec Fusion Max come from ?

Post by **MikeC** » Fri May 15, 2009 8:38 pm

whispercat wrote:Ok, I'm confused.

The Antec Fusion Max is black and has the knob. It was reviewed here. However, it is not listed on Antec's website. The only HTPCs on Antec's site are the NSK 2480 and the Minuet 350 (both no knobs).

So, where did the Antec Fusion Max come from ?

It's in the category of Media Components.

Magilla · Post by **Magilla** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:11 am

OK, well.. am now on my 5th Fusion Max case, every one has had a faulty display, massively overbright such that the black portions of the display are pink. None of the LCD's turn off when the PC shuts down, unlike my Fusion (mATX) case.

Decided to give up.

The best thing I can say about this case... It has big problems.