Unpacking and looking at it for the first time, I
noticed the side panel. The side panel had several screws (as opposed to the
thumbscrews I usually like) holding the panel on. But they aren't really
necessary, as the side panel has a latching mechanism that holds the panel on
securely, and can even be locked. It swings open towards the front, and can then
be pulled off.
First look around inside, shows it to be a roomy case. A
full-size ATX board should fit in here with no worries whatsoever. Cases this
roomy are becoming more and more common place, and removable mainboard trays are
going the way of the dinosaur thankfully. A removable tray can be convenient,
but usually sacrifices case stiffness. Included is one of Antec's fine PP303x
300watt Power supplies (note: a different model, the SX840, comes with their
PP403x 400watt supply). The case has a nice sturdy set of rails for the power
supply to sit on, and these add a tremendous amount of rigidity to the case.
The case has 3 5" bays, and 5 3.5" bays, 3 of these in an unlatchable and
removable caddy, for easy removal. A nice touch.
Hmm. What are those purple things front and back?
They're snap in fan mounts!
The case comes with two Antec 80mm exhaust fans snapped
into the back, and pre-wired for HDD power connectors. There is room for 2
optional 80mm fans up front as well. No need to worry with screws here, as the
fans just pop in and out. The retention is slick, and secure, and seems to be
vibration free. It would have been nice to see Antec populate all 4 fan mounts,
but I added two of my own 80mm Sunon's to the front that I had sitting here, and
they were easy to put in and take out. The two included Antec fans are sleeve
bearing fans rated at 34.4CFM, with a very low 30dBa noise rating. Note to those
who are blowhole freaks, sleeve bearing fans can have a shorter life than
ball-bearing fans, but they do cost less, perform about the same, and are A LOT
quieter. In the front, you can see the removable 3.5" drive caddy, with it's
handy locking latch. When closed, the locking latch is secure, and sits flush
with the side panel when installed essentially locking the latch in place, so
there's no danger of the latch coming loose when moving the tower. There's room
for 3 drives here. There are no exposed sharp edged in this case, which is a
VERY nice touch (I have many scars that would agree with that statement :D). The
case material is 1.0mm steel, so it's not a flimsy tin can case by any stretch
of the imagination. It's as sturdily constructed as the Casedge LX374 cases I
often use for building value midtower systems, and those are built like tanks.
Next
page: Taking a look outside
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