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Published: July 5, 2006 | Source: OrigenAE | Author: James Napier

OrigenAE X15e HTPC ATX Case

Cooling & Accessories

Cooling, especially in HTPC cases is a double-edged sword. On one hand you need the best cooling possible to prevent any failures due to overheating components, yet on the other hand you don’t want a HTPC in your living room that sounds like a vacuum cleaner!

X15e Cooling X15e Cooling
The main cooling capabilities of the X15e come from the two 80mm JAA Technology “Nano Ceramic” fans installed at the back of the case. These fans are very similar in specification to those installed on the X10 case, but rather than having 3-pin motherboard connectors, have 4-pin molex connectors. This is rather a puzzling change made by OrigenAE, as 3-pin fans have the advantage of being speed controlled by most motherboards.

Unfortunately I was unable to find the exact specifications of these fans, but I must say that they operate very quietly.

X15e Cooling X15e Case
Taking a look underneath the X15e we can see two large ventilated areas. The vents on the left side of the case are responsible for cooling the hard disk cage, which is also actively cooled by an 80mm JAA Technology fan. The vents located on the right side of the case are responsible for providing fresh air to the power supply, which is installed nearby.
X15e Accessories X15e Accessories
Moving on to the accessories included with the X15e, we can see that it comes with two remote controls. The smaller of the two remotes is bundled as part of the LCD screen and is capable of performing all of the functions present on the LCD display. Also included is a small plastic pen for use on the touchscreen so that you don’t get any mucky fingerprints on it.

The larger remote is exactly the same model included with the X10, and is capable of controlling all aspects of TV/DVD functionality on your HTPC. You will however need to download the drivers from OrigenAE’s website, as no driver disk is included.

X15e Accessories X15e Accessories

X15e Accessories X15e Accessories

OrigenAE have included the necessary cables to get the LCD display up and running. The installation is very simple, only requiring the VGA cable above to be connected between the VGA output on your graphics card, and the VGA input bracket at the back of the case.

To prevent your beige DVD drive from sticking out like a sore thumb OrigenAE have included a brushed aluminium DVD face plate which can be affixed to the front of your drive using the provided sticky pad.

As you’d expect, a large bag of screws along with some cable tidies has also been provided.