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A
Closer Look:::...
Not sure about the green colour, but it sure as heck beats
your typical brown cardboard box. The nicely produced images
and the obligatory "Revolution in Design" hype
make you feel you've splashed out on something above and
beyond the norm.
I didn't bother photographing it, but inside the case is
sat snugly in the usual foam cradle which offers good protection
during shipping.
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The Box
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Out of the box and first impressions are good. The case
is surprisingly heavy for an aluminium construction, certainly
compared to cases the Thermaltake's Tsunami, and the hard
anodised black finish looks extremely durable, something
I later confirmed by trying to scratch one of the 5.25"
blanks with a key.
The initial eye-grabber is probably the two handles on
top which make carrying or moving the case easier, though
by virtue of its weight you wouldn't use them to carry it
too far once the system is assembled inside.
Both handles can be removed but they locate into a small
channel on either side so these become visible with the
handles taken away which spoils the look somewhat.
Take a look at the side window by the way before we move
on. The windowed side panel is an optional extra, and at
£25 it's the most expensive windowed side panel I
think I've ever seen, which I'd kind of hoped would make
it one of the best windowed side panels I'd ever seen. As
it happens it's one of the worst!
That hazy look isn't due to the lighting conditions, and
it isn't because it has a protective plastic sheet over
it, which in fact it didn't, it's just that Chenbro have
opted to use regular impact resistant plastic rather than
Perspex (Plexi), and the result is a slightly cloudy look
that from acute angles has a very rippled surface. Not quite
the look I was aiming for.
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The
Case
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The front of the case follows the look of
the original Gaming Bomb without being identical. The black
version of the case shows the construction behind the wire
mesh far more than the silver version does, so if this bother
you go with the silver version.
The power button, reset button and HDD activity
LED are situated at the top right of the case. The power
button illuminated blue and so doubled as a power on indicator
too.
The rear of the case looks fairly standard.
The power supply can be installed from outside the case,
which makes life easier if you need to replace one after
installing a system inside.
The side panels are held in place with a pair
of thumbscrews each side. A further four thumbscrews secure
the removable motherboard.
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Case
- Front View
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Case
- Rear View
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The rear 120mm fan is protected by a fairly
open design of grill which should let plenty of air though.
Being fitted with a dust filter though it needs to be as
unrestricted as possible. Personally I see little value
in a dust filter on the rear exhaust fan and will be ripping
the gauze off.
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Rear
Fan Grill
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The case comes with no instruction or quick-start
guide, so I've yet to discover what the steel clip that
came in the bits-box is all about.
A nice touch is the self-adhesive cable clips.
A 4-pin Molex to 3x 3-pin power adapter is
supplied to power the two pre-fitted 120mm fans and, presumably,
the optional top-mounted 92mm fan.
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Bundled
Bits and Bobs
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