3R Mstation HT-1100 (contd) - HTPC 4-Way Roundup
Publish date: 2024-10-01
3R Mstation HT-1100 (cont’d)Examining the front closer, we notice the great job of the brushed aluminum finish even more so. With the flip-down face up, the minimal “OPEN” stencil is visible, in addition to the gold-colored feet.
One final look at the front panel - this time, a close-up of the top left corner - reveals to us the nice layout of the power and reset buttons, power and HDD activity LEDs, and the front display as well. Finally, the product’s model number is also discretely placed in the far upper corner.
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Moving on, here’s a shot of the Mstation from the side. Notice how the cover’s finish matches perfectly with the sides of the case and really helps keep the overall look immaculately clean.
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This theme is continued all the way around to the rear of the case, where a simple I/O plate with one installed 70mm fan (and space for a second), extra exhaust fan, and power connector can be found. Something that grew on us while working with this case was the unit’s dimensions. It doesn’t feel particularly long, deep, or tall, and would work perfectly with other electronic components right under or on top of it.
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Getting inside the HT-1100 is as easy as unscrewing the three holes on each side of the top cover and sliding it back. The fit of the cover is perfect, and much to our liking, it doesn’t require any finicky latching mechanisms.
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With the case opened, the most prominent feature of the Mstation comes into plain view; the warm air exhaust tunnel. With a power supply installed, the warm air from that (plus additional heat drawn in from the fan visible in the above picture) is all funneled out to the rear of the case. The idea sounds good, but we’ll only be able to tell for sure after we benchmark the case with our test bed installed.
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Turning the case slightly, we can see that, overall, the HT-1100 has a smart layout. Moving the power supply to the front should help keep motherboard clearance issues from arising, and the height of the system is kept in check, thanks to the omission of the external 3½” drive bay. While certainly this could be an issue for some people, for the majority of users, a floppy drive is not even really necessary anymore.
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Like most HTPCs, the Mstation has plenty of cabling coming from the front of the case, but thankfully, there’s a space between the power supply and drive cage that makes cable routing a little easier.Notice also the standoffs that will help support the power supply. While not exactly pliable rubber, they are still a soft plastic and will help absorb any additional vibrations from the power supply that would’ve otherwise added to the noise of a running system in this case.
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