NMediapc 6000B Review

[Mast3rL33]

Just figured I would put a placeholder for my review this evening. Assuming I get the case in on piece I will photograph and post info on the case and its oddities this evening.

Please post any questions you may have regarding the case and I will do my best to answer and/or photograph as I go along. (This way I have something to look for as I go as opposed to after its all put together and neatly tucked into my entertainment center)

Cheers!

[Mast3rL33]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204037

Purchase Price at time of assessment $99.99 USD with Free Shipping

So I received the case NMedia 6000B yesterday. (My apologies for the delayed writeup)
To begin with I checked over the UPS shipped box, expecting that whatever was inside to be damaged. (Most assuredly so)
Upon opening the shipping container, (Which is no more than the box for the case) I found that the case had in fact been damaged. (Several of the plastic internal panel mounts on the case had broke). Upon further examination I determined that I could likely repair this with some hot glue and save me having to ship it back and UPS damaging another case (Perhaps more severely).

The black chassis is very sleek, but the glossy plastic has a skin to protect it from the UPS shipping demons. 



The tray on the lower portion of the face is a brushed aluminum cover that hides several USB ports, a firewire port, ESATA, and a card reader. This is held in place by a piece of plastic. (Likely to break if used too many times) I would like to see this replaced with a magnet, and may in the future pursue such a path.



The knob on the left portion of the face is not in fact a knob but a push button to turn the device on. (I was not surprised by this as I had read about it earlier) The button is not a $100 version but it is more than adequate and does not feel terribly cheap. The knob does light up Blue after powerup. (This blue is not intrusive at all and is quite nice)



The Hard Drive LED is located on the front panel below the 'knob'. While this may seem like a poor location, but the light is hidden behind the smoked black surface. Thus the only way to see the activity is if you are actually looking for it. In a pitch black room, the light emitted is still negligibly noticeable. (Perfect IMHO). (Note: If you reverse the power led and the hdd led the 'knob' blinks very irritatingly)



The Reset switch is located under the aluminum cover. This button is a plain black button, nothing exceptional to report on this.

The chassis of the case is very sturdy. Almost equal to that of the Antec cases I have purchased in the past. There are some flimsy aluminum points but that is to be expected on a low budget case.




The case has a removable bay area to allow installation of the Hard Drive and optical drive. Here you will find rubber Grommets pre-installed on all of the HDD bays (A pleasant feature given the price). There is ample room for the drives as well as 120mm fan ports on either side to cool the drives if you fear heat. Below the chassis you find tons of space for hiding cables and doing any sort of management you may like.



The cables from the front connectors are plenty long enough to reach all of the points of interest on my Asus board.



I will note that installing the Drive Tray back in place is a bit of a puzzle, involving a 45 degree angle and a slide. But it fits nicely.
One flaw to the Optical mount is that it did not quite fit perfectly. The mount placed the drive a little lower than it needed to be. After placing the manual below the drive (folded) and reattaching it it fit just right with the face coming out the front unhindered. (So I suppose the manual came in handy after all)

After power up I found that the 120mm fan that was included was louder than I cared to hear, so I have elected not to use it. The 80mm fans that are in the back are adequately quiet, making no more noise than my CPU Fan makes. I will likely purchase replacements. (But note measurements may be needed as they fit very snug against the power supply)

One thing to note is that while in standby the computer blinks the power led (the 'knob') which may be irritating for some people. Although there may be a setting in windows to avoid such a thing. (or unplug the led)

After closing up the unit and installing it in my entertainment center, I am very pleased with the unit. I wish I could have used the 5000B as it is a little lower profile than the 6000B, but my current equipment would not allow this.





Overall this case is a tremendous value for its price and assets. I would happily recommend it to anyone looking for a low budget alternative to the pricier models. Hope this helps someone.

Mast3rL33

[Mast3rL33]

Any Questions?

[Lothar]

I'm looking forward to your pictures.  I'd like to specifically see all of the front panel IO, the knob, etc, as well as some inside shots showing how your components fit in the case (was it a tight fit, was there plenty of room to spare, etc). 

Since you mentioned that it was a good value a few times, you may want to include the price you paid for posterity sake in case it changes in your link to newegg.

Is this a new build?  If you are transplanting components from another case, it would be interesting to hear how temps compare.

[sneakerx]

I've been a fan of nmediapc since I bought their 100BA model.  Granted, it has one measly little 60mm fan in the back, but my HTPC doesn't seem to need anything more.  The PSU it came with is top-notch as well.  It's a cozy little case and you have to have everything placed just so to prevent any jam-ups, but it's probably the smallest mATX case out there than can fit full-height expansion cards.  I'm glad to know nmediapc still has it.

[Mast3rL33]

Now with Pics!

@ Lothar. This is my old system, I simply found a proper case for it. It was in an old Antec case that sat next to my entertainment center. I had intended to build a case, but my work fell apart as far as tools and size restraints. So I bought this case.

Temperature wise, the old case ran around 30 idle and 40-43 under load. (C) I currently have it running at 32 idle right now while waiting in the queue for WoW and recording an HD copy of American Idol for my wife. I will post load temps soon.

As far as fit everything fit quite well with a good bit of room to spare. I hope that I can possibly put in a Scythe Mini Ninja to quiet the system down more. (The only part that really makes noise is the cpu fan.

Hope that helps. Please ask if you want more.

Thanks for reading!

[Crim]

So it looks like a Minja will fit it?

Looks nice; I've looked their older 200 series case. I might have to go with this for a new build I need to do (moving out and leaving the HTPC with my Mom and sis).

[Mast3rL33]

I checked temps last night and my CPU is running at 34C under full load. I think that if I get the Mini Ninja that I may be able to run the CPU passive and rely on the exhaust fans...

[SirKelso]

So is this like a VCR?     

[Lothar]

Nice photo array, thanks for the update.

I see what you mean about the hard drive LED being unobtrusive.  It's kinda like the IR illuminator on my Sony camcorder.  You can see it but it's dull.

Looks like there's lots of room to work in.  As long as it's pretty quiet, it should be a nice case for an HTPC it looks like.

[3rob3]

I am thinking of getting this case. Do you think it would be possible to mount an IR receiver behind the clear plastic (under the DVD, where the VFD is supposed to go)?

[Mast3rL33]

I would think so. I didn't really look at that area too much, but I imagine (with a little effort) you would be able to do so. There is a good deal of space in the chassis overall.

[andvari101]

Any chance you could take a measurement of how big of a cpu cooler will fit in the case? There's been talk of a mini ninja, but I'm planning to shove a Q6600 in there and need some hefty cooling to overclock it. Specifically looking for the height from the top of the cpu to the top of the case.

Thanks!

[Mast3rL33]

Any chance you could take a measurement of how big of a cpu cooler will fit in the case? There's been talk of a mini ninja, but I'm planning to shove a Q6600 in there and need some hefty cooling to overclock it. Specifically looking for the height from the top of the cpu to the top of the case.

Thanks!

I will try to look tonight. Since I have to remove it from my entertainment center, are there any other measurements you need? I would rather not remove the hdd tray if at all possible.

Cheers!

[3rob3]

I would think so. I didn't really look at that area too much, but I imagine (with a little effort) you would be able to do so. There is a good deal of space in the chassis overall.

Thanks. I went ahead and ordered one today. I'll post back here this weekend if I had any success internally mounting the IR receiver.