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Exterior

The Front

The first thing that jumped out was that the case finish looked very clean and smooth - in a similar fashion to Shuttle V4 cases. Unlike cases from Thermaltake and Gigabyte, there are no real striking features that stand out like a flashing LED or a giant painted logo. Given the circumstances it is likely to be used in (upscale, home theatre situations), the clean diminutive look suits the case well.

The actual finish on the outside is also impressive. The front panel is aluminum, and is smooth to the touch. While the rest is steel (perhaps to keep noise levels down like the Antec Sonata), it also has the same smooth finish. Here you really see the difference between the goals of a PC case manufacturer and a HTPC case manufacturer.

The Sides

There are two grills on the case, one on each side and the right side of the case has a spot for a 80 mm fan, as you can see below.

The left side has a larger rectangular vent which presents one of the only major quirks of this case. The power supply sits inside the case with the PSU's fan drawing air in from outside. This despite the fact that the PSU generally draws air from the inside of a case and spits it out the back, providing an easy exhaust mechanism.

The Back

The back of the case shows how the extra height of the LC17 is used versus other HTPC cases. Above the back panel of the motherboard, you see that there are a pair of 60 mm fans pre-installed. This case has some major cooling power for an HTPC case, considering many others run 40 mm fans.

Below you see how the case functions differently from a tower ATX case. The PCI slots on the motherboard are situated 'above' the power supply rather than 'below'. This affects cabling a little bit, as we will see later.