Play it to the Bone

Enough with staring at her from the window, it's time to crack her open and feast on what is within.

The joys of thumbscrews can never be over-emphasized. It saves me the bother of running all the way across the house to find a screwdriver and most likely stubbing my toe on the numerous biohazards along the way. The side panels are held in place by three thumbscrews each.

My first inspection for any points that may tear my precious fingers apart resulted in no blood but I did come across one place the troubled me. Along the back side of the case, about halfway between the PSU and the bottom, was a corner that could prove painful. When installing a heatsink, you could easily put a large gash in your arm if you pull away too quickly.

This is not the roomiest mid-tower that I have seen but it is sufficient for most people. It was ideal for my MSI Slot A board but I found it to be a bit tight when installing my Abit KX7-333. Do not expect to be fitting a watercooling system in this case. This lack of space will have a negative effect on the eye-candy provided by the window because it will be nearly impossible to stealth the cables. Rounded cables will have to be kinked to reach their destination on larger motherboards.

This case comes with space for dual fans blowing out the rear of the case and space for a single fan in the front. This is in addition to the 92mm and 80mm fans provided. This configuration forces you to use a more powerful fan in the front of the case to even out the airflow.

The plethora of drive bays is appreciated and will give even the most obsessive people room for expansion.

This case came shipped with a number of tool-less metal strips to cover the PCI/AGP card expansion slots. They are easily removable.

Overall, I was pleased with the internals of the case. It lacks some of the snazzy features that other cases have but are quite functional nonetheless.

Now off to install some hardware!

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