Wesena HTPC Cases

hi guys!
im looking to build a media center pc and im quite interested in one of these cases, i live in france so ill have to go for the Streacom variety.
Im not yet decided between their F7C or the FC8 fanless. I would prefer the fanless case (as it would save me the trouble of finding an aftermarket cooler and fitting it in the F7C) but im not at all sure of the performance of the cooling solution. I think ill go for one of the new AMD cpus, and i guess it would have to be a 65W one (maybe the A6-3500).
Did anyone here try such a combination, this case and this cpu? If so, what kind of temperatures sould i expect? Could i consider putiing a 100W cpu in there (no OC)?
Also, im not at all familiar with the "picoPSU" thing... Its my first ITX build. How does the power brick specification relate to the picoPSU? I mean, if i get a 120W psu, does the power brick have to be the same wattage, higher, or... ?
Also i would like to know if anyone is using a low profile graphics card in these boxes; i cant seem to find a card with better specs than what AMD's apus allready offer as integrated...
I would like to see more photos of your builds in these cases
 
Also, im not at all familiar with the "picoPSU" thing... Its my first ITX build. How does the power brick specification relate to the picoPSU? I mean, if i get a 120W psu, does the power brick have to be the same wattage, higher, or... ?
Also i would like to know if anyone is using a low profile graphics card in these boxes; i cant seem to find a card with better specs than what AMD's apus allready offer as integrated...
I would like to see more photos of your builds in these cases

The rating on the PicoPSU is the limit of what it can handle. The available wattage will be whatever the power brick is rated at. For instance if you get the 120W Pico, you can get 75 / 90 / 120W power bricks and that choice will determine what you can run on it.

As far as the Llano APU goes, based on some reviews i've seen of the A6-3650 and its on chip GPU, you wouldn't need a seperate card. That's what I'm planning to use, possibly with a Streacom F1C case.

I'm also very interested in anyone's viewpoint on these smaller cases and their temperature / room abilities...:D
 
ok, thanks for the explanations
i hope to be able to start my build soon;
i like the fanless chassis more and more, and i was wondering if it would be possible to add a third heathpipe to it, i see the emplacements for it are present; that would surely improve cooling performance;
FC8 Fanless Chassis | Streacom

i do feel somewhat strange about it though, i know this is a high quality case , but it costs double the price i payed for my tower Cooler Master 690II Advance case... better be worth it :cool:
 
Thanks WesenaUK, great to get a good look at the product before you buy!

Did you consider the comments in these forums in the redesign, particularly on airflow?

With the fan, are you likely to include the fan in the near future for the same price?

And are there any likely redesigns for a 60mm fan?

cheers :)

I'm with you there. I was Googling for mods for 50 or 60mm fans. It *will* fit.. just needs new bracket or might even just be attachable to the case without bracket. 40mm is too noisy and shifts no air. 60mm is miles better. The case is 75mm tall ***!

Any owners care to advise on the fit? How thick a fan? How large (diameter)? Are the holes same size as fan screw holes? :(
 
which two pin cable?

the two pin cable from the power switch that normally goes to the motherboard should be plugged into the IR receiver. Another two pin cable then goes from the adjacent two pins to the power connect on the FP_Conn on the motherboard. The 4 wire cable goes to the USB header. Be very careful with this, if you get it the wrong way round - pay attention to the plus sign on the cable - or you will fry the IR board!
You can find diagrams for Wesena IR connection here

Regards
Zygmunt
 
i cant find the streacom fc8 black in france anymore so now im stuck...
ive already got my itx mobo and some ram but now im thinking maybe id better go with the more powerful A8-3870K apu cooled by a samuel 17 heathsink with slim fan (could anyone confirm that this would fit in the case?) and the f7c case..

to be honest, im quite tempted to try the 3870K 100W apu in the fanless fc8 (provided it becomes available before i crack and buy the f7C)... do you think i would fry the processor using only the fanless case cooler?

the fc8 fanless is about the same price id pay for the f7c + the samuel 17
 
Is 40mm really enough for such a small case ? im hoping to order one soon and have been looking around at fans to go with it and 40mm just seems pretty small
 
I looked at that case myself and must say personally i really liked it, just couldnt decide if i liked the screen on the front? still cant actually
 
can anyone confirm that the Prolimatech Samuel 17 + a Scythe slim fan (12mm, i think) fit in the Streacom f7c / Wesena itx 7?
 
katcla77 said:

You may have bought the Wesena already but FWIW I bought one of those (from the same seller). Got it a couple of days ago and I am impressed with the finish and build quality.

Almost identical to the Origenae M10. The display is a real VFD that runs on LCDsmartie so there is a bit of customization possibility.

It did not come with an IR receiver but there is a space for one in the front window. I hotglued an eHome receiver I got off eBay there.

Note the Wesena/Streacom IR receivers are not based on the standard Windows eHome specification so they are not 100% MC compatible despite Wesena's claim.

I am waiting for some parts so I haven't started the build yet but I can post some pics later.
 
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i didnt buy my case yet, but now im more inclied towards the f7c, because i cant find the fc8 anywhere and the "tendraw" case from ebay would cost as much as the fc8 with shipping. Allthough it comes with a vfd and a psu, i feel maybe its not worth the extra cost: the psu seems a bit low power for a 100W cpu, and the wfd i dont really need...

i might end up going for the "low cost" option, the f7c and the amd 3870K, if only someone could confirm this case can house the prolimatech samuel 17 cooler (even if id need to bend the 3,5" drive holder, or even remove the drive cage all together, i dont think ill be using an ODD, and i could probabily find a way to put the SSD somewhere else); if not, what cooler can actually fit in these cases?? or are you really stuck to a 1U cooler and a low TDP CPU?
:confused::suicide:
 
Not sure if it is exactly the same as the fc8 but tranquil pc sell their case on its own if that's of interest to you
ixLS PC - Chassis only - Tranquil PC Limited Store

They also do a barebones option with motherboard already installed.

Im using one at the mo with an intel DH67CF and intel i3-2100T with no probs and reasonable temps.
 
Not sure if it is exactly the same as the fc8 but tranquil pc sell their case on its own if that's of interest to you
ixLS PC - Chassis only - Tranquil PC Limited Store

They also do a barebones option with motherboard already installed.

Im using one at the mo with an intel DH67CF and intel i3-2100T with no probs and reasonable temps.

the cases look similar, but i live in france so its a no go for me... thanks anyway

politby, please post some photos of your new case or of your build; i would be very intereseted to see the internal layout of this chassis, it looks like the odd tray is smaller so theres a chance it could fit a taller cpu cooler? :cool:
what kind of system are you building inside (what can the 120W psu power?)?
and where do the storage drives fit inside?
thanks
 
http://www.streacom.com/wp-content/gallery/fc8/fc8-s-035-270.jpg

The picture above is from the streacom website. The only difference i can see with my tranquil one is the actual cpu heatsink. The one on mine is a solid black bit of metal.

The drivetray can fit one slimline optical drive + one 2.5 inch hdd/ssd and one 3.5 inch drive at the same time.

The 3.5 inch drive fits in underneath the drive tray (you can see the rubber grommets around the screwholes in the photo above) and would really limit what heatsink you could have if you didnt want to choose the fanless case.

The 2.5 inch drive screws in above (or below really) the round hole in the drive tray. Again you can see the 4 screw holes.

i currently have:-

Tranquil PC case (which I bought as a barebones unit that included the case, heatsink, motherboard, IR unit, and 120W pico psu)

Intel DH67CF Motherboard
Intel i3-2100T 35W CPU
8gb Corsair LP DDR3 1600 1.35v RAM
Crucial m4 64GB drive
Other storage is attached via e-sata.
Windows 7

Overall i am very impressed with the system and particularly with the lack of noise!

I dont have the time to take photos of the internals just now but will dig around to see if i have taken any in the past...
 
hi guys! in the end i ordered the Tendraw case from IT TECH UK... i emailed them, and they were able to upgrade the pico PSU to a 160W unit (for an extra 8GBP), which makes it usable to me. i also bought their 150W power brick.
So i actually payed the same price id have payed for the streacom FC8 + same psu and dc adapter, except now i can use a better processor (but not in 0dB) and i have the vfd...
Anyway, the package arrived in 4days, was shipped from the UK, and everything inside looks fine (there are however scratches inside the case cover, where the accesory bag was). I didnt get around to testing anything as im still waiting to receive the APU, but i must say im quite happy with this purcase so far.
I took a few pictures and uploaded them, hope its fine to view them: ImageShack Album - 25 images
Ill take more photos once my build is complete, and ill post my opinion about this case
 
Bump.

Really like the look of the E5.

Looking to create a dedicated, headless-once-it's-set-up, silent exclusively for audio PC, essentially just running specialised software for music playback and output and being a real quiet, clean source to output to a USB to s/pdif converter and then into my DAC as it's all tethered to my Mac at the moment and I want it to be independent so I don't need it switched on 24/7. Will be controlled from an iPad app and the music is stored on an HP Microserver (unRAID) connected to the router downstairs, will need wireless but might end up getting a wired connection.

Basically I'd like some help putting together a build list. Apparently for the stuff I intent to put on it, 8GB RAM, SSD for OS and software and something like a mobile Core i5 (probably Sandy Bridge) are what I'd be after, don't know about the rest (e.g. mobo PSU, cooling), except that I'd want it to be nice and quiet! Don't want to break the bank either, just keep it as cheap as I can get away with.

Anyone fancy helping me spec something out?

EDIT - had an epiphany, going to Hackintosh it, following the tonymacx86 2012 guide for a Mini when it comes out in a few weeks. Huzzah.
 
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Does the ITX2 case support the half height PCI-E bracket at the back?
 
Hello Graham, have you still got any wesena e5 cases in stock?


graham.myers said:
 
We no longer have any E5 cases in stock and wont be getting any more in. They have been replaced with the Streacom FC5 fanless chassis. I wont link to the product item as its not a direct answer but details on our website :)
 

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