Before we head down to the sound level test, I noticed the North-Bridge temp was quite normal running around 45-50°C using a Sear External Digital temp probe. The South-Bridge was hotter ranging from 50 to 57°C with the lid closed.

Although these temps are not critically high, I put in a pair of 40x10 mm 5,000 rpm fans which I have plenty around just to have peace of mind.



Sound level:



Ambient sound level: 37.8 dBA: Sound level taken at max CPU temp 50°C with CPU fan running at ~2620 RPM and about an inch away from the front of the case. At idle CPU fan rotates at ~2,000 RPM. The sound level settles down to 40.2 dBA at light office apps from two feet away. The sound level would have been much higher using the original power supply. Dropping the 3 exhaust fans voltage to 7 or 5 volt will definitely reduce the noise level at the expense of CPU and system temp which I believe we have some leeway here. Besides, Media Case users rarely overclock their CPU 76% over default.

I couldn't help but to go for lower fan voltage; at 7 volt on all three fans, sound level dropped 3dBA. At a few feet away, the sound meter could not pick up the noise (at 37.8 dBA ambient). Within minutes, the power supply fan picks up speed due to insufficient exhaust from the reduced speed. I could hear the noise and the sound meter concurs. There is no gain by reducing the fan voltage.

Conclusive Thoughts:

Windows MCE users should find the remote control working without any problem. Without MCE, it is not possible for me to navigate the remote control. I was able to use Mute, Volume control, Fast forward/backward in Intervideo WinDVD-7. You need a mainboard with parallel port to use the LCD display. There is no HD LED light which is okay, because I certainly don't want to see the flashing light during a movie.

You need more than patience to put together a system using this case. There is little room to work with. The use of micro-ATX board will leave some badly needed space for all the cablings, while it might be "a handful" with full size mainboard. iON EC-2 designer chose an unusual approach PSU placement, making it unnecessarily larger in size and added noise level with an additional exhaust fan. Location of the HDD/Optical Drive tray is also in question for most standard width mainboard and any mainboard with power main connection on the right side of the memory slots is out of the question. In my case, I have to give up the use of two memory slots and lucky that the power main is on the far end of the HDD/Optical tray. The optical drive used in this review is an older model; newer model is a bit shorter and may help the tight space a little but not by much.

iON should certainly use a better power supply with the resources they have. It is loud and underrated for most new processors and graphic cards demanding more 12 volt amps. This light weight (about two pounds) unit came from the era of inferior PSU quality and does not belong in this nice looking case.

If you are case modder and water-cool enthusiast looking for aluminum HPTC case, this may be right for you. Ditch the air tunnel (easy removal of a few rivets and screws), relocate the PSU to the edge of the case and a couple side vents and choose the right main-board, this case provides the additional space for WC gears.

At the time of this writing, Eagle Tech was offering $100 rebate making the final cost of about $40 at Newegg. If you could take your time to assemble the system; have a micro-ATX board with proper main-power connector location; no big graphic card; use only two memory dimms, this may be the HTPC case you sort after.

Pros:

Nice look

Sturdy built

Reasonably price or great deal with rebate

Cons:

Very tight space in critical area

Mainboard with power connector located on the right side of memory slots will not work

Poor power supply & placement location

Need parallel port for display to work

Bottom line- I hate to quote Donald Trump said in the "Apprentice", "EC-2, you're beautiful, but you're fired." Hopefully, the next generation Windows Vista ready HPTC from iON will pleasantly surprise us.