No optical drive option. At $50 it is a value proposition, but the EVGA Hadron is a much better case, with an optical option, and includes a 500W Gold power supply for $150.
While Anandtech has not done a review on that model, the reviews that have been done said the power supply was not that noisy. I don't know where you are getting this failure documentation, but that model does come with a three year warranty so your comments are suspect.
Go read the EVGA forums for plenty of people complaining about it. I would take a more serviceable and widely available PSU form factor any day of the week even if it wasn't an issue
I'm not surprised the 1U PSU is failing a lot. The only way a 40mm fan can generate enough air flow to keep a large PSU cool is to run louder than a jet turbine. This is only acceptable inside a server room where humans rarely enter. For something sitting on your desk the fan needs to be throttled to the point where under any sort of sustained load the PSU is probably cooking itself.
I don't see a major problem with the lack of an optical drive any more. Aside from installing old software they're rarely needed anymore; just get a USB model for the rare occasions you need it. Also, SFF slot drives tend to be hard to find an expensive anyway. Unless you need one regularly paying that much extra to keep it in the case doesn't seem to be a good idea.
There has been no evidence provided that it has ever failed, nor is it too loud.
"Sure, things are not as quiet as with a normally sized 500W power supply, but our fear of the Hadron Air being too loud were definitely debunked." -- TechPowerUp
This case should have an optical drive. With its low price and quiet 200mm fan its best use case is as an HTPC, and an HTPC should have a bluray drive.
With support for full size ATX power supplies and 2 slot full length cards, it's a small gamer box. If you're putting a bug GPU inside, it's going to be too loud to put next to the TV. If you don't, it's way bulkier than necessary.
I obviously can't speak for this particular case, but in general I'd say the noise being a problem is debatable. I have Elite 120s with full size SeaSonic PSUs and Radeon 7850s. They aren't even audible with the TV on, even at low volumes. Running FurMark and Prime95 full tilt would obviously change that, but even the basic Steam gaming the machines do isn't enough to make them noisy enough to notice. YMMV and there's obviously a ton of variables, but I think this size case with a moderate build and a quiet card (e.g. GTX 750) is a reasonable TV companion.
I agree that's there is personal preference involved, but that would definitely be too much noise for me to use as an HTPC. My HTPC is completely silent, as in zero dB. I'm using a passively cooled motherboard (NVidia Jetson), an external DC power supply, and an SSD.
On the topic of whether HTPCs need an optical drive, it's my feeling that they generally don't. Mine has an external USB Bluray drive, but it's rarely plugged in. Granted, the same TV has a Playstation 3 hooked to it, so that's where the discs normally go.
Lots of posts from actual buyers about the PSU being too loud. And apparently it isn't just the volume that's the issue, the pitch seems to drive people bonkers too.
> I don't see a major problem with the lack of an optical drive any more.
For HTPCs having an optical drive is almost a must, otherwise you'll always have an armada of standalone players around.
Also if you want to play any of the even just slightly older games you will need to a real drive thanks to copy protection schemes, well, that or you'll apply some Chinese/Russion No-CD crack that will with 95% probability infect your system with some sort of nasty malware. I might sound outdated but I still like to play NBA 2K13 for example...
> For HTPCs having an optical drive is almost a must, otherwise you'll always have an armada of standalone players around.
Only if you are a legacy user that still has/uses dvds/blurays... every movie junkie (e.g. htpc user) i know has long archived his/her collection onto hdds...
Those seem like quite different cases though in almost every aspect. The price gap is obvious, and would be enough for a very nice PSU + case for the Thermaltake. The Hadron is tiny in comparison (the Core is 44% larger), which can either be a pro or con depending on what your priorities are. The design of the Hadron makes it ideally suited to vertical orientation, where it is too tall to be a good HTPC candidate for most.
Really, the Core seems like Thermaltake's alternative to something like the Cooler Master Elite 130 which shares the exact same MSRP and is very close dimension/volume wise. I like the aesthetics of the Core better, so it will be interesting to see if/when it starts hitting sale prices of $40 or less. The Cooler Master has been my go-to case for cheap HTPC builds, and I still think it's an awesome case for the seemingly-perpetually-on-sale price in the $35 range if you aren't trying to build an overclocking monster.
That is definitely a feature and not a bug. I don't even use optical storage once a year and a USB-attached solution for those special occasions makes all the sense in the world.
yes Im wih you on this. Someone is going to have to stick a CPU and RAM with cables and do an unbiased test on it. Im interested in the temps under load.
As for whoever thinks they need a optical drive. Hahah. this is 2014. With usb boot and UFD with HDD a storage. This is really irrelevant. And an optical drive decrease airflow.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
19 Comments
Back to Article
coburn_c - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
No optical drive option. At $50 it is a value proposition, but the EVGA Hadron is a much better case, with an optical option, and includes a 500W Gold power supply for $150.owan - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
That gold PSU is a noisy 1U form factor that has a well documented history of failure. Because of this the Hadron is a complete non-starter in my eyescoburn_c - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
While Anandtech has not done a review on that model, the reviews that have been done said the power supply was not that noisy. I don't know where you are getting this failure documentation, but that model does come with a three year warranty so your comments are suspect.owan - Tuesday, August 5, 2014 - link
Go read the EVGA forums for plenty of people complaining about it. I would take a more serviceable and widely available PSU form factor any day of the week even if it wasn't an issueDanNeely - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
I'm not surprised the 1U PSU is failing a lot. The only way a 40mm fan can generate enough air flow to keep a large PSU cool is to run louder than a jet turbine. This is only acceptable inside a server room where humans rarely enter. For something sitting on your desk the fan needs to be throttled to the point where under any sort of sustained load the PSU is probably cooking itself.I don't see a major problem with the lack of an optical drive any more. Aside from installing old software they're rarely needed anymore; just get a USB model for the rare occasions you need it. Also, SFF slot drives tend to be hard to find an expensive anyway. Unless you need one regularly paying that much extra to keep it in the case doesn't seem to be a good idea.
coburn_c - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
There has been no evidence provided that it has ever failed, nor is it too loud."Sure, things are not as quiet as with a normally sized 500W power supply, but our fear of the Hadron Air being too loud were definitely debunked." -- TechPowerUp
This case should have an optical drive. With its low price and quiet 200mm fan its best use case is as an HTPC, and an HTPC should have a bluray drive.
DanNeely - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
With support for full size ATX power supplies and 2 slot full length cards, it's a small gamer box. If you're putting a bug GPU inside, it's going to be too loud to put next to the TV. If you don't, it's way bulkier than necessary.Bob Todd - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
I obviously can't speak for this particular case, but in general I'd say the noise being a problem is debatable. I have Elite 120s with full size SeaSonic PSUs and Radeon 7850s. They aren't even audible with the TV on, even at low volumes. Running FurMark and Prime95 full tilt would obviously change that, but even the basic Steam gaming the machines do isn't enough to make them noisy enough to notice. YMMV and there's obviously a ton of variables, but I think this size case with a moderate build and a quiet card (e.g. GTX 750) is a reasonable TV companion.barleyguy - Tuesday, August 5, 2014 - link
I agree that's there is personal preference involved, but that would definitely be too much noise for me to use as an HTPC. My HTPC is completely silent, as in zero dB. I'm using a passively cooled motherboard (NVidia Jetson), an external DC power supply, and an SSD.On the topic of whether HTPCs need an optical drive, it's my feeling that they generally don't. Mine has an external USB Bluray drive, but it's rarely plugged in. Granted, the same TV has a Playstation 3 hooked to it, so that's where the discs normally go.
Bob Todd - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
http://forums.evga.com/EVGA-Hadron-Air-Really-loud...Lots of posts from actual buyers about the PSU being too loud. And apparently it isn't just the volume that's the issue, the pitch seems to drive people bonkers too.
Daniel Egger - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
> I don't see a major problem with the lack of an optical drive any more.For HTPCs having an optical drive is almost a must, otherwise you'll always have an armada of standalone players around.
Also if you want to play any of the even just slightly older games you will need to a real drive thanks to copy protection schemes, well, that or you'll apply some Chinese/Russion No-CD crack that will with 95% probability infect your system with some sort of nasty malware. I might sound outdated but I still like to play NBA 2K13 for example...
bernstein - Tuesday, August 5, 2014 - link
> For HTPCs having an optical drive is almost a must, otherwise you'll always have an armada of standalone players around.Only if you are a legacy user that still has/uses dvds/blurays... every movie junkie (e.g. htpc user) i know has long archived his/her collection onto hdds...
Bob Todd - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
Those seem like quite different cases though in almost every aspect. The price gap is obvious, and would be enough for a very nice PSU + case for the Thermaltake. The Hadron is tiny in comparison (the Core is 44% larger), which can either be a pro or con depending on what your priorities are. The design of the Hadron makes it ideally suited to vertical orientation, where it is too tall to be a good HTPC candidate for most.Really, the Core seems like Thermaltake's alternative to something like the Cooler Master Elite 130 which shares the exact same MSRP and is very close dimension/volume wise. I like the aesthetics of the Core better, so it will be interesting to see if/when it starts hitting sale prices of $40 or less. The Cooler Master has been my go-to case for cheap HTPC builds, and I still think it's an awesome case for the seemingly-perpetually-on-sale price in the $35 range if you aren't trying to build an overclocking monster.
Troff - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
That is definitely a feature and not a bug. I don't even use optical storage once a year and a USB-attached solution for those special occasions makes all the sense in the world.DanNeely - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
"the front was fitted with a 200mm fan with space for another 120mm in the rear."...later down...
"Thermaltake quote the Core V1 as supporting mounding points for 120mm and 140mm fans on the sides with an additional two 80mm points at the back."
Looking at the pictures I think the latter is right. There're 2 fan mounts in the rear and they look too small to be 120mm.
fic2 - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
From Newegg specs:Cooling System
80mm Fans
Rear:
2 x 80mm
120mm Fans
Front:
1 x 120mm or
1 x 140mm or
1 x 200mm
Daniel Egger - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
What's up with the flood of crappy pictures? Is Anandtech out of usable cameras or is this supposed to be a phone camera real life test?Troff - Monday, August 4, 2014 - link
Someone needs to stick a CPU in one of those, measure the temperature at idle and under load and then get back to meaxiommods - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
yes Im wih you on this. Someone is going to have to stick a CPU and RAM with cables and do an unbiased test on it. Im interested in the temps under load.As for whoever thinks they need a optical drive. Hahah. this is 2014. With usb boot and UFD with HDD a storage. This is really irrelevant. And an optical drive decrease airflow.