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iON EC-2 Aluminum ATX Media Center/HTPC Desktop Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by SidneyWong @ 2007-08-20

If you have not heard of the name iON before, I am with you. iON is a brand under MGE, a manufacturer of PC products from Taiwan. This all aluminum Media Center HPTC case has an elegant look and will fit full size ATX board; it is marketed by Eagle Tech in the U.S.

Inside look & Power Supply

Inside:

The 2mm thick aluminum makes the case feel sturdy. To remove the top cover, there are two additional screws at the front of the case besides the two thumb screws located in the rear. This case is almost as large in size as a regular mid-tower in height; and narrow in width when putting it in upright position.

A package of mounting hardware is placed inside the case -

Mounting screws & mainboard stand offs
Installation Manual
PC speaker
PCI cable bracket & Power Cable
Remote Control

This unit comes with 450 watts power supply rather than the listed 400 Watts on the specs sheet. I could hardly wait to find out the sound level of the power supply as in any HTPC, I want it to be as quiet as possible. I do have in mind which CPU and heatsink/fan for this setup.

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Note; there is little room between the power supply & HDD/Optical Drive tray

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Power supply removed - there 6 screws including a top bracket securing the PSU.

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HDD/Optical Drive Tray removed, vented slots are just below the HDD location

Power Supply:

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No very impressive specifications, it is very marginal for today's standard.

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There is another bracket securing the PSU to the side of the case (air tunnel,, lack of a better term).

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The main connector has 24/20-pin; 2x SATA power connection; 4x 4-pin Molex; 2x 6-pin; 1x 4-pin; 4x 4-pin mini

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When the digital sound meter returns a over 52 dBA reading at 37.2 ambient and my hearing confirms the loudness, I know what I would be doing next.

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Scythe KAMARIKI II 550 Watts Extra Silent PSU noise level comparison; this PSU will peak to 43 dBA, but a far cry from 52 dBA from start.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/20

$100 rebate is still on.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scription=ec-2

Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/20

The 450W edition doesn't have the rebate

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/10/22

The case has absolutely no air flow going thru; finally got time over the weekend to do a minor mod by opening up 4 round holes at the right places on the cover.

Good result with no additional fan required; 7600GT dropped 8°C, CPU temp dropped 6°C. Load temp 7600GT 70°C, CPU 50°C (E4400 1.38V 3.0 GHz stock alum HSF) at 23°C ambient using SpeedFan 4.33.

Load temp from OCCT for CPU and playing UT3 for 45 minutes for GPU.

The case in reality is divided into 2 zones once a full height GPU is installed. With PSU being at the front of the case, the PSU intake will act as exhaust going thru the long tunnel routed to the rear of the case. The two holes near the top of the GPU will become intake.

On the right side, the two holes will act as intake for cooler air straight down the to memory modules and pulled by the exhaust fan at the rear. I use alum screen hot glued from the inside and "Sharpie" to blacken the the screen. The holes aren't noticeable from the front viewing angle.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/10/23

did the same mods with the first Antec HTPC case

their later revisions included my extra air in/out-take paths

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