nMedia Wood HTPC 8000 Case Review

Installing hardware into this case is more straight-forward than other mechanical beasts. There are no clever mounting mechanisms, just simple screws and horse-sense. Installing a motherboard was fairly straight-forward once the drive cage was removed. Installing a power supply was also rather easy, but make sure the PSU’s intake fan is facing the motherboard. As mentioned before, you will save yourself a bunch of grief if you use a modular power supply.

With the drive cage removed, you can mount your hard drives and optical drive with little effort. Once the drive cage was screwed back in place, we noticed that the pre-installed DVD eject button didn’t reach all of the way, so you may have to get creative with some sort of spacer.

We connected all of the front-panel cables to the motherboard with the drive cage removed. We had to reach into the case, since there are no removable panels. Once this was all done then we screwed the drive cage back in place and routed our drive and power cables.

One thing we noticed when we powered the unit on was how much quieter it was, thanks to the natural dampening properties of wood. As mentioned before, wood does not radiate heat, so you have to rely on the outflow of the exhaust fan and your power supply. Amazingly, there was only a 10 degree difference (F) with the lid closed versus the case completely open. There is a lot of space around the CPU area, which is right in front of the large exhaust fan. If you route your cables properly and leave this area open then you will preserve the natural airflow necessary for safe operation.

Overall this is a good HTPC case, if you (and your spouse) dig its unique style. Like many cases, there are a few compromises to take into consideration. For one, the blue LED lights don’t match the retro look this is going for, the “speaker” holes really don’t house any speakers, and there is no true volume knob, although there appears to be one. There is enough room for modern hardware, but I wouldn’t push it, and the case keeps your hardware surprisingly quiet and cool.

REPORT CARD : nMedia HTPC 8000 Case

category	rating	comments
Quality	4	Some good aspects, like good finish, but some cheap plastic pieces and very simple installation.
Innovation	5	This is exactly the type of thing the industry needs more of
Performance	5	Keeps components surprisingly cool given its single exhaust fan.
Installation	4	Very simple and straightforward installation. Some parts of the front panel need to be fixed.
Value	5	A wood case for only $120? It’s unique and by that alone nMedia could charge more, but they didn’t