APEVIA Black X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Comment:
Can be positioned vertically or horizontallyPlenty of power connectorsFan exhaust from PSU in front is good for house entertainment racks - easy to keep it coolLooks nicePSU is quiet enough for the household room PSU looks a little rinky dinkyHard drive installation could be a little smootherCable management could be a little betterCan't sit on the lid if you take it off ;) I truly like this case. It looks good, the PSU is quiet and it was straightforward to install almost everything in it. I wish the drive installation and replacement was a little easier (requires taking the front off, feels a little "messy"), but other than that I believe this is a good item. I accidentally sat down on the lid soon after putting it on my chair although, and it made a quite visible dent in it. Don't do that. :(

Comment:
-excellent bang for buck specially with rebate and coupon-fits any modern video card and atx mobo without having concern-airflow is very good when you add two 120mm fans-two 80mm fans that come with case are quiet and powerful -with no a modular PS, every thing is cramped. Hard to fit a DVD or CD driver as you'll require to put the excess energy supply cables somewhere-no rounded edges so do not cut oneself, but not expected for the cost -never ever bothered with energy supplyimmeadiately replaced with corsair-anybody who tries to use this PS better have a actually excellent reason

Comment:
-Looks superior from a distance-Superior ventilation than half the standard desktop PC cases I see.-Very good accessory bag, not good, but very good. -No routing conduit for front panel header cables-Key power supply bundle quite stiff-Removal of faceplate worrisome Mine came damaged. Front faceplate had all attachment pieces snapped off save for one, right half of the case had slight dent towards the front.Apevia would not cross ship the front panel only, so I phoned Newegg. Lady on the phone was fairly content to support me get a RMA began including overnighting a replacement and I can send mine back when I get the new 1. They'll of course refund my CC when it's returned. The case looks solid and I suspect the next one will be good.

Comment:
Reasonable case for the cost. Sharp edges. The default setting on the hidden energy provide switch was "off". Had to take away the front bezel to turn the energy supply on. Make positive you check this just before declaring the power provide DOA!

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*Very good black finish*Decent amount of room (ATX) *Arrived with all but 1 of the plastic clips holding the front panel on broken. Apparently this is a extremely frequent dilemma with these cases. I hotglued them in location and will most likely be putting a couple hinges and a magnetic clasp on it down the line.*Power supply is Inexpensive. Would not trust it with my hardware. It says "Designed for Pentium 4" on it, LOL. Put an older Antec in its location.*Bright front light, but that's an effortless fix - just put a resistor in line. After I purchased it I was unable to locate the rebate anywhere, so I'm out the ฤ that the rebate was supposed to cover - I paid the full ๛ for this thing. For that dollars, I'd have bought a significantly nicer case for 贄, or the nMedia PC case which I assume looks like a superior deal.They must honestly just drop the inexpensive PSU and sell the case for less, or build the case with far better high quality. The front panel is in obvious need to have of a revision.

Comment:
Looks great and straightforward to function with. Power supply dead If you going to sell a HTPC program case make confident the energy provide functions. Alot of complaints about becoming DOA Manufacturer Response:It is probable that the power supply was turned off by default at factory. If you have not already done so, get rid of the front panel and check to make positive that the power switch is set to the on ( | ) position.

Comment:
I've assembled a handful of computers in my day, and this 1 went together the fastest. Almost everything fit as expected. Nice case. It's a small on the heavy side, even for a steal case. They didn't give me sufficient screws for the quantity of stand-offs in the bag. Apevia doubled the rebate amount four days following I bought this. All minor cons, but they add up to -1 star.

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The fans were not loud. The case looks nice. This energy supply is junk. It could not power up my technique that can only draw 400 watts. Do not expect that this power provide will run a method that draws over 200 watts.

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Incredibly excellent searching IMHO, Dead fairly, excellent wire management with my micro ATX motherboard. Not as tight as I thought it was going to be, just take your time. All the wires are lengthy adequate for my motherboard. Had enough screws and standoffs for micro ATX plus a few extras. I seriously like this case for my HTPC set up. The add on card slots are kind of flimsy and get bent when removing stampings, be careful. I had to visually verify that the fans were all working. I am going to check voltages tomorrow because I just can't think it's so quiet possibly the fans aren't turning up sufficient. LOL came in excellent condition from UPS.

Comment:
For a HTPC case, it has a lot of room, and is well constructed, fits most video cards, and my system is operating as cool as it did when i utilised a tower case. Full sized power supply, that is simply replaced with essentially any atx power supply. Can also be stood up on it's side, but i don't see it becoming positioned that way in most applications. LEDs are a little unbalanced in brightness, the power light is an really bright blue light, whilst the challenging drive light is a barely lit red, but i'm confident they can simply be replaced with new LEDs. Really significant video cards will not fit in this case, but most folks would possibly use a tower case for a setup like that. For an inexpensive HTPC case with decent ventilation, room for full height cards, and a 500w regular sized power supply that can simply be replaced, I'd certainly suggest 1 of these situations, and if solid black isn't what you're searching for, APEVIA even makes a few other colors to pick from, which would be nice to use for a desktop pc as nicely. Haven't employed the included power supply so i can't speak. My Radeon 4850would have fit, if i hadn't installed a bigger power supply, so keep that in thoughts when upgrading the power supply.

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This case was the appropriate size for what I was looking for. Set up was straight forward and didn't take any longer than a usual install. Energy supply seemed to be on the low end. This was not unexpected. This case was tight. I only installed a DVD and HD. I installed a energy supply that I already had. The energy supply cables are a tight fit past the video card and cable routing isn't pretty. There is very little wiggle room but everything worked out well.

Comment:
Nice look, good construction. These had been cons for me, but perhaps not everybody. First, don't even attempt to hookup the front audio jack to your motherboard. I'd read a review that said it blew their audio, but I tried anyway. Identical result. Second, while it is good to have a slimmer component, I'd rather it be yet another inch or two taller. I have an AMD phenom with a stock cooler on it. I never ever had an issue with my old case, but with this, it sits so close to the leading panel that it doesn't really disperse the heat well and the fan runs all out all the time. This makes it quite LOUD. I've been looking at the side fan heatpipe/sink and all are too tall to even fit inside the case let alone on the mb. Not exactly certain what I'll do about this. Third, if you have a huge video card, I'd reconsider. It essentially cuts the box in half, going to the topof the panel and trapping the video heatsink on the side with the psu.Fourth, this 1 is minor, but outside the blue energy indicator could probably be noticed from sp The cable routing as some have pointed out isn't terrible as lengthy as you only use one 5.25" bay and stuff all the extras in the unused spot. I put two scythe 120mm fans in the sides to assist dissipate the heat but due to the video card and the cpu heatsink it gets genuinely warm inside. I like the look of it, but if they would have made it an inch taller it would have made a lot of factors less difficult. If you have to have a HTPC case for a full size mb, this isn't a bad deal, but maintain it simple inside the case. If I did it more than, I'd get a tiny little laptop or computer.

Comment:
Case looks very excellent. It has a black glossy finish that matches my 40" Dynex LCD. The price was very good. When you add in the rebate I got, free of charge shipping, an included energy supply, and FULL ATX motherboard support, it is a Excellent deal on a extremely superior seeking HTPC case. One of my old 745 builds an Athlon 64 3000+ had been retired to HTPC duty in my bedroom but the old "free" beige case I had moved it into looked so ugly I had to get a far better searching case to residence it and I didn't want to invest additional on the case than the old components were worth. Supplied fans don't move enough air to be felt when you put your hand at the back of the case. Difficult create simply because every little thing is cramped, but nicely worth the effort. I applied the HD led for the energy led and left energy led disco because it was too bright for bedroom. Considering that airflow is not so wonderful I would not recommend this case to be utilised for a gaming or high finish develop. Provided energy supply is low good quality nonetheless I didn't even try it because I already had an antec true 550 energy supply that I paid a lot more for than I did for this case with power supply. No ventilation for hardrives. Some men and women have reported connecting the front audio jacks killed their sound so I left that disconnected rather than opportunity it I actually didn't need to have that function anyway. I didn't use the included power supply. It LOOKS good, good black case with a huge fan, but the wiring harness weighs more than the power supply itself. A very good measure of the high quality of a energy supply is it's weight and what it costs. Commonly you get what you pay for. Don't believe me? Then don't take my word for it, by all indicates Appear AT THE Critiques for the included energy supply, newegg sells it, the Apevia WIN-500XSPX. Not that low cost power supplies don't have their makes use of. I use them when I throw together some old components to construct a free of charge computer system system to give away to a friend or a person in want of a pc. If any individual is DEAD SET on buying a affordable power supply I suggest acquiring a Rocketfish 550 watt off e bay. I got one off e (you know exactly where) for ภ including shipping and it is currently powering my major gaming rig, a phenom 945 + 260 gtx without issue.

Comment:
Low price.Looks good in living room cabinet. Needs additional fans, and added patience to construct.Paint chips easily.If you use the lower 3.5 bay for an IR receiver you might have to put the difficult drive in the low airflow side bay.Only 1 expansion slot cover can be put back, the rest are only removeable. You can't change your mind and put them back, so you should choose carefully what you take out as there's no going back as soon as you remove 1. A different energy LED complaint - way too bright. I would just unplug it from the motherboard, but I want SOME indication that the technique is on so rather I put some electrical tape over it to dim it a bit.Power supply location is creative, but I'd prefer a wider case with a a lot more conventional layout. Plan on putting added fans in. Right after working to resolve heat issues I reversed the dual rear fans (now intakes) as indicated on an additional review as well as added two 120mm fans Ƒ on on each side) as exhaust fans.Mixed feelings about the energy supply; I replaced it, but the 1 that comes with has a large exhaust fan positioned on top and aligned with the vented opening. Could have been wiser to leave it in and attempt it out. Before fan function MB was reporting 45C, after 39-40C. CPU was generally in the low 30's, so that was not the dilemma region. My difficulty was probably due to having 2x2GB of memory installed in addition to three ATSC tuner cards - 2 of which are old PCI cards and type of big. Overall a bargain buy. Not best of the line good quality but good sufficient. As lengthy as you know what you're getting you'll be happy with this case.

Comment:
Super Quiet and overly impressed with the included 500W PSU. 4 Molex, 4 Sata, 1 PCI express, 1 floppy, atx, p4. Plus an adapter to to convert 1 of the molex to sata. only 1 set of external usb. has one 1394 which seriously is getting phased out, especially now that USB three. is here. HDD light is very dim compared to the high beam power led. only two slots for HDDs, and one is the floppy (not that I anticipate many need to have this). Manufacturer Response:The X-Master case basically has room for three internal 3.five" drives (four if you count the external bay). If you do not install fans on the side grills, you can place added difficult drives there.

Comment:
Terrific Media Server. Great layout and I adore the PSU location and cooling methods. Case fans had been not too loud and move an acceptable quantity of air. It fit under my Television in the living room with much less than 1ǘ inch on any side. The front Bezel arrived with no harm as other people have reported and it looks pretty. When you get this case, THROW THE PSU OUT. Its garbage. ASUS motherboards detected huge ripples and surges in the output. PSU testers proved true. garbage and lightweight as if theres nothing in it..... :P the glossy paint is a fingerprint magnet. The blue LED on the front is obscenely bright but that doesn't bother me (may other people). I purchased an EVGA GTS450 to run my media center from. It was the tightest fit I have ever come across. I had to bend the wires on the 6pin power connecter to get it to fit in between the replacement PSU I used and the card itself. The case material is low-cost and sharp and bends with small force. Attempting to put that replacement PSU in was a pain becuase it was a fraction bigger than the cheezy one they send with it. Its great minus the PSU and if they would ditch it and cut the price I would acquire once more. Its incredibly appealing and has a low profile that doesn't draw considerably attention. Watch your video card if you choose a efficiency card like the GTS/X series or the bigger Radeon cards as they will NOT FIT. Newegg got it to me in two days and as generally it arrived in excellent condition with a couple of scuffs on the packaging but no holes and no dings. I Really like NEWEGG!!! They have the ideal costs and the ideal choice for pretty much anything with a powerswitch :D

Comment:
Wonderful Deal. For 25 bucks you cant beat this with a stick. Issues are a little tight if you use a Full size ATX mobo.Prolly couldnt fit a GTX480 in it. PSU has the following connectorsᚼƲMobo 4 pin4 Sata4 Molextwo Floppy1 PCI-e

Comment:
Fits pretty much almost everything I had perfectly, fits even older Drives. Energy source is of great top quality, cords are incredibly tough and rigid. Can be applied as a tower. Overall good. As opposed to other reviews, I did not get anything damaged (not even the outside box). Every little thing is clogged up in tiny spaces, was incredibly difficult to connect those last two or three wires. Had some trouble figuring out the sliding drive bays. On the other hand, I do have some issues with the ฮ rebate give. I placed the order on September 22, 2010 (the last day for that rebate), however, I received the invoice in the e-mail on September 23, 2010, consequently putting me out of the rebate. May well look at returning the product for refund. I have some problems with the ฮ rebate give. I placed the order on September 22, 2010 (the last day for that rebate), however, I received the invoice in the email on September 23, 2010, consequently putting me out of the rebate. May consider returning the product for refund.

Comment:
Smallest case you could almost certainly fit a full size board in. Very quiet overall. Good slick appear to it. Appears properly produced. Ditch the two 80mm fans and replace with a quieter, less bright version. Kinda huge seriously for a media center PC these days. Super bright energy button light too. Cheap power supply but at least it's quiet. Like others have mentioned, get rid of everything when creating it - take off the front panel as nicely mainly because the energy supply ships turned off, and you ought to get rid of the front panel to get to the switch. I replaced the two 80mm fans in the back with super quiet no-led fans and left the energy and difficult drive LED's disconnected to maintain from distracting. Thankfully the energy supply fan is quite very quiet, so with replacing the two 80mm and making use of an right after-marketplace super quiet CPU HFC I can't even tell it's on.Of course the mobo I bought had a super bright blue LED on the board which is appropriate next to the side vent, so it nonetheless lights the room up.

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Roomy! Roomy! Roomy! Some men and women complaint that added cables from PSU all over the case and block airflow – I DISAGREE and this is the reason I’m writing this assessment. Excellent Organizations Have to have TO BE SUPPORTED!!!!!There is a large empty pocket (space) below the PSU and added cables can be folded there. That pocket is so huge that you can put two additional challenging drives in there. All 3 fans are very. I could not be happier! The power LED is particularly bright and annoying for under Television home media center!!!!!! Organization Requirements TO ADDRESS IT!!!!!!!!!!! Manual could be a bit much better. But I assembled complete HTPC in just three hours from the moment I opened the boxes to the moment I activated the windows 7. And final time I assembled PC was in 2002. So I think for individuals with greater skills it will be no brainer at all. as other's complaint PSU has been turned off out of factory. Small flyer could fix the frustration of many folks and get superior score/sales for this wxcellent otherwise case.

Comment:
cost, roominess (for a htpc), looks, airflow, quiet, 500watt p/s dvd drive cover fairly low cost and tough to get positioned best so it didn't keep drive button pressed, tossed it as i had a black drive anyhow really uncomplicated develop and a good layout. i did follow the assistance of an additional reviewer about turning the back fans around so they blow cool air in, and pushes the inside air out the side vents, which appears additional efficient with this case. no issues with the p/s ...butgood to lastly have my htpc fit in my television stand :)

Comment:
- Has the A/V look that I was going for, but didn't price over 贄. - Includes PSU and cooling fan.- Packaged well.- Includes 2 case exhaust fans.- Smokin deal with the mail-in rebate. - PSU looks suspect. I ran out of funds and haven't completed a create yet on this machine, therefore I can't comment on the PSU or functioning of the case fans. I might change out the PSU just to be secure. Even though the case doesn't present like a high end HTPC case, it is additional than respectable and will look good in the A/V rack. With the mail-in rebate, this case is a no-brainer.

Comment:
good glossy case equip with a potent quiet P/S. It's a superior match for my media center. small spaces to function with couple old IDE hard drives and a DVD drive. I am very happy with it so far.

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Great looking Case for the cash (blindingly bright blue power LED included at not additional price!). Solid enough construction, Excellent airflow, especially if you add 120mm fans, but even with out I haven't had any heat problems, even immediately after unlocking my 4th core and overclocking my Athlon II X3 and GPU with the stock cooler. Customer support was also spectacular, responding to my emails in a day or much less. Installing my mobo took only a couple of minutes, everything was together in less than an hour, I am very happy with the ease of install. You are not purchasing a power supply, forget about it. As others have mentioned (and I foolishly disregarded) the power supply will give you trouble- the likely reason there is a rebate. The power supply would not run my ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO. It was giving very odd OS issues, it would boot and be missing random components. I tested the PSU and discovered the Ʊ.3 was running at 3.68 and the იVDC was running at 12.73, both outside of the accepted tolerance. I emailed Apevia and they responded immediately, I had a replacement in less than 2 weeks (I had to pay for shipping in the poor PSU, which adds an additional บ to the price of this unit). I couldn't wait, so I bought a new PSU and every thing was up and running like a champ. When I received the new PSU from Apevia I tested it and verified every thing is inside tolerance. I am guessing they were clearing out PSU's with this case that didn't really make the cut. It may possibly or may well not work, depending on how picky your mobo is, you have been warned. If you have a PSU, want to take a chance, or want to invest an additional บ and 1-2 weeks mailing in your (most likely) defective PSU for a replacement, go with this case, it is incredibly considerably worth it and Apevia Support is a pleasure to work with. The paint does chip simply, but I have seen a lot worse for more income. I personally don't like how 3 out of the four HDD mounts will have them vertical (if the case is horizontal), but that may just be my vertical HDD superstition kicking in.

Comment:
You can spend a lot more on an HTPC case and a little bit less. What seperates this case from the rest is the ability to get a lot peripherals into a semi-small case. The standard height allows the use of full-size expansion cards. Having 2 5.25