Optimized For Silence: HDPLEX Announces Fanless H5 HTPC Case

HDPLEX announced that it will soon be releasing a new version of its H5 Fanless HTPC case. The second generation of the case supports passive cooling for CPUs rated for 95W TDP. Additionally, a graphics card can be cooled with an optional GPU block.

To manage cooling duty without using any fans at all, the sides of the case have been designed to double as large exterior-facing heatsinks. The two sides of the case are covered in aluminum fins that are cooled passively by the environment. Attaching the CPU to the side panel is done with a unique heatsink/heatpipe design. Eight copper heatpipes are attached to the inner side of the case panels. These eight pipes bend 90 degrees towards the CPU. The block that attaches to the CPU can be positioned anywhere on the copper pipes to line up with the CPU socket. The optional GPU block operates in the same fashion, with the GPU installed using a riser card to allow for horizontal positioning.

HDPLEX's H5 HTPC case has support for ATX, mATX and Mini ITX motherboards, and it features a hidden optical drive bay and can accommodate a hot-swap hard drive bay which are found behind the brushed aluminum faceplate. HDPLEX said the faceplate easily pulls off to grant access to the drives.

The H5 HTPC has several different power supply options. An internal nanoATX power supply can be installed inside the case. The company also designed a universal mount to accommodate ATX, SFX and Flex power supplies. Additionally, HDPLEX offers an ATX modular bridge that enables the use of external power supplies, such as the company's HDPLEX 300 W ATX linear power supply.

HDPLEX said the second generation H5 will be available in October for a suggested price of $288.

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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.