Zen and the HFX Mini HTPC case

Overall Summary

The HFX Mini is a sturdy, well-built passively cooled case. Some aspects of it ooze quality, yet an equal number of other aspects are irritatingly flawed and require extensive modding.

Let's recap -

• Why (oh why) does the case have an awkward riser card arrangement, when there are many half-height PCI cards on the market? It would be better to have the back panel of the HFX Mini with vertical half-height blanking plate slots. That way people can simply use the slots on any ATX board, regardless of their order, without resorting to complicated riser card arrangements. Alternatively, such a back panel could be sold as an aftermarket accessory.
  
  
• The plastic bits that secure the PCI card backplates or blanking plates are somewhat inadequate and need to be redesigned.
  
  
• The whole case really is 15mm too short, not allowing for adequate clearance between the (mini-)ATX motherboard and the DVD/HDD cradle in front. This creates problems with motherboards where the ATX power connector is at the front edge (as is the case with most mini-ATX HTPC motherboards). The ATX power cable bundle has to fold sharply back under the cradle (which it only barely managed) and ends up getting in the way of the high CPU block. A small lengthening of the case would resolve this.
  
  
• The acrylic crossbars which form the cradle holding the DVD drive, the power supply circuit, the IR remote receiver and (optionally) a HDD really should be made of aluminium. This way it can dissipate some of the HDD heat (possibly by connecting a heatpipe arrangement going to the left outer wall), and the mounting holes could be more easily countersunk. This is necessary because most HDDs (mounted in the optional location illustrated) interfere with the heads of the screws connecting the whole cradle to the front panel, and connecting the PSU circuit to the cradle.
  
  
• The IR receiver circuit location seems a bit of an afterthought. It interferes with the centre mounting screw on one side of the HDD (again, countersunk screws would be preferable), and its connectors make it slightly too thick to comfortably squeeze in location. And why velcro for mounting?
  
  
• The light guide for the IR circuit needs to be 2mm thicker, or else be propped up with a 2mm washer to properly align with the lens on the HFX Mini Metal case.
  
  
• The USB cable that connects the IR receiver circuit to the motherboard is at least 5cm (two inches) too short.
  
  
• The PSU circuit for the EF16 PSU has a big heatsink now (which is good) that with slight modification would allow connection of two heatpipes to run between it and the left wall. Another way of getting rid of some internal heat!
  
  
• The rubber washer which fastens the EF16 power line connector to the back of the case is totally inadequate. Apart from the difficulty in wedging the connector into the rubber washer once fitted in the back panel hole, a gentle push with the PSU connector causes it to pop back into the case. I really don't know why the standard nut that is normally provided with such connectors was not used!
  
  
• The layout of the cables from the internal PSU circuit board to the HDD and DVD drive(s) could be better. Currently, one has two SATA connectors, and one two standard molexes and a mini-molex. It would be more logical for one to have one SATA connector and one mini-molex for the DVD, as this is the most commonly used configuration for a HTPC. For those who wish to use additional HDDs, the optional second cable could have a combination of SATA and/or standard molex connectors (mCubed could sell several different combinations, or sell various splitters). In a small, passively cooled case space is at a premium and needs to be used optimally. That means no trailing cables that are not used for anything.
  
  
• All the blocks need to be lapped. The bottoms are rough and uneven, and this may come at a penalty of several degrees in temperature.
  
  
• The NB block screws need to be 2mm longer to be adequately compatible with most boards.
  
  
• The fan mount in the grille of the HFX mini case lid under the right-sided hole can interfere with heatpipes running from the CPU block to the wall on the right. It would have been better to shift this to the middle hole (not the left, as that interferes with any cards!), or make it removable altogether.

Conclusion

The final question is: would I recommend this case? Is it value for money? Well... yes and no. (How often do we find ourselves saying that? -- Ed.)

If you compare it to other passively cooled HTPCs on the market, like the Hush PC UK-E1200 or the Hoojum Cubit PCs then it is undoubtedly cheaper -- if only by a few hundred pounds. Moreover by shopping around on eBay for the internal components you can knock off considerably more of that price. What you get in overall quality is not that much different from the competitors' machines. The case is well-built, all sorts of necessary bits and bobs are included, and some aspects of it are very cleverly and well designed indeed.

On the other hand, I get the feeling that mCubed is not entirely honest with its customers. It is definitely not trying to rip people off, the price of most of its components being commensurate with their high quality. But the riser cards seem rather extravagantly priced, you need to buy a lot of "optional" extras to make for a complete kit which tots up the price, and while being squarely pitched at the consumer whose only previous experience has been to put together a generic PC, it becomes quite obvious that at least a medium level of modding skill is required to make a decent system.

Looking at the mCubed support forums, most people seem to struggle to make a neat and tidy build. Hell, even mCubed seems to struggle with that, its demo case looking less tidy than even my own build with the same motherboard. It almost seems as if it never actually built the kit itself -- even though it sells pre-built systems as a matter of course.

This is because the kit has many, many little flaws. None that are difficult to overcome, but still irritatingly many that really should not be present in a kit of this price, even when you compare it, for instance, to the Zalman TNN300 and the TNN500AF, particularly the first of which has a few irritating design flaws of its own. I guess that building a passively cooled kit is simply a complex and expensive proposition, and this is reflected in both the price and the manual, which is often confused in the details, leaving you to figure things out for yourself.

mCubed is also remarkably obtuse on a few important details such as the incompatibility of its EF16 PSU with Intel i945 chipset-based motherboards and I think it should be more frank about such issues, as well as exactly what range of graphics cards are supported in terms of the thermal capacity of the case, how many Watts each heatpipe can manage, and the importance of smoothly lapped blocks.

All in all, the mCubed HFX Mini is a quality case that genuinely works as well as it looks and has a few moments of inspired design brilliance. It is therefore all the more annoying that it has many little flaws that are purely matters of sloppiness and oversight. I am glad that I choose this case for my HTPC, but I am also glad that I managed to do it on the cheap, with an ex-demo case and used components from eBay. I don't think the kit is worth its full asking price -- yet. But it definitely could be, once the flaws have been worked out.

And, for what it's worth, the company's latest offering, the HFX Micro, appears to be a more refined product that may offer a better price-quality balance.