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A Closer Look:::…

PSU Mountings

As mentioned, just above the HDD bay is the PSU. This particular model came with a 465W silent PSU. This should be enough to handle most modern PCs. The PSU has support for SATA, P4 and AMD boards that require the extra 12V connector. Ironically, it only has seven four pin Molex connectors and two SATA power leads. This is enough for most users, and keeps clutter to a minimum; however, in a case that can hold five hard drives and needs power to run the air cooling, there would not be enough leads to power everything. Then again, how many people run five hard drives in ANY configuration? Note the rubber grommets on the PSU supports to decrease vibration noise.

PSU Connectors

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Front Bezel Open

The front bezel unlocks with a key and swings open to install drives. The door is practically a wire mesh as you can see from this photo. The door is painted steel with rolled edges and very solid feeling. I haven't yet mentioned the overall quality of this case, but every detail is solid. All edges are rolled, and the gauge of steel used is nice and stiff and the hinges for the bezel are smooth and solid.

Drive Rails

The optical drives also use steel drive rails that snap on to the sides of the drive and slide into channels in the case with a firm snap.

COMPLETED PC IMAGE GOES HERE

Installing components was a breeze. Everything was a great fit, well aligned and high quality. The drive rails feel solid and tight. The fans have blue LEDs, which shine nicely through the mesh front bezel. I chose to go with the additional 80mm fan, which I had a quad LED fan here, ant the effect is very nice shining through the mesh front.

What did I install? Well, here's a rundown of the testbed as it looks today:

· Abit NF7-S2G Motherboard
· AthlonXP 3200+ (400MHz)
· 1GB Kingston PC4000
· VisionTEK X800XT
· WD 80GB SATA HDD
· Samsung combo drive

Each test was run in a temperature controlled room which remained at a stable 68 degrees Farenheit. The Xaser case had standard air-cooling with a total of four 80mm case fans, and two 120mm fans on the PSU. The Enermax case was running the two 120mm fans supplied, and an optional 80mm fan in the case, as well as the two 120mm fans on the PSU. To test the load temp on the CPU, SiSoft SANDRA's burn-in feature was used in three loops of ten runs. Each test was completed after a settling period of 15 minutes.

Temperature Comparisons

I pulled the components from a ThermalTake Xaser series aluminum case. The temperature differences were surprising. I did not remove the CPU or the cooler from the motherboard when transferring components from one case to the other, so the quality of contact, as well as the paste is identical. Look at this graph, and note the differences. The wind tunnel effectively purges enough hot air to keep temps really low, even with simple air cooling. One major difference between the two was that when the load testing was complete, the Enermax case dropped the CPU temp almost immediately whereas the Xaser took a few minutes to expel the remaining heat and bring the CPU temp back down.

Side View - Lit

Front View - Lit

Overall, the CS-718 is a solid, well built case with a very innovative and effective circulation design. Integrated temp display, fan control and IO panel add enough functionality to push this case into the realm of one of my favorites. I miss having a removable motherboard tray, and it's just too tight to remove the CPU cooler without removing the motherboard. But it's not too often that I'm removing the HSF, and even less frequent for non-reviewers. I was impressed with the low CPU temps, and even more so with the drop in temp when the load was relieved. As far as styling goes, the mesh front and illuminated fans walk the flashy/classy line very well. The addition of a 465W PSU means that you will not be under powered by any means. All in all, this is a very impressive case from all angles.

Conclusion

The 3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After discussing this concept with users as well as companies and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided that where necessary we shall aim to introduce our 'Dual Conclusions Concept' to sum up our thoughts and impressions on the hardware we review. As the needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts have increased, it has become more difficult to factor in all the aspects that such a user would find important, while also being fair to products that may lack these high end "bonus" capabilities but which still represent a very good buy for the more traditional and more prevalent mainstream user. The two catergories we've used are:

The Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely to put price, stock performance, value for money, reliability and/or warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware that operates beyond its design specifications. The mainstream user may be a PC novice or may be an experienced user, however their needs are clearly very different to those of the enthusiast, in that they want to buy products that operate efficiently and reliably within their advertised parameters.

The Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the things that the mainstream user cares about but is more likely to accept a weakness in one or more of these things in exchange for some measure of performance or functionality beyond its design brief. For example, a high priced motherboard may be tolerated in exchange for unusually high levels of overclocking ability or alternatively an unusually large heat sink with a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered acceptable if it offers significantly superior cooling in return.

The Mainstream User ~

This case is solid and well crafted. The extras like four USB ports on the front, and easy to read temp display are bonuses that make this case even more useable. Newcomers to the scene may have a bit of a challenge building a PC in this case from the tight fit of the motherboard and wind tunnel, but I have faith in you! The wiring for the external features is well organized and straight forward, making it manageable for newbies in the scene. Like my comment with the enthusiasts, the quality and attention to detail make this a worthy case for anyone who can stomach the slightly high-end price tag.

	NA

The Enthusiast ~

A solid, well designed case with attention to temperature is always welcomed in the sphere of enthusiasts. Being a full tower, it is a little large to carry to your LAN party, however, as a stationary PC it has all the necessary bells and whistles that can be incorporated. The inverted BTX design, while a little disorienting, is very effective for managing heat output and control. The understated design is accentuated with a bit of bling by using LED fans which are visible through the mesh bezel. Aside from the lack of easy access to the HSF (or removable motherboard tray), I have no gripes at all about this case. From a quality of build standpoint, and attention to detail, I can recommend this case to those of you planning your next speed demon. One minor drawback to the wind tunnel, however, is that many of the newer, larger heat pipe HSFs will not fit. However, standard sized HSF's and water cooling should be no problem.

	NA

We're always looking for ways to make our reviews fairer. A Right To Reply gives the manufacturer or supplier of the product being reviewed a chance to make public comments on what we've said. They can explain perhaps why they've done the things we were unhappy with or blow their own trumpet over the things we loved. It's easy for us to pick a product apart but sometimes things are done a certain way for very specific reasons.

Should Enermax decide to exercise their "Right To Reply", we'll publish their comments below: