The first impression this case will make on you is – this is huge. And it really is. It's almost 60 cm high and deep just the same. It looks extremely robust, and so it proved to be during the testing. The design is very unusual and definitely the feature which will instantly either attract or deflect potential buyers. We refer primarily to the handles of the enclosure, i.e. its “arms” and “legs”. “Legs” would be the two pipes with which the case “stands” on the floor, which is a fantastic solution if you keep your case on the floor, or even better, on a carpet of some sort.
“Arms” are the upper pipes, handles which significantly ease case relocation (this is very important when large cases are in question) – no more strain on the spine if you have no one else to help you move it. Also, the reflective black front door add a certain sci-fi feeling to the case, so that the users who care about style a lot will be pleased as well. Opening the door reveals the grid surface of the front panel, with five 5.25” drive bays.
| Available Color | Chassis Appearance: Silver, Bezel: Black | | Dimension (W / H / D) | (W) 266 x (H) 598 x (D)628 mm | | Weight | Net Weight : 16.9 kg ; Gross Weight : 18.9 kg | | Material | Chassis: Steel, Appearance: AL | | Motherboards | Extend ATX, ATX | | 5.25" Drive Bay | 5 Exposed (without the use of exposed 3.5 inch drive bay) | | 3.5" Drive Bay | 6 ( Hidden ) ; 1 Exposed (converted from one 5.25 inch drive bay) | | I/O Panel | USB 2.0 x 4, IEEE 1394 x 1, Audio x 1, SPK x 1, eSATA x 1(Support HD Audio) | | Cooling System | Bottom fan ( intake ) :120x120x25 mm x 1, 1200 rpm, 17 dBA (included), | | Top fan (exhaust) : 120x120x25 mm fan x 2, 1200 rpm, 17 dBA (included), | | Rear fan (exhaust) : 120x120x25 mm x 1 (included), | | HDD fan : 120x120x25 mm x 1 (optional), | | VGA Wind | | Expansion Slots | 7 | | Power Supply | Standard ATX PS2 / EPS 12V ( optional ) | | Other | Exclusive Carrying Box |
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There is no preset 3.5” floppy bay, but as it is common practice nowadays, there is a 5.25”-3.5” adapter inside the packaging, so that no user who believes floppy drive is still necessary (if there are such users anyway) is “crippled”. The upper bezel reveals a plastic grid (somewhat reminiscent of air conditioners) with an exhaust fan underneath and an I/O panel in front. As far as the I/O panel is concerned, we must admit that this is definitely the best designed and the most functional I/O panel we have ever laid eyes on. Four USB ports, HD audio input/output, FireWire, an eSATA port, Power and Reset buttons and a couple of LEDs indicating HDD activity and power status.
All of this is so neatly bound together that it is a pleasure to even see, let alone use. The internals of the case are, expectedly, very spacious. Several interesting solutions were implemented. The coated side panel to provide sound isolation and a canal over the PCI(-E) slots to direct the airflow over the GPU are the most interesting ones. The cool air intake is managed by a single 120 mm fan located at the bottom of the case. The PSU unit is also placed on the bottom (not included with the case, of course). There are six internal 3.5” drive bays for hard disks, each with a separate aluminium insert, which makes them very easy to handle.
So, how does all of this work when a system is installed inside. Well, the component installation is rather painless, partly owing to the amount of free space to work in, partly due to the fact that tools are not needed at all. There is very little noise, as the transparent side and belonging fans are excluded from this model. The cooling is not really great initially – although it is quite satisfactory, air intake from only one source will definitely not be enough for more ambitious overclockers who do not opt for a water cooling system (even though the case is adapted for one).
However, if three additional fans are bought and installed, the cooling is excellent. This is only a minor expense compared to the price of the case itself, but that sort of makes it even more strange that more fans weren't provided to begin with. Also, we aren't too happy with the aforementioned canal over the graphics card; although it does direct fresh air over the GPU, the gains are almost unnoticeable, only a few degrees decrease in temperature, but a royal pain in the backside whenever the card should be taken out or reinstalled.
Finally, we tested the actual portability of the case. Not exactly a disappointment, the handles do make the job of moving the case easier, but we still couldn't classify it as “portable”. The case is made completely out of steel, and with a net weight of 17 kg, no user is very likely to move it around a lot. Now those handles we talked about seem not only useful, but ultimately irreplaceable.
All in all, we might have sounded a little too harsh – this case is top-quality nevertheless. The potential issue here is that the target market is a little too narrow for the case to sell well. In our opinion, the only users that might find interest in this case are: one, hardcore overclockers with one or more high-end GPUs and likely a water-cooling system, and two, those users who don't think twice about paying a lot for excellent design, which this case really has. Others are more likely to turn to less extravagant solutions, such as the two-thirds cheaper CoolerMaster CM 690, or Antec Nine Hundred, for that matter.
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