AMK-33333-300 Case Review

Author : Wayne Date : 14th January 2001

3DVelocity would like to thank AMK Services , and in particular Andrew, for their invaluable help and generosity in supplying this case for review.

Externals continued :

all images copyright 3DVelocity 2001

From the side we see the two finger grills that cover the two Sunon fans. These are positioned perfectly for maximising airflow where it's most needed, over the expansion cards and the CPU. For some strange reason, AMK have abandoned the toolless entry approach used on other cases in their range, and the only way in is to drive two screws from the rear. Sounds simple enough, but it's a real bind if, like me, you spend most of your waking hours opening and closing your case.
Above the two side fans is a decorative vent, which seems to serve no real purpose other than to look good. In fact, if you prefer to operate your case using the positive pressure principle (where you draw more air in than you allow out, and feed the surpluss pressure through strategically placed vents), then this decorative side vent will need to be blocked off from the back.

From the top you can see the third of the Sunon's visible from outside. This "chimney" vent takes care of any hot air that has risen (as it does) to the top of the case. It is set slightly to the rear to avoid it sitting above any drives you may have fitted in the 5.25inch bays, usually your CDRom/CD-RW. The holes you can see above and below are for the optional stainless steel carrying handle (standard on models which have an "H" at the end of the model number). AMK were kind enough to supply a handle for this unit, so of course I had to fit it, a task which turned out to be far from simple.

To begin with, the holes in the case were over 1/8 inch out of alignment with the holes in the handle. Because the handle is stainless steel, there was no way I could get it to give enough to allow me to get both screws into place, and as a result I ended up plugging in the Dremmel and elongating them slightly. Once I had the holes sorted, I then realised that the power supply was stopping me getting my screwdriver on to the very rear of the two screws, and that I actually needed to remove the whole top. While this wasn't exactly brain surgery, it was not exactly easy either. My advice if you want the handle, pay the extra and get it pre-installed, unless you enjoy a challenge that is.

Eventually though, the handle was fitted, and it was not only solid, it looked kind of good too.

The last step before I ventured inside was to fit the plastic stands. This was a fairly simple operation that involved snapping out the twist-locking retainers (A) and using them to lock the feet into place (B) by inserting them through the feet and through a pre-cut hole in the bottom of the case, then twisting to secure them. The feet were barely wider than case itself, so didn't add massively to its overall stability, but it felt pretty safe anyway so I can't really knock it on that point.

Ok, so far we have a neat and functional case, with a nice paint finish, good cooling, a classy (if hard to fit) carrying handle, and a built in power supply. The rear vent was pathetic, but with three pre-cut blow-holes this is not an issue, or not as big an issue as it could be.

Time to flick the quick release handle (oops, sorry, wrong case), time to find my damned screwdriver and go for a poke around inside. If I'm not out in an hour, notify my next of kin.

 

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