if they made the mobo tray easily removable it would make a nice testing station.

Reply

Indeed, it looks like a potential competitor for the HSPC Tech Stations, and it looks a bit more stylish.

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/me...en=CTGY&Category_Code=Tech_Station

I've a couple of mobos used only for brief testing purposes, which usually just sit on the back corner of the bench when not in use, and on top of a cardboard box when in use. Something like this might be a good solution.

Reply

ooh ooh! I have a great design idea!

Something that would save space too; Imagine a PC compacted into the monitor. I'd call it an iMac.

Well, Antec design would be nice if it made sense to put it on or under a table (that is where 100% of PCs are located, statistically).

Seriously though: get a mac.

Reply

ever heard of this thing called video games? yeah imacs completely suck for playing them smarty pants

Reply

He speaks the truth.

Reply

um ... have another drink d00d and figure out what you're saying ( BTW - was that supposed to be witty??? ). why doesnt it make sense to put it on or under a table???? what ARE you going on about???

and WHY are mac owners like jehovah witness freaks ... always trying to push their "belief" that macs are better than PCs.

enjoy your mac and leave the real computers to the rest of us.

Reply

Wouldn't it make more sense to call it the Heathkit H89?

Reply

I can just imagine this thing sitting next to my desk when all of a sudden, I bump something with my elbow causing it to fall off my desk, and hit the exposed motherboard breaking it. Also, just imagine how dusty that thing would get with all the parts exposed. What are they thinking? Who would buy this?

Reply

It's a prototype. More than likely they're going to enclose the case with panels and vents to cover the exposed parts. It's just silly to assume this is how the case will look in it's final form. Since when do you use your computer with all the motherboard exposed? I hope you don't have THAT much of a cooling problem.

Reply

Way to read the article. This is an open-air design, so no, they won't enclose the damn thing with "panels and vents". Not the first time I've seen something like this, but the ones I have seen were specifically designed to be testing stations.

Reply

I had one made from cardboard back in college...

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/cardboard-pc-case-sure-is-biofriendly-132352.php

Mine looked more like this one however: http://www.fugly.com/media/IMAGES/Nerdy/Cardboard_Computer_Case.jpg

Reply

This case is obviously for benching and not really for regular use. Benchers prefer 2 have an open case for doing dice or ln2. This was not designed for regular users who would spill their drink all over it by accident.

Reply

It would get less dusty than a conventional case since the air pressure would be at equilibrium.

Reply

I disagree. You're assuming that you would blithely (and idiotically) place it in harm's way just as you would(?) a regular PC.

I think it's brilliant, and it would be a lot of fun to put all your components "in the shop window", so to speak.

In any case; It's new, different, and daring. If they build it, I'll buy it.

Reply

I think it looks interesting. Wouldn't have to worry as much about making sure everything fit okay but cable clutter could be an issue. Hopefully there is some way to route the cables so they don't look like someone spilled a plate of spaghetti on it!

Reply

I think the noise would make me take a hammer to it. Plus surely it would be over priced.

Reply

The whole point is that it is *NOT* noisy. It has a very large fan that can spin much slower than a conventional fan to achieve the same airflow. You can use a fanless processor heatsink, and could get away with one of the large passive video card coolers. (Obviously, it's not meant for massive overclocking, just a stylish enthusiast computer. But I have a mildly overclocked system in a conventional case with much less cooling than this thing.)

The only "noisy" bit would be to make sure you get a reasonably quiet power supply and hard drive.

Reply

Lack of sheet metal vibrations are the main gain, you cannot achieve as much cooling by pointing only a larger slow fan at a distance. You will necessarily need good enough passive heatsinks that if you had them in the closed case with optimal design, it'd run even cooler.

Try it sometime, take a big fan and use only that, increasing RPM till it keeps parts cool enough.

Fanless processor - not quieter. I can't hear the processor fan inside my case for one good reason, it is INSIDE the case instead of external.

Video card is the harder part to cool, except there are passive cards already that can be used in either case type.

The open air fan will be noisier as-in make as much noise and have that escape into the room, the only real hope for this versus a well optimized case is to reduce or eliminate resonant and transmitted vibrations from a traditional case's metal sheeting which also escape into a room.

The idea that a big fan is magic is not true. It only works up to the point where you have one big enough to run at very low RPM and we are already there with case-internal fans. Beyond that the next tweak is not having any fan situated where the noise has a direct line to the user's ear, rather being absorbed a fair amount by whatever it's bouncing off of, which with a typical system would be the wall behind it.

Reply

The fan might be very slow running and if it points upwards all it has to do is help convection a little bit.
But what about EMI noise? Would that be a problem with no metal enclosure?

Reply

No, it is much more effective if pointed downward, this has to do with the airflow patterns being different on the intake vs exhaust of an axial fan.

Yes EMI is an issue, but whether a problem or not is subject, depends quite a lot on if you have anything close enough that is sensitive to and degraded from that noise pickup.

Reply

dumb dumb dumb dumb. Why is this on AT?

Reply

No way in hell that gets approved for the US. Not just for the 'open computer with exposed voltage' (however harmless) liability, but because there's no way that design would meet EMI and RFI output requirements.

Reply

wrap it with a grounded copper mesh net... and you'd have an awesome EMI/RFI shield...Faraday cage

Reply

False. A case can be sold because a case alone does not generate EMI. What might not be legal is to sell a complete system "product" in such a case.

Further, "open computer with exposed voltages" might also be incorrect. Note that even a typical wall wart has exposed voltage at it's plug and often a bit higher than the 12V accessible in a PC.

Reply

Some of you are as bad as those I find on car enthusiast websites bashing "spy photos" of next-gen cars in camo.

Did any of you happen to notice the word "prototype" used liberally in the post description?

With Antec's notable experience in the manufacture and design of PC cases I'm sure that they'll more than cover all of your layman's opinions/comments.

Personally I think this is very cool and can't wait to see the finalized product. Kudos to Antec for keeping up innovation.

Peace, J

Reply

How much "notible experience" do you think they have? Would it interest you to know that they didn't design quite a few if not most of the cases they sell?

Antec is mostly a product relabeler, not a designer or manufacturer beyond certain styling aspects. My layman *opinion* could easily exceed that of many at Antec. That doesn't make them bumbling idiots by any stretch, I'm sure there are quite a few there who are talented and experts, and playing odds, odds are some would have more expertise than me, but your generalized idea is not quite accurate.

Reply

here's the reasoning. Right now I'm running a nine hundred; that thing sucks in more dust than my vacuum. with this thing, all I'd have to do is point a can of compressed air at it and it'd be all clean. Also, I wouldn't be surprised that with a lot less air moving, and a lot fewer things hitting in the way, this thing wouldn't actually be quieter than a conventional case.

oh, and in case of overclocking... flip compressed air can upside down, point at cpu heatsink, and boot up... oh, the possibilities!

Reply

Unfortunately, a pc case is not just to house the parts. It's supposed to protect the parts from dust and the users (spilled drink?). It's also supposed to shield us from the EMI/RFI and noise. This "prototype" is cute, but hardly practical. Like others have said, it would make a good tester with some modifications.

Reply

Looks like if you own a pet or have small children in the house you will not be looking at this case. I am also sure the EMF this creates will also have fun with other things nearby.

Reply

Yet another example of the world be run by non-functional lightbulbs. Why would any company waste the time coming up with a "prototype" which could never have any market penetration based solely on the Wife Acceptance Factor (to say nothing of the legal requirements for shielding and the cost of the lawsuits from the ambulance-chasing crowd)? I'll bet my cat would have a fine couple of minutes playing with the wires/fan/power supply until the house burned down.

Reply

Bet THAT would finally teach your cat not to screw around with electrical stuffies...
}:-]

Reply

Companies are always trying out new products and most of them likely never get past the prototype stage. It's called research and development.

Just because something like this may not earn a single penny, the company might get incredible value from the research put into it. It might cause the company to come up with another idea that eventually becomes the greatest selling item of all time.

Reply

Why are there so many different case styles? It's an attempt to appeal to different types of users. One case that has a wife acceptance factor may not appeal to someone else and vice-versa.

I don't think much of this case myself, it seems like something obvious and yet not polished with anything innovative, merely taking an open frame and curving the top to put a fan in the middle is not so special and yet, better to some to be able to buy it if it would be useful than having to built it themselves or have a PC strung out over their desk which also doesn't have a high wife approval factor.

Reply

this rules.

Reply

good idea, but to my eye its ugly

I like the look of the ones that have been around for many years better (someone else already mentioned these too)

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/Lrgv2_320w.jpg

Reply

I want one, just showed the wife and got a thumbs up ; )

Reply

Were you upside down when she gave that "thumbs up"? :)

Reply

that actually looks kinda cool. I have to say I almost want one now haha

Reply

I would love to have one of these at work to use as a crash/repair system. Anyone who has to do HDD recoveries or test components could do to have a system this open, but still secured to mountings instead of sitting on a box.

Reply

I have and use the HSPC tech station for my everyday computer.

It is on a stand with my XBOX, SAT DVR, and my Amplifiers.

Not sure about the 'this is so impractical' type comments. It works perfectly, looks pretty cool and doesn't get too hot. Of course it's super easy to do any work needed.

I would certainly buy one of these cases.

Reply

I have one of the HSPC units and use it for new builds or current main system. It's a joy when you're oc'ing or trying new hsf/TIM and just changing hardware for the hell of it like a few of us do. I see those heads nodding.
My question is price of the Antec unit.
If it's not insulting and they offer their usual rebates, could be a wise investment for most of us.

Reply

too bad its probably all plastic. i hope it's mostly metal.

Reply

I've (finally) started to build my own open case, and am using the PC Workbench design mentioned here by several as a model. In the meantime, I've spent the past 1.5 years with a case that has both sides removed, as well as the top, so that it is essentially a wall-less case. With the HDs suspended it is the quietest case I've ever had. Course, there are minimal fans. Ove vid card fan, one cpu fan. Dust is just not an issue, because I'm more likely to go at it with an air can the way it is, than I was when it had the panels on. When I do go to dust it I'm always surprised at how little dusting needs to be done, really. I think it is interesting that the PC Workbench design is being stylized in this way.

Reply

I just don't get it.

Reply

I keep seeing comments about how cases are supposed to reduce EMI/EMF. This is bull. When was the last time HP or Dell used a metal case. Or when was the last tiem a laptop was made of metal. Plastic does no better job of EMI sheilding then open air. You even put a laptop on your lap. There is virtually no shielding on a store bought computer. Take one into a testing facilty nad see how badly it fails an EMI test.

Reply

HP, Dell, & laptop cases might have plastic facades, but I've yet to see one that wasn't metal underneath.

Reply

The answer is always, they have always not only used metal panels or metal skins inside their plastic, they have even had to keep the holes smaller than a certain size and in some cases have pop-in panels when an optical drive (for instance) isn't installed and there would've otherwise been an empty hole even if the pastic outer plate where there.

You think a laptop has no shielding? Stick to what you know because it isn't electronic or RF design.

Reply

The basics of electromagnetism must have past right by you. For a piece of metal to be a RFI shield it must be grounded. Adding a small piece of metal to a plastic surround does not absorb the energy. It will at best act as a rf scatterer. I have taken apart many laptops and PC. The EMI shields that you refer to are not to protect the user; it is to keep the EMI out of the component. Do just a little EMI testing and you will see just how bad a cheap PC really is. I can detect the oscillator and its harmonics easily with a spec-an. If the sheilding of a laptop works so well, why can you have internal antennas for WI-Fi and bluetooth.

Reply

Since when are PCs not grounded?

Can you give us a make/model for one of these all-plastic ungrounded PCs you're taking apart?

Reply

Where is the article?

Last time you informed us was in April.

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=430

And originally:

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=380

Are you going to do it, be a man,

Do It or Cancel It.



Reply