MiniSys HT80 Compact mini-ITX HTPC Chassis

Today I've decided to  quickly review another interesting HTPC chassis - MiniSys HT80 HTPC case.

It's  manufactured by Chinese Iwill Technology Ltd company. Iwill is a well known manufacturer of OEM mini ITX, HTPC and car PC cases, they also released on the market their own brand called  MiniSys.

    Most popular MiniSys PC case models are: S197-H80, HT60 and  of course HT80.

First look  on the case gives very positive feelings. It's  a really eye catching little aluminum HTPC case, capable to accommodate regular  mini-ITX motherboard.

I have to admit that original MiniSys HT80 case dedicated for a Chinese market looks a bit different, we asked manufacturer  to change from cheap plastic power button of this case to the aluminum one(with one little Power LED light).
As mentioned above case is made of  brushed 3.0mm aluminum with wiredrawing technology (top lid is made of 2.0mm aluminum). Inside  you will find a optical drive/HDD bracket for one 2.5/3.5 inch HDD, but please be careful if planning using 3.5 inch HDD, it will be limited space inside, so regular motherboard with cooler  cannot be used. Only low profile HTPC motherboard/CPU bundles  such as Giada MI-HM70T-C1037U, or similar, will fit in, whe n 3.5" HDD used.....

However for tests we used regular Sandy/Ivy Bridge Giada MI-H61C motherboard
with i3-2100 CPU and PCCooler S85 CPU cooler which  is perfect for this application as it has 27mm of height only!

In such a  small cases, usually  there is a problem with overheating as hot air from CPU/chipset has no space inside to spread, it must be quickly dissipated from the case. In original "Chinese" version of the case there was a very loud 50mm fan installed. We decided to order this case without 50mm fan, we did some research and bought a good quality 50mm fan which keeps inside of the case cool and also keep noise on a reasonable level.
       When choosing an optical drive, please remember to choose slot-in loaded DVD/Bluray drive with EJECT button on left hand side, right hand side EJECT button drives are not supported in this housing!
     On the front panel 2 x USB2.0 ports can be found(can be upgraded to USB 3.0 on request), same as Audio OUT/MIC sockets.
      As standard, this case come without power kit,  DC power board/Pico PSU  and AC-DC brick adapter must be bought separately. For tests we've used  120W e-Mini DC 12V power board with 120W 12V e-Mini AC/DC adapter , which is more than enough  to power up Intel i3-2100 CPU, motherboard, HDD and DVD drive.



      Excellent advantage for the case is IR round window (located just next to power button), dedicated for remote controller's internal Infra Red receiver module. We've tested this case with  original  MiniSys  Remote controller, which support power ON/OFF function. Enthusiasts of XBMC/MCE  multimedia  systems will be delighted as  this R/C  model is well supported in MCE/XBMC environment.
I have to say, Iwill manufacturer did a very good job - they pay attention to details! Case  is made well,  surface has no dents or scratech, surprisingly, optical drive front slot has anti-scratch fabric layer which prevent disks from scratching - this feature is really rare, even in top quality cases. 
     When look on the rear panel, not to mention external SATA socket & Molex 4pin  power socket. It's a very useful thing, if additional external HDD or DVD drive must be plugged in quickly. Also 2 x rear COM port spaces may be useful for some "industrial" users.

     Whole case stands on silver "HI-Fi " style feet with anti-vibration layer, it gives to the chassis a noble and respectable look.

Case coming in a plain, hard carton box, additionally  protected by special styrofoam.  
Some technical details below:

Specification

Model	miniSys HT80
Material	3.0mm Aluminum
Dimension	204(D)x240(W)x80(H)mm
Color	Black
From Factor	mini-ITX
Display	N/A
ODD	Slim(Slot Load) optical drive bay
HDD	1 x 2.5"/3.5" HDD Drive bay
Cooling	50mm fan(included)
Power Supply	NO Internal PSU board!!! Suitable 12V PSU internal board can be bought separately.
Packing	N.W.: 1.99KG  G.W.: 2.15KG  Each packed in neutral box (320*280*140mm)
Radiator Height	below 20mm when 3.5 inch HDD used below 35mm when 2.5 inch HDD used
AC/DC Brick Adapter	NO AC-DC brick adapter!!! Suitable 12V brick adapter can be bought separately.
Rear I/O Panel	2 x COM Port, 2 x WIFI, External  SATA connector with power
Front  Panel	USB2.0 x 2 (USB 3.0 optionaly), MIC, audio out, IR round window for remote controller internal module

More details  about HT80 coming soon.....

Tomas