Streacom FC8 ALPHA Fanless Home Theater Aluminum Chassis
* All models In stock.
The Streacom FC8 ALPHA is an updated model of the FC8 and FC8 EVO. It now offers native USB3.0, uprated direct touch heatpipes and improved compatibility.
The FC8 Alpha is more than just the next iteration of the FC8 product line, its a massive redesign which subtly redefines its form and function.
The heatsink has been re-tooled to be sleeker, easier to clean, more balanced and ready for future heatpipe configurations. The top panel is now a single piece extrusion, making is virtually unbreakable, and the venting holes have been removed and replaced with a stealth side vent which reduces internal dust and improves convection airflow.
The drive tray has been totally re-design making it easier to install yet more versatile than ever, and now supports 2 x 3.5″* (up from just 1) whilst still having room for an optical drive and 2.5″ drive. If you prefer the non-optical version, there is room for an additional 2.5″ drive, taking the full capacity up to 5 x 2.5″ or 2 x 2.5″ + 2 x 3.5″ drives*. The tray also features variable drive position and orientation mounting, so you can optimally position your drives.
As with all Alpha cases, USB3.0 is native, the power LED is now a subtle pure white, the heatpipes and mounts have been uprated, and it is available with and without an optical drive opening.
The FC8 Alpha, once again sets the benchmark for small, sleek, powerful and silent computing.
PLEASE NOTE: The only difference between the FC8 ALPHA and the FC8 ALPHA OPT chassis is that the FC8 ALPHA OPT has a slot for a slot-loading optical drive, where the FC8 ALPHA does not.
Features
- Fully fanless HTPC chassis
- 100% aluminum with a fine sandblasted finish
- Ideal for media center system
- Compatible with Mini ITX motherboards
- Supplied with four direct touch heatpipes for superior CPU cooling
- New universal optical drive eject mechanism
- Two USB 3.0 ports
The chassis is supplied with a fanless CPU cooler that is designed to passively cool CPU's that have a Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 95W or lower. The chassis can do this with the use of heatpipes that attach to the CPU cooler and then onto either side of the chassis which features large aluminum heatsinks that naturally dissipate the heat - providing silent cooling of the CPU!
Recommended Components:
Motherboard and CPU - The FC8 is only compatible with Mini ITX motherboards. Depending which motherboard you opt for will determine which CPU to use. The case is capable of cooling virtually all CPUs that have a TDP of 95W or lower.
One important point to note when selecting a motherboard is that the board must not have the 24-pin ATX connector (shown in red in the image below or any tall heatsinks) located under the heatpipes otherwise the nano / pico PSU adapter will obstruct the them and it will prevent the CPU block from being fitted.
If there are any partial obstructions in the path of the heatpipes then it is possible to use only two heatpipes for 65w (or lower) processors.
Note: Although the overall cooling ability of the case allows the use of 95W processors we would strongly advise using a processor with a TDP of 65W or lower to avoid using more power than a nano / pico PSU can provide. This means that the Intel i5/i7 CPU with either a S (65W) or a T (45W) suffix would be ideal for a socket 1155 motherboard.
Power Supply - We recommend using a fanless nanoPSU which can provide up to 150W of power. This is more than enough to power a CPU that has a TDP of around 65W along with suitable peripherals. It is recommended not to overload the number of peripherals; two HDDs (or one SSD and one HDD), one optical drive, a TV tuner and obviously a motherboard should not be a problem for this miniature PSU.
Optical Drive - The FC5 ALPHA uses a new universal eject mechanism so it will work with any slot loading laptop drive regardless of where the eject button is located on the front of the drive. Streacom has a great drive for these cases the ST-OB2 Slot Load Blu-Ray drive.
Thermal Paste - These cases are supplied with thermal paste.
| Technical Specifications | |||
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| Model |
FC8 ALPHA Black
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FC8 ALPHA Silver
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| Chassis Material |
Premium Grade (6063) All Aluminium, 4mm Thick Extruded Panels
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| Available Colors |
Silver / Black – Sandblast Finish
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| Motherboard compatibility |
Mini ITX
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| Drive Capacity |
2 x 2.5″ + 2 x 3.5″ or 5 x 2.5″ or 3 x 2.5″ + 1 x 3.5″*)
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| Drive Capacity FC8 Optical |
1 x ODD + (1 x 2.5″ + 2 x 3.5″ or 4 x 2.5″ or 2 x 2.5″ + 1 x 3.5″)*
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| Front Ports |
2 x USB3.0, 19/20 PIN
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| Expansion Slot |
1 x Low Profile Expansion Card
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| CPU Cooling |
Heatpipe Direct Touch 4 Pipes – Recommended CPU TDP 65W, Max TDP 95W**
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| Dimension |
240 x 250 x 100mm (W x D x H)
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| Power Supply |
Not supplied - consider a 160W Nano PSU
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| Net Weight |
2.7kg
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**As with any passive cooling solution, environmental conditions will have an impact on the performance. A TDP of 95W is only recommended when the chassis is placed in a location with adequate air flow and moderate ambient room temperature.
Streacom FC8 ALPHA User Guide
 |
See more detailed information in the Streacom FC8 ALPHA User Guide. |
If you are a reseller or a system builder we offer special pricing on bulk orders of this product. Contact us at sales@quietpcusa.com or call Toll Free (877) 205-2020 for more information.
When the FC8 was originally released, the trend for CPU location was center/left bias on ITX motherboards, in common with thin-ITX fixed specification, so naturally we designed and included the SH8 heatpipes to match. Since then the trend has shifted and the majority of current ITX motherboards have a center/right CPU location.
With this in mind we have decided to change the stock heatpipes included with the FC8 Alpha to SH2, which for the majority of customers will give better motherboard compatibility without the need to purchase additional heatpipes.
The switch to SH2 heatpipes also adds the ability for the FC8 Alpha to use the HT4 thermal riser in situations where the motherboard has components that are blocking the path of the heatpipes, further improving the compatibility.
SH8 and MH1 heatpipe kits will still be available for less common CPU locations, but the switch to SH2 heatpipes will give better out-of-the-box compatibility with the current range of ITX motherboards on the market.
