The Streacom F12C Aluminum Desktop Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on September 14, 2015 9:00 AM ESTThe Exterior of the Streacom F12C Desktop Aluminum Case
The Streacom F12C is clearly a minimalistic design. It highlights the simplicity of plain sandblasted aluminum, with the only aesthetic touches being the rounded corners and bottom edge of the faceplate. The F12C features a simple yet elegant appearance. Measuring 184 × 440 × 320 mm (7.25 × 17.35 × 12.6 in) and with a volume of 0.0259 m3 (25.9 liters), the F12C is one of the largest desktop cases that we have ever seen, yet it still requires about 50% less space than an average tower case. As the case is almost entirely made from aluminum, it is particularly lightweight, tipping our scale at just 4.35kg.
Only a rounded power on button can be seen to the left of the faceplate, with a pinhead LED light right above it. The black spot to the right of the faceplate is an opening for an infrared remote control device, which is optional. There is no opening for an optical media drive, slim or otherwise, which can be an issue for a case intended to hold HTPC systems. This issue aside, there is another series of omissions: there are no front USB or audio jacks, and not even a reset button. To clarify, there are no USB ports on the sides or top of the case either. For an HTPC case, the omission of front USB ports is a critical issue.
There are three rectangular openings at the top and two square openings at either side of the F12C chassis. All of these openings are air vents. The satin black frame surrounding them is a magnet that attaches on metal studs bolted onto the aluminum frame, locking the mesh filter into the cutout.
The mesh filters are very thin and soft, with a high aperture. It unlikely that they are capable of blocking much of the dust from entering the case, as some of the very small dust particles will easily go through the holes. On the other hand, they are very easily removable and washable, making them very practical.
The bottom of the case is simple, with some openings punched to serve as air vents. There are four aluminum circular feet with soft rubber pads attached. The chassis model is etched onto the chassis and there is a small sticker with the serial of the product as well.
The rear of the F12C chassis is very simple and plain design. It essentially looks like a typical tower case that has fallen on its side. An aluminum cover shields the expansion card slot screws. Strangely, there are no ventilation or fan openings, even though there is more than enough space of a small exhaust fan.
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E.Fyll - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Sorry, lost a sentence there.You may be right about dB(A)/W (although it does not work quite that way) but it is not useful to provide noise graphs for three specific fans that I chose for a test that was done just for illustrative reasons. If I chose two fans, four fans, or any other fans from the hundreds of the available models, the results would differ. There is no point to provide you with a "dB(A)/W" rating when that will change based on your selection.
Landiepete - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
Caveat. I've used their SFF passive case (8c) in the past. These are rated upto 95W TDP hardware, however, even using 65W TDP, cpu and mobo temperatures crept up to around 60°C, and I wasn't even pushing the hardware very hard.Using a 45W TDP unit in it's current incarnation keeps temps generally around 45°C, every once in a while it goes up to 50.
I also use a SFF an active unit (7C), and, using a 65W TDP unit, it can't keep the unit cool when only the CPU fan is installed. There is not evough room inside the case to use anything but a low profile fan, and it needs help from a small (size limit again) evacuation fan. This works, but the noise at load is quite horrendous.
So far I have NOT been impressed with Streacom efforts.
Wwhat - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
It doesn't look very attractive to me, but I think a person with some talent doing some slight mods can make it look nice. But default it just looks bad to my eyes.Haravikk - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
Interesting, but some very strange decisions here; while I like that there's an option for using the sides as intakes/exhausts, I can't help but feel that the case should still have mounts for a more traditional front to back cooling setup with vents for intake fans at the front, since this is the only side that should be completely clear at all times. The sides and top could easily be obstructed in many HTPC setups, which limits the usefulness of a case that can only be cooled from these sides. While I don't like using the rear panel for exhaust due to the necessarily small fan mounts (once you take up space for PCI slots and I/O), not offering it as an option still seems a glaring mistake.Likewise the lack of front USB ports; that limits its usefulness for gaming (nowhere to plug in wired controllers or charge wireless ones) and eliminates a useful means of connecting install media or providing media files that you already have.
So yeah, as much as I like well made aluminium cases, there are just too many issues with this one to make it really useful IMO.
Sertis - Friday, October 9, 2015 - link
I rather think it's a nice htpc case. I currently use a node 605 and if I had silver components id rather have this. All I need in an htpc is a very good looking case about the same width as my amp and space for a full size vide card. Optical drive? I can rip to my nas from the nas itself or my desktop, or my laptop. Tuner? HD homeruns in the garage. USB in the front is an affront to the senses especially with the blue plastic in 3.0 ports. I just run an active USB repeater cable to a pop up panel in the floor and a coupler into the leg of the coffee tabletable to a popup panel. Htpc controls are via a mce receiver in the back with a harmony ir blaster. Some people just want things to look clean. They should offer 19" rack mount ears to go all the way for custom installs.