Customer Reviews

Athenatech A3701BB HTPC Media Center ATX Desktop System Cabinet - Retail

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Pro: Good case for an HTPC . looks like a sound receiver. Allow 2 dvd reader / writers and a standard size ATX motherboard. Lower fan is noisy, and I disconnected it. When you choose a power supply, try to get one with the fan on top , and to avoid a mess of cables , choose modular cables (I did not, and useless cables are all over).
Con: the case is quite deep .
Not really a con, but as the space is tight, be sure that the connectors on the motherboard you add are placed adequately (particularly if you install the lower dvd).

This case is a great deal for the price. It has a nice finish that will blend in with your other equipment in your entertainment system. The front plate is removable to help install dvd and floppy drives (if u still have one) and the top and bottom of the case can be removed as well. The case does not come with a manual, so I can't recommend the case for a first-time builder. Cooling can be challenging, and mounting the hard drives aren't entirely intuitive. One hard drive can mount to the right of the dvd drive, and two more can be mounted over the vents alone the east and west walls of the case. To achieve decent temps I had to install an additional 120mm fan over one of the vents, so I only have two hdd's installed. The power supply uniquely installs towards the front of the case so make sure the outlet and switch are on the right side of the PSU and the fan is located on the top, or it will be incompatible with the front plate. Overall good value.

This is a lovely looking case at a very good price. The 3 included fans are a little loud but for about $15 you can get 3 nice, temp-controlled, quiet replacements. Even with the additional $15 for the fans the case is still a good deal.

It would have been better to eliminate the "EVO" logo on the upper left corner which was not shown in the picture of the case on the web. This was easily fixed with an AMD sticker that came with the processor.

Believe it or not this case will actually hold 4 hard drives - a plus for a media center box.

While this I a well made case for the price it is mis labeled as it does not match the standard component measurements. It is ~2.5 inches to narrow and about an inch and a half too long to be (IMHO) a true Media center PC case. Since cases that match a receivers dimensions can be as much as $400 this was a steal. I plan to mount an original Xbox in this beaut to camouflage it from the average observer.

I was hesitant at first to order this HTPC case, because of the price/name. I wanted something that would be somewhat compact, yet not like the "half size" micro boxes which I would have needed new "micro size" components to fit. My first HTPC so I'll share some observations:

PROS: Price, Size, Quality, Quiet(see cons...) Ease of installing (see cons again...), has space for 2 dvd/bd, Looks great to me, Wife didnt complain either, nice touch for mounting power supply cable I guess, also stays very cool with the provided fans. (E2200 O/C 2.9 (bsel)on ECS crap board, Thermaltake TMG i2 pipe style cooler, Corsair HX520, 750gb Samsung, 320gb Seagate, 4gb DDR2 800, Samsung DVDRW SH-S223F, Diamond HD3650 premium tuner/video card(see cons..)Vista Ultimate. Did not have to use any other fans as of yet.

CONS: While most are minor the biggest was I could not fit my BFG 8800 GTS 512, it hit my old DVD player, changed player then was just still hitting power supply. Probably only my fault for using such a big card..EVO painted on front (wasnt shown on the Amazon description, but seems easily removable),Also the fan under the PS is pretty loud, I found it un-necessary and did not power it. The remaining rear fans are very tolerable. The blue led is quite bright, but can be easily "muffled" with some tape or paper. Front display would be nice, but just extra candy. I have not yet have any other problems with this case, and have already had some friends order the same one after seeing it.
Overall, I would say this is a great value for what it is. Its not over the top, its not cheesy or embarrassing to show, and it does what I want it to, very well. 7.5 out of 10 for me.

If you're building a media center or home theater PC, this case is a great choice. It's the only one I could find that was affordable, small enough to fit under my TV, and accepts the full ATX size motherboard and power supply I had lying around (which meant I didn't have to buy new micro ATX parts). The included fans are surprisingly quiet as well, and the bright blue power LED is on its own wire so you can unplug it for watching movies in a dark living room.

I only have two minor complaints. First, the four feet seem to have holes for screws, but the case doesn't. Instead you have to stick them on the underside with pre-applied adhesive. Fine for a while, but after two or three times sliding the PC in and out of my entertainment center, two of the feet came off. I'll need to either super glue them or drill some holes. Second complaint, the layout of the case can be confusing at first. The power supply goes up front and plugs into a power cable that snakes out the back, and you'll have to take off the bottom panel to find the slot for the hard drive (which I had to bend to make work).

But overall, this case served my needs admirably. I highly recommend it.

This is a great & beautiful case for the money. Installed a uATX GigaByte motherboard with HDMI port and G45 chipset combined with an E8400 processor. Nice!!
I had absolutely no problems with cooling. The side fans are cheap & quiet 120mm Coolermaster fans blowing in and all the other fans are 80mm SilenX iXtrema fans blowing out. Including the one below the PSU. The SilenX fans are quieter than the stock fans.
The 250GB WD Caviar Blue drive was mounted in the 3.5" bay beneath the 5.25" bays, a fan blowing down on the metal top of the HDD from the lower 5.25" bay. I don't blow on the electronics because there is some salt in the air being close to the ocean. The upper bay holds a LG DVD writer with Lightscribe.
I connected all the fans with a Sunbeamtech Multifan Powerport to one molex connector. Neat!
CPU Cooler is a Thermaltake ISGC-100. Power Supply is a PC Power & Cooling PPCS370X Silencer 370 ATX.
I live in a hot tropical environment and the processor reaches 46 degrees Celsius while being used which is about 14 degrees higher than ambient. (no gaming)
I had no problems with the drive doors as described by others.
Display is a Sharp 46SE94 LCD TV connected with a HDMI cable to the onboard HDMI port. Plays 1080p HD material perfectly. Just make sure the display is on while booting otherwise the system will default to VGA.
Cons: the ugly logo, stick-on feet and no means to install sensor for IR remote. These are minor and easily fixed with a sticker and a drill.
Other thought: there was barely enough space between the motherboard edge and the HDD for the SATA & power connector of the drive. I was lucky enough to have cables that fitted in between.
Overall very satisfied and looks good in my setup.
Edwin

Not a bad case for $68. I would have given 4 stars rating for construction if the 4 feet were screwed onto bottom and not stuck with double stick tape.
Be careful when you are building your computer inside this case by placing a mat or some soft surface, also be careful if messing with it inside of the compact space of a tv stand as the outside finish is a gloss black and easily scratched.
There is plenty of room for a full sized ATX motherboard to fit in, but it may take a couple tries figuring where the cables are going to end up after install. There isn't a whole lot of space and the bottom drive cage is a bit harder to get at. You have to take the bottom panel off to be able to mount a hdd with screws. This was a pain for me as I had trouble with the first sata drive I put in and ended up having to put an IDE hdd in. You end up with both panels off, and the front panel off, but you have to be careful with the front panel because the front panel connector wires do not come off so you have to keep it within a couple inches.
The case is a bit heavy, which I like because it more sturdy, not flimsy. The front panel is the heaviest part and sturdiest part as well.
I hooked up the power to the led on the power button. Quickly I removed that as this blue led is WAY TOO BRIGHT!! No good if you are using this for your TV. Even the hdd activity light is too bright, however it is not nearly as overpowering.
As another reviewer stated, the product description does not show the EVO logo that is painted in the upper left hand side of the front. The letters are about an inch tall and painted on. Not removable. Not a big deal, but who the hell is EVO?
I put in a fan on the side panel inside next to the cpu, I recommend doing so.
Overall this case is worth it. I was trying to go cheaper and put in my old desktop that I had upgraded from.

Bought this case mainly because of price and looks. Definitely fits in well with my home theater equipment. It was part of a DIY project to build my own PC and getting things in the case was definitely the trickiest piece. To the point where I had to remove everything just move stuff around.

I struggled getting two 3.5" HDD in here. I also have a Sony blu-ray which slotted in no problem, but had difficulty aligned the drive doors on the case with the blu-ray. Got there in the end but it's tight.

Cooling wise I replaced the fans that came with it, they were a little louder than I would've hoped.

All in all I think it was a lesson learnt for me... the $40-50 I saved on the case I probably spent on new fans and my own time getting everything in... But all in all it turned out nice and the wife likes the look :)

This is not a bad case. And compared to others that cost $150 and up this is a steal. I was impressed with the build of it at its price point. My only gripe was the dang leds on the power button are way to freaking bright and light up a dark room. I figured out a fix for that though. The power button consists of 2 super bright blue leds that shine into a plastic ring. If your careful you can stick something in between the leds and the ring part to dim them down. I used some white electrical tape I had and it dimed them down to a perfect level. So instead of a blinding blue they are a soft blue, not much brighter than my reciver lights. This might not be a big deal to most but it was bugging the snot out of me. They fans are fairly quiet and with a fan controler you could tweak them out to a perfect level. The rubber feet are kinda lame in the fact they dont screw on to the case and are applied with sticky glue. Nothing a drill cant fix but that was annoying. There is a learning curve in adjusting the front DVD drive doors because they are spring loaded but after some fiddling it works pretty well. If using IDE drives go with rounded cables or you might have space issues. Same with the power supply, you want to use one with modular (removable)cables so you keep the clutter down. Also it should be a power supply with 2 fans because it will sit upside down with what would have been the fan pointing at a cpu pointing up and venting out thru the top side of the case. Depending on which direction that fan is blowing you might have to crack open the power supply and flip the fan to flow upwards to draw out the heat. The rear fan of the power supply gets extra help from a fan on the bottom of the case (make sure you plug that one in, it looks silly but there is some duct work that makes that work) All in all it looks nice and does its job well.