Question

Antec Fusion Case front panel display & Volume control work with XP NON-MCE??

Asked by: garycase

I'm thinking of buying a couple of Antec Fusion cases (the Fusion Black version), but am curious about whether the drivers for the front panel display and volume control work with XP Pro.   If anyone happens to have XP (Home or Pro) running on a Fusion case I'd appreciate an answer to this.   The Antec site indicates it requires XP-MCE ... I called Antec and spoke with a tech who said he really didn't know the answer, and that officially they certainly only support MCE.

I suppose I'll just buy one and try it ... but thought perhaps someone here just might already know.     Please don't bother to respond unless you know for certain :-)

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Asked On
2007-07-09 at 08:57:11ID22683622
Tags

antec

,

fusion

,

volume

,

front

,

panel

Topics

Hardware Components

,

Miscellaneous Hardware

,

General Computer Systems

Participating Experts
1
Points
125
Comments
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Answers

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-09 at 10:13:12ID: 19446885

The LCD software will work with XP Pro, MCE, or Vista.

The volume knob and IR receiver only work with MCE or Vista.  It needs software that is aware that such a device as a "volume knob on the front of the computer" even exists.  Currently that is MCE and Vista.

 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-09 at 10:24:14ID: 19446980

Thanks.  I had hoped that the driver would work like keyboard drivers that allow volume control from the keyboard.   What motherboard do you use in your Fusion?   ... and have you monitored the temps?  (Just curious how well the side-exhaust cooling setup works)

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-09 at 11:25:40ID: 19447505

Asus M2NPV-VM
four USB 2.0 ports
up to 8 GB DDR2 RAM
enough PCI and PCIe slots for graphics, tuner and WiFi cards

And here's a secret weapon to help everything fit:
the ATI TV Wonder 650 HDTV tuner card, which can go in a 1X slot!!

The air coming out always seems cool, so it never occurred to me to check the temps.  The two big fans right next to the CPU do their job perfectly.  Get a cooler that has the fan blowing horizontal to the motherboard and aim it so its exhaust is pointed towards the side fans.  That way the warm air off the CPU cooler has no opportunity to linger in the case.

 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-10 at 22:10:23ID: 19460006

What's your exact config?   ... and how about checking the temps with SpeedFan (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php ) or Motherboard Monitor (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311 ) and posting what you're seeing ... and under what conditions [For example, if you're running a video recompression utility such as Beyond TV's ShowSqueeze post the temps while it's running ].

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-11 at 17:39:02ID: 19467916

The equipment breakdown:
Asus M2NPV-VM with Athlon 64 X2 4800 and 2 GB DR2
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
ATI TV Wonder 650 HDTV tuner PCIe card:
Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
D-Link Gold WiFi card
750 GB HDD
DVD

I'm not installing any extra software.  I don't even have AV or FW  software onboard. (It's behind a NAT Router and never has executable content added to it.)  I have a "Ghosted" backup DVD in case of catastrophe, but that's it.

I booted from UBCD and ran Prime95.  Rebooting into BIOS after stressing it, I never saw CPU temps higher than 45°C.  It idles in the low 30's.  

 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-11 at 18:02:04ID: 19467990

... Anyone else have this case?   I'd really like to know what kind of idle temps it's showing via SpeedFan.    Even better would be the same info with an Intel-based board and Core 2.

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-11 at 19:02:22ID: 19468197

A Pentium D would be hotter than an AMD chip, but the Core2 should compare favorably.  The maximum thermal power of the 4800 is 110 W.  If the Core2 you want to put in is less than or equal, then you should see the same temps, unless the mobo chooses to lower the fan speed, which my Intel 965SS does... In my Antec Nine Hundred with all its fans, the cpu runs about 45° at idle.  Apples and oranges... Go figure.  

 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-11 at 19:14:19ID: 19468239

I'm well aware of the thermal specs of the chips ... but airflow can be a strange bedfellow => and the side-exhaust of the Fusion is different than most other cases.   The 64X2 4800 comes in three versions ... with TDP's of 65, 89, or 110 watts ==> are you sure yours is the 110w version?   I'm also surprised you monitor the temps in your Nine Hundred [with superb airflow and a nice top vent (an excellent cooling feature) ] and don't have temp monitoring software running in the Fusion [a tight, limited airflow case].

By the way, what OS are you running?

I'll leave this open a bit to see if anyone else has a Fusion (or the effectively-equivalent NSK-2400).


 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-11 at 19:17:19ID: 19468248

By the way; r.e. "... I booted from UBCD and ran Prime95.  Rebooting into BIOS after stressing it, I never saw CPU temps higher than 45°C. "  ==> Temps drop VERY rapidly when a stress test ends ... even the few seconds it takes to reboot and get to the BIOS renders any readings at that point pretty useless.   The only way to really know the max reading you're getting under stress is with an active temp monitor while the stress test is running.

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-12 at 15:35:05ID: 19476863

I don't monitor temps on fan-cooled cpus... but that leads to another question.

When I rebooted into BIOS, it was by hitting the reset switch while the test was running.  That was the fastest way to get to the BIOS page I could think of.  Based on the rate of fall in temperature once I got into the BIOS, my guess as to the temp drop would be 4-5° max. More likely 3-4.

You were right about the 110W.  My mistake:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64-brisbane_10.html#sect0

OS is Vista Home Premium.

 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-17 at 15:59:00ID: 19509830

Have you actually tried XP (Pro or MCE) on this system?

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-17 at 16:21:58ID: 19509947

nope.  I would have mentioned it.

 

by: garycasePosted on 2007-07-17 at 16:36:33ID: 19510026

... so your initial comment was an assumption => not based on actually doing it .    Since nobody else has replied, I'll go ahead and accept your initial answer (just to close this out)  ... although it clearly did not meet my request to "Please don't bother to respond unless you know for certain :-)"

 

by: AntecChrisPosted on 2007-07-18 at 17:08:20ID: 19518251

I know for certain because I work here.  Sorry you got a hold of a new guy who wasn't sure when you called in.  I answered your question and you went off on an entire second question for no extra cost of points.  I answered your second question based on a computer I built, and when you asked if I had put XP "on this system..."  WellNO.  

It didn't cross my mind that you were doubting the veracity of my response.

You're welcome.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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