Moneual 301 Slim Line Home Theater Chassis

Slim line Home Theatre PC chassis, perfect for any

Styling and build quality

The build quality of the Moneual 301 cases is of the highest quality and will enhance the look of any living room. Many people would even find it difficult to tell the difference between a PC built using one of these cases and a high-end piece of hi-fi equipment! One of the reasons for this is that the 301 case is low profile, making it look much sleeker than most PC cases. The smaller height does come at a cost however, in that only low profile (half height) expansion cards can be accommodated (see below for more info). Aside from this limitation, the 301 case is very versatile because it can accept normal-sized ATX power supplies and MicroATX motherboards.

The 301 includes a flap which is the same height as the case. This flap conceals a single 3½” bay which contains a 33-in-1 card reader along with USB, Firewire and Audio ports. The VFD window is located directly above the flap with the optical driver towards the top right of the case.

Moneual 301 HTPC Case Platinum

Internal design and airflow

The internal chassis has is a matt black finish and all edges have been deburred. This makes the 301 case a pleasure to work with.

As mentioned previously the case can only accommodate MicroATX motherboards and low profile (half height) PCI/AGP cards. This explains how the 301 can be as small as it is. The case can accommodate full size ATX PSUs, there is a hole is the chassis floor if the intended PSUs uses a 120mm fan. This allows it to draw cooler air from outside the system. Alternatively, if you are building a system which does not generate a vast amount of heat, (for example a system based on a mobile CPU), then a semi-fanless PSU would be even better!

These cases have space for one 80mm case fan (supplied). This case fan is located at the side of the chassis and blows air directly over the installed hard drive(s). It is also worth mentioning that the supplied 80mm fan is temperature sensitive therefore the fan speed will increase/decrease depending on the temperature reading.

Compatibility

As already mentioned the Moneual 301 chassis can only accommodate low profile expansion cards, therefore if you would like to install a separate graphics card, TV card or even a sound card please make sure they are supplied with a low profile bracket to avoid any disappointment. The only graphics card that we current stock that is low profile is the HDMI NVIDIA 8500GT.

The maximum height CPU compatible with the chassis is 70mm, with the best possibly being the Zalman CNPS8700 series.

The only other thing to consider is the optical drive. The aluminium bezel supplied with the chassis does not fit all optical drives. Moneual recommend LG and Lite-On optical drives. Unfortunately the Samsung drive we provide is not compatible.

Gallery

Rear of the Moneual 301 shown with components installed

Image of card reader installed in the Moneual 301