[eskro]

nice pics guys,

[voip-ninja]

Why are you guys having so much problem with PSU and heat? Let me ask you this- have any your HTPC die because of the heat and PSU in Mi-008 case?

For me, Mi-008 is not that bad. It seems to blend with the rest of my black home theater components in the entertainment center nicely. As far as heat and PSU, I haven't had a single issue with it. I left it on 24/7, and I live in the hottest state in U.S. Again, look is depending on the eyes of beholder!

Actually I did have issues with heat with this case/psu where I would get buffering in XBMC due to CPU temp causing throttling.

Now admittedly I was using the Kozuti cooler which is the worst possible CPU cooler choice for this particular case. Perhaps with a different CPU cooler it would not have been an issue.

[eskro]

yeah but clearance is so low in that APEX case,
what other cooler could fit under the PSU....
i think u have like barely 40mm of clearance...

[Gaalahaad]

Anyone have any thoughts on this review of the MI-008 on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/MI-008-Tower-Black...W629TJV9H1)
I've been running a revo1600 for a couple years and been slowly putting together potential builds in excel with one caveat: they all start with the MI-008 because I liked the look. I wonder if users that have used the case would comment.

thanks

The PSU is a bit above the CPU spot on the Asrock H67 m-itx, but there is enough clearance for installing an Intel G530 + stock cooler.

There was indeed a slight bending of the metal support of the PSU (the back plate), out of the box, but I did not see it getting worse in any way. I thought about trying to bend it back into "normal" position (we are talking about a tiny fraction of an inch here!), but just gave up thinking it could do more harm than good, and because this is a part that is hidden .... and the bending is barely noticeable. The good thing about the small CPU clearance is that the PSU is now supported by one corner of the fan structure :p Overall the metal structure inside feels like you could break it easily by putting too much pressure on it, but nothing that worried me during the assembly. I assume dropping the case could result in a drive etc ... pulling down its support, but I don't see own it could happen otherwise.

One point regarding the quality: As noted in one of the review (maybe on Newegg, not Amazon), once the enclosure is securely fasten, it feels really tightly in place and solid.

More general comment about the case: I hesitated a while to get that case because I hated the design of the front on the pictures (shiny plastic). I finally went for it because every single m-itx case seems to have flaws, except maybe in the several hundreds $ range (if even). So I was going to be desappointed anyway, let's go for the cheapest (actually I think the Antec ISK-300 was out of stock at Amazon too ...). Anyway, I am actually pretty happy with the case, I still do not like the front but it is not as fugly in real as in pics. the rest of the case is some kind of nice roughened metal ... and I never look at it anyway.

Noise is very acceptable (I set the CPU fan to as low as possible in the BIOS, but this has nothing to do with the case). If I put my head 1-3 feet from the case, I can hear a bit of the air flow, but I never hear it from the couch watching a movie, even in quiet scenes. However, I am not in an audiophile environment (just a normal random leaving room with a big window letting occasional street sounds in, + A/C running from time to time, ...). Someone with a more controlled audio environment might be annoyed by the case's noises.

The heat is also fine with just the case PSU fan + CPU stock fan. You can sometimes feel some warmth on back of the case and warm air coming out, but nothing I would call 'hot' (I leave some room around the case). Although, to be honest, I haven't conducted rigorous tests by stressing the system and measuring the temp.

[eskro]

thanks for your input Gaalahaad, glad you like it

[bluray]

I assume dropping the case could result in a drive etc ... pulling down its support, but I don't see own it could happen otherwise.

If you drop any HTPC regardless of the case on the title floor, it'll damage something.

Someone with a more controlled audio environment might be annoyed by the case's noises.

Regardless of the case- installing a noisy case fan in it, it'll be noisy. As far as surround sound- with proper system calibration (Audyssey), it should take environment noises into consideration.

You can sometimes feel some warmth on back of the case and warm air coming out, but nothing I would call 'hot' (I leave some room around the case). Although, to be honest, I haven't conducted rigorous tests by stressing the system and measuring the temp.

Again, regardless of the case- you will feels some warm air come out from any HTPC case through exhaust fan. As long as it still running, I wouldn't worry about it!