HGC OSMI New Edition of the MINI ITX SFF know Feature and Price

HGC OSMI 3.1

We had never had the opportunity to directly cause brand in our columns, the Scottish HG-Computers is not a new player in the housing market and he has been walking there for several years with his OSMI 3.1—which will soon be joined by more specific creations called Tenuis and Concept PAI. To sum up, the brand therefore focuses primarily on the design of its objects, while trying to innovate in terms of compact layout.

Milo SFF mini-ITX Desktop PC Case with USB 3.0

Today, an OSMI 3.1 takes over from the OSMI Rev 2.0 - still in the catalogue so far, but hard to find. What does this new 2020 edition offer? Visually, no big evolution, the case remains in the SFF cubic lathe format, displaying dimensions of 180 x 180 x 255 mm (W x W x H), which corresponds to a volume of only 8.6 liters. The case is also always particularly light, with only 1.88 kg on the balance, thanks to its assembly made mainly of aluminum — always with a powder-coated matt black or semi-glossy white paint finish.

HG OSMI 3.1 Black front rear

Very small size requires, it will only be possible to move towards a mini ITX mobale, which can be surmounted by a ventirad imperatively low profile of 70 mm at the highest (read more: our folder What ventirad for your mini-ITX platform?) and accompanied by two 2.5” storage media. Fortunately, the two ATX expansion slots will allow you to install a 17 cm long GPU, so you can still consider a RTX 2070 mini-ITX like this one or an RX 5600 XT mini-ITX like this one, for example. Finally, to power all this, you will have to find a juice box in SFX or SFX-L format with a max length. of 100 mm, segment that is not the most supplied nor at the price/watt ratio always ideal; Silverstone is one of the most active, not to mention In Win and Seasonic.

HGC OSMI 3.1 Skeleton

Well, what has really changed since Rev 2.0? The backside has been a little re-worked, but there is still no I/O panel with USB or audio jack on the horizon. The OSMI Rev 2.0 was delivered with a quiet fan! 140 mm in extraction on the top, but the new version 3.1 no longer has a fan and offers an optional 140 mm slot now in air intake in the base of the housing, unfortunately without filter. To see even if the cooling will be improved thanks to this inversion, once the housing is equipped, of course. Finally, OSMI 3.1 also dropped the Slimline SDG Bay, because RIP the Cds/Dvds.

HGC OSMI 3.1 new edition of the mini ITX SFF cube box imagined across the Channel, made in Germany

The beast already has a cost and a European availability, it is necessary to Price count with 229,90 € for an OSMI 3.1 black or white distributed exclusively from today by Caseking. Yes, it’s expensive for a case that doesn’t offer anything very exceptional, except an uncommon format and a visibly neat design. On this particular segment of the Mini Tour case, we can also mention the H1 of NZXT (cf. our test) or the Enthoo Evolv Shift of Phanteks, certainly larger, which cost respectively 369 € (with power supply 650 W included) and 139 € (with 1 fan 140 mm). Like what, the pleasure of a "high performance" DIY mini PC, compact and in an atypical format is still quite expensive.