2 * 5.25 / up to 4 * 3.50HDD " Aluminum Face Plate / Steel Chassis. Glossy Coated Finish Body. Too
Rating: - Best computer case I've ever owned
I wanted to buy a smaller case to hold a full ATX main board, because I wanted to turn an older computer into a media server, and fit it into my media cabinet with my DVD player and other equipment. This case was perfect for that purpose. It has two bays for DVD/CD players, and two internal 3.5" bays (one with front panel access that you get to by clicking a flap), and a third mount for a 3.5" or a fan. The brushed metal and black are really nice, as is the height (just below 6" tall), so it will fit nicely into my media cabinet.
Front USB, microphone, headphone access, and a blue glowing power ring around the power button make this case both convenient and attractive, as do the silver colored feet. The 500 watt power supply fan has a blue light which can be seen through the exhaust holes on top of the case. I added an additional large exhaust fan on the left side of the case in back, which was easy given the holes for that purpose or for mounting another 3.5" drive.
The case is a tight fit if you are accustomed to a full or even a mid-size tower, so if you need lots of space or have really hot equipment, you may want to consider that. However, for my needs (older 2.4 GHz P4, 10K rpm hard drive, nVidia 6200 series card that runs not too hot, and no overclocking or excessive fan use) it is great, and relatively quiet. (Note that I wrote "relatively"...)
Finally, I was impressed with the company itself: I had a question about the product's power supply, so I called Athenatech USA after finding them on the internet. Their website is pretty bare bones, and they don't have a lot of flash or hype, but the person I spoke with knew the product very well, and answered all of my questions. I had the impression I was speaking to a developer or a tech type, and not just some irritating sales person, which gets tiresome to anyone who has had to escape bad salespeople at many mega-stores that sell tech products.
Perhaps the best thing about this case is the price. I bought it for something like $120 including shipping (cant' remember the exact price), and it came packed in its original box inside a heavy duty box for protection. Compared to every other media center type of case I looked at (over 20) by some of the bigger name companies, this one is the best bargain I've ever seen, something like half the price of many of the others.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this product!
Rating: - A different kind of case --
It's been quite a while since I used a desktop case for any of my computers. Probably because of this, I was a little surprised by what was under the hood on this one...
The internal layout is ATX standard, but with a few tweaks to accommodate airflow over the fans when they are horizontal to the rest of the system. The front face of the case pops off, but is tethered to the rest of the body by the cabling required for the buttons and ports located there.
The only minor complaint I might have about this case is that the hardware switch to shut off the power supply is under the face plate and somewhat inaccessible. Much thinner fingers than mine would be required to flip the switch without removing the faceplate from the case. However, since modern motherboards only use the pretty (often illuminated) power switch attached to the motherboard, most users won't have a problem with this. My paranoia is great; I'd prefer easier access to the main switch for the power supply.
Other than this, the case is a dream to work with!
The ATX board I put inside left LOTS of spare room for cards and cabling. Everywhere you look, there's a fan pulling air into and out of the case. It runs exceptionally cool.
About the only concern I have about the case is that the fans (when they reach the end of their MTBF cycle) are a potential noise source.
Other than these small concerns, this is a great case.
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