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Trenton L.

Trenton L.

Joined on 03/08/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Favorable Review

Awesome for home entertainment!

ZALMAN Black Aluminum HD160XT-B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
ZALMAN Black Aluminum HD160XT-B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Pros: I ordered this case to run my media center set up. The case is very nicely constructed, and has an excellent finish and look to it. I installed an Asus P5K Deluxe board, 8800GTX, Antec 950 watt power supply, five 1TB hitachi's, and a blueray player with little difficulty.

Cons: The big 950 watt power supply required I remove the lower 80mm case fan, but I still have good airflow with the two in the rear, plus the two in the power supply. If you know what you're doing on builds, you can pretty easily figure out where to plug all the wiring the case comes with (there's a LOT). However, on a maxed out build, finding room for all the cables to keep airflow even and the build clean was a REAL chore. If you plan on running this case with a third party media center, DO NOT install the media OS version of windows, because you will lose your ability to use the remote control w/ your third party software. Windows intercepts it from the case's supplied drivers, and launches mediacenter - not allowing you to use the remote if you run a different media center / DVR software package. I'm rebuilding with Pro and ditching Mediacenter, because the remote works nice and I want to use it with third party software. :-)

Overall Review: My DVD cage screw was frozen with corrosion (this happens from exposure to different metals and high humidity - aluminum and steel, for instance). If you get a stuck screw, before putting in any components, fit a screwdriver on the screw, and tap the back of the screwdriver a few times gently with a hammer to break the threads free before attempting to unscrew it. I don't know if this is a common problem with these cases, but if you live in an area with high humidity it certainly may happen to you due to the different metals in the chassis. Having to reach for a dremel to cut off a stuck screw can really ruin your day when you're wanting to get a case built. Otherwise, this is an awesome media center case, and it certainly impresses every guest who walks in to the livingroom! Total build time on all the hardware was about 3 hours.

11/29/2007
Most Critical Review

Evaporation

MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 360R, ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler (AIO): Rotatable Blockhead Design, 360mm Radiator, Triple 120mm ARGB PWM Fans LGA 1700 / AM5 Compatible
MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 360R, ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler (AIO): Rotatable Blockhead Design, 360mm Radiator, Triple 120mm ARGB PWM Fans LGA 1700 / AM5 Compatible

Pros: Worked great.. until it didn't.

Cons: * Quit working after 10 months

Overall Review: After 10 months CPU overheat tripped. Checked all wiring, pulled out the block and radiator assembly. Removed the factory fill screw, and she was bone dry inside. Had to have been a slow leak, no obvious drip marks or signs of fluid in the case anywhere.

It drove me nuts

iStarUSA BPU-230SATA-RED 2x5.25" to 3x3.5" SATA Hot-swap Raid Cage
iStarUSA BPU-230SATA-RED 2x5.25" to 3x3.5" SATA Hot-swap Raid Cage

Pros: Fit the server, looks nice.

Cons: The drive in the middle drive bay kept failing. I played a shell game with various hard drives, but every single time I got an OS installed on the RAID 5 array within a few hours drive #2 would fail again. Bad connector, cold solder joint, who knows. All I know is this drive cage made me waste 3 days building a HyperV server thinking every hard drive I had was bad..

Overall Review: Aside from losing 3 days of my life that I'll never get back, none.