The GMC Corporation (not to be confused with General Motors in the USA) is a Korean company that has produced some of the most innovative case designs in recent memory. OCmodshop has had a chance to review some of their creations in the past, and each of their designs has provided a good shot in the arm of ingenuity for the PC industry.
The same can be said for the Home Theater PC Market. Now, everyone is jumping on board with Media Cases, and many of them copy each others features or designs, so that many start to look rather stale in comparison. If you take a look down the Boom Box (or “Personal Stereo”) aisle of Best Buy, you will see that music systems have changed dramatically in the past decade. Stereo equipment is no longer the sleek black box, but in-your-face designs with custom VFDs and a million flashing lights. Why can’t we have the same look in our Personal Computers?
GMC did the thinking for you, and has unveiled their Noblesse AV K1 Multimedia Case, which looks like it belongs with the super-boss stereo systems in the college dorm room. I bet even the hip “Mac Guy” would even be proud to have one in his room. This case comes with more buttons, knobs, flashing lights than a futuristic service bot from BladeRunner (extra emphasis on the “service”).
All in One Multimedia PC Case
- Support up to full ATX
- Provides multi operation software through iMedian
- The best solution for multimedia such as TV, Music, Movie and Photo
- User-friendly IrDA remote control
Front Panel Function
- Provides system information and EQ visualizations in 16 x 2 VFD dislpay
- Volume control and mute function
- Multi Memory Card Reader (9 in 1)
- System condition LCD display
- Hot key, Navigation job button in front panel
- Music and Movie control by play control button
Excellent Thermal Solutions
- 140mm cooling fan in the front
- 120mm cooling fan in the rear
- Fan controller
- Thermometer in the LCD display
- Air duct and PCI express air hole in the side panel, meets with Intel CAG 1.1
Easy Installation
- Screw-less 3.5″ and 5.25″ drive bays (support ODD and HDD sliding rails)
- Front panel easy removal
- Folded edges for each part
- Supports USB 2.0 x 4, HD Audio / microphone port FPIO, IEEE 1394, Padlock
| Model | Noblesse K-1 MUSE |
| Dimension ( W x D x H ) | Chassis 200 x 470 x 440mm Carton Box 262 x 502 x 620mm |
| Color | Silver / Black |
| Multi Port | USB 2.0 x 4Port, HD Audio + MIC port+1394 |
| Thermometer | LCD Display |
| Form Factor | ATX |
| Drive Bay | 5.25″ x 2 / 3.5″ x 4 ( Int) |
| Expansion Slots | 7 Slots |
| M/B Size | Full ATX |
| Weight | Net : 10Kg Gross : 12Kg |
| Cooling | CAG 1.1 |
| Fan | Front : 140mm X 1pcs Rear : 120mm X 1pcs |
| Q’ty of 20′ | 370 |
| Q’ty of 40′ | 700 |
| Q’ty of 40′ HQ | 835 |
| Remote Control | IrDA Remocon, 16*2 VFD Display |
| Fan Control | Front&Rear Fan Control (Noise Control) |
There’s so many shiny things on this case. I’m not sure where to start.
The front panel looks like it could replace Darth Vader’s chest controls. The case is laid out like any standard mini-tower case, and is meant to stand upright. The front of the case is all plastic, some of it is painted silver, some grey, and other parts are made of black plastic.
The top of the panel has two stealthed optical drive bays. The bay trays are held in place by two hinges loaded with springs, which are also hidden away. The stealthed bay is actually rather beefy, as there is a lot of plastic between the outside and your optical drive. Below the top DVD drive bay is another one, which can be helpful if you like to copy DVDs, burn two DVDs at once, or just want to have a Blu-ray drive and standard DVD drive.
Below the two drive bays are six silver buttons that function as media controls. From left to right, these buttons are Back, Rewind, Play/Pause, Stop, Forward, and Skip. These buttons function just as you think they should, and are controlled by iMedian software included with the case. Below these media controls is a two-line, sixteen character (2 x 16) Vacuum Florescent Display (VFD), which have much higher contrast and brilliance than LCD-based displays. This VFD is also controlled by the iMedian Software included with the case.
Next, the case is colored silver and has other buttons and knobs. On the left is a large Power Button, and to the right of this is a Back and AV Center (or Home) button. Prominently fixed in the center of the front panel is a large silver volume knob, which is surrounded by an array of blue LEDs and media buttons. Below the volume knob are four buttons to instantly jump to different media applications (which are programmable): TV, Music, Movie, and Photo.
Below this is the Reset button and navigation D-pad. The D-pad looks like a button surrounded by a ring, but the ring only accepts Up, Down, Left and Right. The center of the ring is an Enter button. You should be able to navigate almost every software (such as Windows Media Center) using this control scheme.
Below these buttons is a standard 9-in-one media card reader, which is concealed behind a plastic door with two hinges. The door opens with a push, which unlocks the door which swings down. The door can be locked again by swinging the door up until it clicks into place.
Below the media card reader is a VFD that displays the output of the integrated Fan Controller. The fans are controlled by a knob below this display, which can be clicked to select the fan you want to control, and then adjusted by turning the knob clockwise or counterclockwise.
Below the Fan Control area of the front panel is the input/output section, which is stealthed behind a plastic door. Just pull the door down to reveal four USB ports, a headphone jack, microphone jack, and Firewire jack. The ports can be hard to see from the average angle of one looking down, so the inside of the door has been printed with the locations of the jacks.
There is nothing noteworthy about the top or right side of the case, but the left side has two stamped vents. One oblong vent near the bottom allows PC cards access to outside air, and the top grill is cirular and can accomodate one 140mm fan. The bottom of the case has four “media feet” secured with screws. These media feet sport a silver metal ring, and no-slip rubber bottoms.
The back of the case is pretty standard for a mid-tower. Any standard ATX Power Supply can fit in the top, and standard motherboard I/O port is punched out of the back. Above the I/O panel is a pre-installed 120mm fan. The back of the case has 7 PC card slots, so this case can take up to a full-sized ATX motherboard.
The interior of the AVS-K1 is accessed by unsecuring two thumb screws on the right right back of the case. Once the right panel is removed, we can see all of the rolled steel inside begging for our hardware.
The first impression is that this is one quality case. All case wires are bound together with cable wrap, so they look grouped and organized. All case accessories and components are included in a sealed plastic box, which has been secured to the motherboard tray using a green thumbscrew. Also inside is the iMon remote and paper manual.
The front and rear of the case have two 120mm fans pre-installed. Each of these fans use standard 3-pin fan connectors for power, which is something I always like to see. For some reason, other manufacturers like to include fans with bulky 4-pin molex connectors, which must be tethered to your power supply, and tends to make wiring very messy. Kudos to GMC for including usable fans.
The interior of the case is not unlike many mid-tower cases. The top of the case has rolled steel ledges to secure a power supply. The front of the case has several drive bays to house your optical drives, hard drives, and other devices.
The top cage can hold four 5.25″ devices, but in reality you can only have 2 optical drives, as the front panel only allows access to the top 2 bays. Below this drive cage is a 3.5″ drive cage, which is where all the front panel cabling is routed. This cage is not really usable for drives, but is a great place to stuff extra cables (like unused cables from a modular PSU).
Below this cage is a removable 3.5″ hard drive cage, which can handle up to four 3.5″ hard drives.
The motherboard tray is not removable, and does not come with any pre-installed motherboard mounts. As mentioned before, all front panel wires are grouped with white cable wraping. Internal USB, HD audio, Firewire, fan bus and other connectors are in one group, and other cables such as the power button, reset button, and hard drive LED are in another group.
These wires will eventually be distributed all over our case, depending on the location of their corresponding ports on our motherboard. There are lots of wires, so be prepared to route them properly to look nice and neat.
Initial installation of hardware is very similar to installing any other mid-tower case. It’s probably a good idea to get all of these extra cables out of the way, and remove the drive cage so you have room to work. First, you start with the motherboard’s I/O shield and placement of motherboard mounting screws, then align the motherboard with the mounts and secure with the supplied case screws. You’re going to run out of room fast, so it’s good to connect the power button, reset, button, and other standard wires to your motherboard, since these pins tend to be at the bottom of the case.
If your CPU and memory isn’t installed, go ahead and do this, as they are a pain to do after other hardware has been inserted. Some heatsinks today actually require retention mechanisms on the back of the motherboard, which is another reason to have your heatsink mounted before installing the motherboard.
Now that the motherboard is in, install your optical drives. Since the 5.25″ bays cannot be installed from the front, you’ll have to slide your drives in through the back (which will be impossible once the power supply is mounted). Attach the included rails to your optical drives and slide them in place. Make sure the front panel open/close button makes good contact with your ODD’s physical Open button.
Installing hard drives is rather simple. Attach the included hard drive rails to your HDD, and then slide into place. It’s all rather simple, and the drives don’t rattle around too much, either.
Before connecting up drives and PSUs, it’s probably a good idea to connect all the USB and front panel devices to your motherboard. The front panel uses an implementation of iMedian, which is pretty standard in HTPC cases today. Take the time to route your cables, or they will certainly get in the way as the case becomes more clogged. I won’t go into the details of how complicated the iMedian solution is to install, but I’ve covered this in other reviews (read installation of the Antec Veris)
Any option cards can be installed at this point. The K1’s card slots can be easily freed by unscrewing its green thumbscrew. Plug the board into its appropriate socket, and reattach the thumbscrew. The thumbscrews have a ridged plastic coating, and are rather easy to grip. The screws also have a standard Phillips threading if you prefer to use a screwdriver.
The power supply is usually installed last, as its cables would otherwise get in the way. I recommend a PSU with a modular design, especially for a Media case, because you honestly only need 2 or 3 power cables. The unused power cables of a traditional PSU would clog your case’s airflow, and are difficult to tuck away. Depending on your configuration, you may only need a single molex cable (for optical drive and front panel), motherboard cable, 4-pin or 8-pin motherboard power cable, and SATA power cable.
As you can probably gather from my recommendations, installation is pretty standard for a mid-tower ATX case. There is enough room to make installation relatively hassle-free, but only if you install your hardware in a progressive manner.
Some people compare their PCs to cars, and cars to women. My father would say “Take her out for a test drive, but remember that is the best she’s ever gonna look”. While that statement may be incredibly misogynistic, there is some wisdom to be gathered from it… women, cars and PC cases eventually start to show their age.
This K1 multimedia case looks absolutely fantastic, but I’m also experienced enough with electronics to know that this silver paint will eventually scratch off, and the plastic front panel won’t stand up as well as anodized aluminum or even flat black plastic.
This case will be very appealing to the enthusiast who wants a modded case, but doesn’t want to put in all that work. PC enthusiasts who prefer windowed cases or water-cooling features may pass on the K1, even though it has killer looks. PC enthusiasts usually spend an unusual amount of money on flashy heatsinks and RAM with blinky LEDs, and they want to show it off. These users will be turned off by the fact that the K1 does not have a pre-installed window, but could be challenged to add a window.
Still, the AVC-K1 case looks absolutely gorgeous, and has all the features of a great HTPC case AND PC enthusiast case. While there are no user-expandable drive bays, the argument can be made that there really is no need. The case comes outfitted with media controls, VFD, fan bus, audio, USB, eSATA and just about everything you could want in connectivity…
I almost expected it to have a beer tap.
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