Benchmarking - Sound

Perhaps what is of most interest when dealing with an HTPC case is the noise levels created by the enclosure. To measure the MCE601, we held a sound pressure level sensor twelve inches away from the closed case with our test bed installed and running. Take a look at the level compared to some of the other cases that we have reviewed recently.

Sound Benchmarks

With noise levels this low, the MCE601 should not be loud enough to annoy anyone in a home theater setting. It appears that Ahanix is definitely trading cooling performance for low noise levels, and with an HTPC case, this might not be a bad decision. Heat really should not be much of a problem unless temperatures get extremely high anyway.

It is also worth mentioning that the noise created by the fans in this case comes out as a dull sounding white noise. With dual 60mm fans, we were worried that the noise generated by the MCE601 would be more of a high-pitched whine, but thankfully, this is not the case. This less noticeable noise is a great thing for an HTPC chassis, as it will be virtually unnoticeable to people in the same room as the computer, considering that they will be sitting a fair distance away from the case.

Benchmarking - Thermal Final Words
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  • Dmitheon - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

    Couple of quick additions. Not to sound like an advertisement, but pcalchemy is offering a customized version of this case (in addition to the standard one), where they remove the PSU and add an adapter which allows any MicroATX PSU to be used. It's a bit cheaper than the normal version. Also, a thanks to the site for review HTPC cases. Many of the regular HTPC sites don't actually do thermal & sound measurements, and this stuff is useful. My only other hopes that you guys can take a look at some of the newer offerings from Uneed and Silverstone, particularly Uneeds X11 and X15e, and Silverstone's LC14M.
  • yelo333 - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

    Same issue as #3.

    FF 1.0.3, and Gentoo stable.
  • Netopia - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

    I don't think that there are any other graphics on that page. There SHOULD be (it does say click to see full sized) but there aren't.

    Photography also needs to be better. In an all black environment like inside a case, one should use some sort of bounce flash to fill the shadows and give some contrast so that people can tell what they are looking at.

    Other than that, nice review.
  • Aquila76 - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

    #3 - Same deal on XP and FireFox, too. Maybe the link got wiped when the article was posted?
  • sideshow23bob - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

    Hey I had trouble viewing the thermal data. I assume there was something more than an picture of the internal case +mobo, b/c that's all I saw when I scrolled over it. I'm currently on a friend's Mac and using safari as a browser, so let me know if it's my issue or on all computers. Thanks.
  • Googer - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

  • Zepper - Thursday, May 5, 2005 - link

    Guys are slipping... Typical Ahanix - all show, no go. I have never seen one yet where even half the attention paid to the external appearance was paid to internal details and modern conveniences. No vibe dampers for the drives or fans. Less than 1/4" of added height would accomodata a stanard PSU. And it goes on and on...

    .bh.

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