Streacom FC10 ALPHA Full Aluminium Fanless Chassis

A work of art that beautifully combines form and function. Introducing the FC10, the ultimate fanless media case.

Streacom FC10 ALPHA Black

Streacom FC10 ALPHA Silver

The FC10 follows the same vision as the FC9, a stunning design that delivers new levels of compatibility and performance, but with a 435mm wide form factor that perfectly complements any home theatre setup. The all-aluminium sandblasted finish houses a multitude of features such as Heatpipe Direct Touch cooling, universal optical drive eject button and a pivoting drive cage that makes assembly easier than ever. More than just a computer enclosure, the FC10 is a work of art that beautifully combines form and function.

Many home theatre chassis are finished with the brushed aluminium effect, but the FC10 is not like other home theatre chassis. Streacom have finished the FC10 in a very fine shot-blasted finish which gives an elegant pitted look to the aluminium rather than a lined look which brushing produces. It is all down to personal preference as to which looks better but one advantage that a shot blasted finish has over a brushed finish is that it does not leave visible fingerprints behind as brushed aluminium finishes often does.

FC10 WS and AO Differences

The only notable difference between the WS and AO version is at the rear of the chassis. The WS version has two full size PCI IO slots allowing for full sized PCI express cards to be used. Please note that a riser for the PCIe card will be required.

FC10 WS - Rear view showing the two full sized PCI IO slots

The AO version incorporates seven low profile and one full sized PCI IO slots. As with the WS version, a riser is required for the full sized PCI IO slot. The seven low profile slots do not require a riser as the PCIe card(s) will connect directly to the motherboard. Please note that a full sized ATX motherboard will be required to utilise the seven PCI IO slots.

FC10 AO - Rear view showing the one full sized and seven low profile PCI IO slots

Recommended Components

Streacom have a comprehensive build guide that provides general tips and suggestions on what should be considered when building in a Streacom case and how to achieve the best results.

Motherboard and CPU - The FC10 is compatible with Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX and ATX motherboards. Depending which motherboard you opt for will determine how many HDD/SSDs can be installed (more info on this below) and 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 the red shaded section in the image below) or any tall heatsinks are located in this area otherwise the Nano-PSU adapter may obstruct the heatpipes, preventing the CPU block from being fitted correctly.

Avoid motherboards with the 24pin ATX connector in the red shaded area

Note: Although it is stated that the overall cooling ability of the case is 95W we strongly advise using a processor with a TDP of 65W or lower to avoid using too much power than the Nano-PSU can provide. We have a selection of Intel and AMD CPUs available that produce 65W or lower.

To increase compatibility Streacom have a CPU Cooler Riser that raises the CPU heatpipes above conflicting components. The riser gives the included heatpipe solution an additional 32mm of clearance above the CPU.

Power Supply - We recommend using a fanless Nano PSU which can provide up to 160W of power. This is more than enough to power most CPUs that have a TDP of 65W along with suitable peripherals. It is recommended not to overload the number of peripherals; two drives, a TV tuner and obviously a motherboard should not be a problem for this miniature PSU. Alternatively, Streacom now have a 240W Internal fanless PSU, the ST-ZF240. That extra 90W (compared to the Nano-PSU) will allow for even more drives to be connected to the system or you may want to opt for a CPU that has a maximum TDP of 95W for greater performance (see note below). Using this power supply means the largest motherboard you can install is Micro-ATX, as the PSU takes up internal space within the chassis.

Please note: that care has to be taken when installing Intel’s 12th gen 65W CPUs. This is because they feature ‘Max Turbo Frequency’ that exceeds 65W. As an example the Intel Core i9 12900 is stated as being a 65W processor but can actually consume up to 202W. Please check the specifications table for the processor you intend to use and check the ‘Maximum Turbo Power’ does not exceed the power supply.

Thermal Paste - These cases are supplied with thermal paste.

SSD/Hard Disk Drives - The FC10 cases can house many drive combinations depending on which size motherboard is fitted or which PSU is used. The instructions from Streacom’s website go through in detail the options that are available. It is highly recommended that you take a look at their instructions, pages 12 and 13 detail the drive options.

Please Note: - The two PCI IO slots on the back of the WS version do not use a standard spacing so you can not fit a graphics (or other expansion card) that has a dual backplate.

FC10 Image Gallery

FC10 - Side View

FC10 - Side view with Drive Tray