Thinking Outside the Set-top Box: E-I5 build

I did a build with the new E-I5 case to check sizes, etc. This is a really nice looking small case. If you're at all familiar with the Habey EMC-800/600 cases this is from the same manufacturer with the same quality. Building with the case is pretty easy. It starts with taking four screws off the top. To make things easier to get the motherboard in, I also took out the power board which was two screws for the board and a nut at the back of the case for the power jack. There are no sharp edges anywhere and fit is perfect. The front panel cables are long enough to reach anywhere on the motherboard and then there is plenty of room on the sides to tuck cables away. The HDD bay comes off with four screws and holds any combination of 2 x 2.5" SSD/HDD or 3.5" HDD. With a 28mm CPU cooler, the 3.5" HDD was tight against the cooler but possible if needed. The best fit was with 2 x 2.5" devices, in my case a SSD and 250GB HDD. Everything looks roomy and well ventilated. I will do some thermal and power testing later. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the build.