Apevia X-QPack 2

[Darksaber]

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[Scortch]

I have one of these and love it. It's the exact same case as the older Q-pack, as mentioned, except for the front faceplate. I did run into a problem with the new aluminum faceplate that people may want to be aware of.

I have a Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2 motherboard in it and I am not sure if it's a MB issue or what but, what happens is, when I get any amount of static built up and I touch the front aluminum faceplate (to open the CD drive or something), it will cause the system to reboot. The static is transferred from the faceplate, down through the USB, firewire or sound grounding to the MB. Yea, it should go to ground at that point but, for some reason it causes the reboot.

Now, I can touch the side of the case and it will be properly grounded out and cause no reboot.

Like I said, it may be a MB issue but, it is something to be aware of. I am going to try and connect a wire from the faceplate, to a ground point on the case and see if that helps.

Other than this small annoyance, I love the new Q-pack2 case.

[CDdude55]

hey Scortch sence you have one do you think this has clearenct for a 8800GTX/HD2900XT? just wondering because the only other case i know of that can is the SG03 but i dont like it as much at this

[Scortch]

It shouldn't be a problem length or height wise. My 8800GTS fits it with no problems at all. I believe both cards are the same height (mine is like 3 7/8ths inches high) and that leaves like 1/4 in. You have about 12 inches for the video card before you start running into issues and I believe those cards are like 10.6in long? Well, the 8800GTX that is. I don't mess with ATI cards, so no clue.

I'm with you. I liked this one a lot better than the SG03. Get a decent PSU also. The one that comes with them are ok but, I wouldn't trust them with my main gear. They ok if you building a *cheap* internet computer.

Also, on the front, on each side of the metal faceplate where it curves in, there are 2 wire mesh pieces. Don't push on the much when handling the case. It's very easy to pop them out and they are a pita to get back in. You have to glue them back in for them to stay. Just getting to them and all is a pita though because the screws that hold the front faceplate on are a pita.

[EnglishLion]

The original version had a 1 piece cover if I remember correctly. Is this still the same? I bought a rip off version (EyeT Ecute) of the original later that had a three part cover that all slotted together perfectly it was also slightly longer for ATX PSU and longer GPU. Still had the plastic handle though which is disappointing, although mine hasn't broken and I've not heard of anyone else with a broken plastic handle so maybe it's not so bad after all.

I prefer the look of the front panel now though.

Also if you want a different coloured LCD display they are available seperately if you search hard enough. I found myself a red one (only 1 temp though) and am waiting for it to be delivered at the moment, just need to make sure it fits now! Cost around £5.

[devehf]

Originally Posted by Scortch

I have a Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2 motherboard in it and I am not sure if it's a MB issue or what but, what happens is, when I get any amount of static built up and I touch the front aluminum faceplate (to open the CD drive or something), it will cause the system to reboot. The static is transferred from the faceplate, down through the USB, firewire or sound grounding to the MB. Yea, it should go to ground at that point but, for some reason it causes the reboot.

Now, I can touch the side of the case and it will be properly grounded out and cause no reboot.

Like I said, it may be a MB issue but, it is something to be aware of. I am going to try and connect a wire from the faceplate, to a ground point on the case and see if that helps.

Other than this small annoyance, I love the new Q-pack2 case.

I also have a Gigabyte Mobo in my Q-pack2 and am having the same reboot problems when i touch the grill. Have you tried unhooking the reset switch? I am thinking this might be the problem.

[Scortch]

Originally Posted by devehf

I also have a Gigabyte Mobo in my Q-pack2 and am having the same reboot problems when i touch the grill. Have you tried unhooking the reset switch? I am thinking this might be the problem.

I tried everything. I unhooked everything and the problem lies in the USB, firewire, etc. Anything that grounds out to the plate and MB.

Here is how I fixed my problem though. It works perfectly too as I generated a large enough static charge to hurt when I touched the front panel and it did not reboot.

What you do is, take off the front panel. Look for the little tabs on the inside that bend over to hold the aluminum faceplate to the plastic faceplate. I bent one of the tabs back enough to run a wire under it and twisted around it and then bent the tab back over to hold the wire in place. I then ran the other end to the chassis that the faceplate clips to and the little screws go through. This grounds the aluminum part to the chassis ground and the static no longer goes down to the motherboard.

You can attach the wires any way you want that works for you. Just as long as you have that connection.

I had a long back and forth discussion with Apevia on this issue and they said they had never heard of the problem. I knew exactly what the problem was but, they wanted to make out like there was no design problem with the case. With the aluminum faceplate having no where to discharge the static since the part it hooks to is all plastic, it has no other choice but to ground out to the motherboard and some MBs have problems with this.

All it takes is a direct connection from the aluminum to the chassis ground. It would be a very simple modification for them but, I guess with so few people saying anything (I was the only one he had heard of), it's not a big deal to them.

The guy I talked to about this was Greg at apevia dot com. I mailed him my fix months later, but never received a response from him.

Hope that helps.

[devehf]

Originally Posted by Scortch

I then ran the other end to the chassis that the faceplate clips to and the little screws go through. This grounds the aluminum part to the chassis ground and the static no longer goes down to the motherboard.

Cool thanks. I will give this a try. So did you remove the faceplate to attach one end of the wire to the faceplate or did you just stick the wire through the clip hole and push it against the faceplate. Is it staying in contact with the faceplate just by gravity/tension?

[Scortch]

The aluminum piece is held in place with several tabs bent over. I just bent on of them up, wrapped the wire around it and twisted it together and then bent the tab back down to hold it in place. If you push it back down and have the wire all the way down the bottom of the tab, bending it over should hold it pretty good. If not, maybe a little solder or something.

You should see once you get the whole plastic faceplate loose.

[devehf]

Originally Posted by Scortch

The aluminum piece is held in place with several tabs bent over. I just bent on of them up, wrapped the wire around it and twisted it together and then bent the tab back down to hold it in place. If you push it back down and have the wire all the way down the bottom of the tab, bending it over should hold it pretty good. If not, maybe a little solder or something.

You should see once you get the whole plastic faceplate loose.

Ahh yes I see what you mean. Man, it was hard getting the plastic front piece off. I couldn't see the 2nd screw holding it in place over under the drive area. I have it wired up now and will give it the shock test. We just installed new carpet so it will be easy to build up some juice.

[Scortch]

Yea, it is a pita where they located them. Hope it works for you. Seem to work great for me. I built up a good charge till it hurt and it didn't effect it.

I put my wire on the side where the power and reset button was. My problem was reaching over to open the DVD drive and touching the aluminum so the right side is where I put mine. It shouldn't matter though I wouldn't think.

[nachowarrior]

ground out the faceplate... like, take a wire and ground it. and check your switches to make sure they're grounded too. it's a good possibility that there IS a sensitive part on you mobo... but i think if you start wearing cotton underwear and socks and make an easier ground for your faceplate (adhere a wire that grounds so nothing else will) the problem will stop. remember electricity takes the easiest path to the ground! :-p, if all else fails, use some rubber grommets or if you're too cheap to do those, tear it appart and use some hot glue in between metal parts. :-p that'll work too.

[lpasekof]

I had the same issue mentioned previously with touching the face plate and having ESD (static) cause the system to reboot. In some cases the system would reboot in most others the video would fail (no picture).

I contacted both the MB manufacturer (MSI) and Apevia. Apevia replied that there SHOULD be a ground wire between the front panel and chassis. There was not, so I made one. I grounded from the mounting screw of the USB ports directly to the chassis. I'm currently testing for result.

Apevia was very fast in their response and even sent a picture of what the ground wire should look like. The picture shows terminating to a screw on the chassis that is already in use for mounting the face plate. No problem...there were plenty of other holes I could use.

[lpasekof]

In a post a few minutes ago I indicated that I had built a ground wire from the front panel to the chassis. Unfortunately, this did not resolve my issue.

For those EEs out there. Would it make sense to add any kind of ground wire between the chassis and the case of the power supply? Is it possible the electrical path between the chassis and the PS is not sufficient to discharge the static?

What about insulating spacers between the chassis and the MB mounting screws?