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Introduction
There's
undoubtedly something very satisfying about modding
your own case, therapeutic even, so why go out and
pay good money for a case that's had all the work
done and all the design decisions made for you? Well
to begin with not everyone has the time needed to
transform a plain rectangular box into a statement
of originality, and of those who do have the time
not everyone has the skill or the tools to pull the
job off. There's also the question of finish. I don't
care how good you think you are with a Dremmel you're
not going to get a cut edge that matches a machine
or laser cut edge, not without hiding it away behind
some kind of edge trim anyway.
So
on the assumption you've decided to bypass the sweat
and tears stage and jump in with both feet by shelling
out for an off-the-peg, pre-modded unit how do you
decide which to opt for?
There's
no end of cases available through all manner of online
vendors today, and if, like me, you've had the chance
to look at some of them you'll know they range from
high quality, high dollar works of engineering magnificence
to tacky, cheap plastic trimmed boxes of finger slicing
junk. So where in this scale does the Skyhawk Galaxy
fit? Let's investigate!
The
Specs
- Material:
1.0 mm brushed finish steel resisting dust &
fingerprint.
- Color
Lights: Two multi-color bubble-Tube lights (seven
colors) with a control button in front bezel.
- Front
Jacks: USB version 2.0, Microphone, earphone, space
for IEEE1394
- Fans:
One front 80mm intake fan, one 60 mm rear exhaust
fan
- Drive
Bays: 4 x 5.25” (external), 2 x 3.5” (external),
& 4 x 3.5” (internal)
- Expansion
Slots: 7 slots with screwdriver-free thumbscrews
- Motherboard:
ATX or Micro ATX
- Dimension:
7.9” (W) x 16.2” (H) x 19.3” (D)
-
Side cover with transparent window (Q-Window)
Just
a note on those specs, it claims that the Galaxy comes
with one 80mm front intake and one 60mm rear exhaust,
well in fact the model I'm reviewing came with an
80mm fan in the side panel and two 80mm exhaust fans
in the rear, so there!
The
side panel fan is an 80mm Young Lin unit rated at
a fairly humble 13CFM but with a very low 18.94dBA
noise level.
| Listed
Model |
Bearing
System |
Rated
Voltage VDC |
Startup
Voltage VDC |
Current
A |
Speed
RPM |
Air
Flow CFM |
Static
Pressure mmH2O |
Noise
Level dBA |
| DFC602512L |
Ball
+
Sleeve |
12 |
6.0 |
0.07 |
2500 |
13.21 |
1.15 |
18.94 |
 |
The
two fans that were strapped to the back were slightly
beefier 27CFM units though they're still very quiet
at just 28.2 dBA. They're just plain black plastic
jobs but seem to be a very good choice despite the
fact they use slightly less wear resistant sleeve
bearings.
|
Model
|
Bearing
System |
Rated
Voltage
(VDC)
|
Rated
Current
(AMP)
|
Rated
Input
Power
(Watts)
|
Speed
(rpm) |
Max.
Air Flow
(CFM)
|
Max.
Static Pressure
(mm-H2O)
|
Noise
(dB)
|
Weight
(gm)
|
| PL80S12M |
Sleeve
|
12
|
0.12
|
1.44
|
2500
|
26.99
|
4.29
|
28.20
|
54
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