3DVelocity would like to thank Soldam Corporation and especially Miho Takei for their help and generosity in providing this case for review.

System installation cont. :

Not much more I can comment on here. Everything went together quickly and easily with no problems of any kind, so here's a few pics to fill the space :)

 

Performance :

Performance?!? on a case? Well, one of the great advantages quoted for Aluminium cases is that they act as a giant heatsink, helping to disperse some of the system heat through the case itself and out into the air. I decided to check this out by first building this system into the 701V we reviewed a while back. Here's the system temps.

Then I took the same reading using the 1100, and in the same ambient air temperature. Here's the results of that one.

As you can see, CPU temperature dropped from 42 to 38 Celsius, though case temperature actually increased by one degree. Although conditions were identical for both systems, I find the four degree drop in CPU temperature a little hard to quantify, so I'm going to assume this is an error or system quirk, or possibly a fault on the thermistor. One possible explanation for the higher ambient (chassis) temperature is down to fan placement. The intake fan on the side panel is at roughly the same height as the rear exhaust fan. They are also pretty close to each other. What this does is causes air drawn in at the side to be sucked straigh out again without actually getting chance to cool the case.

In addition to this, although there is an 80mm intake fan at the front, there are no holes or grills cut into the front panel to feed this fan, severely restricting its usefulness. I'm quite prepared to be put straight by Soldam, but it would appear that the airflow within this case is pretty stunted. If it weren't for the design of the side panel grill, I'd reverse the fan there to see if it helped at all, but with such a poor design I can't see it helping a lot, and I don't want to modify the side panel in case I screw up.....not yet at least :)

Other than this, the case performed with perfection. Everything slotted together perfectly, the buttons felt responsive and it gave an impression of luxurious quality.

The only other real drawback is that coloured cases can look a bit naff with your boring beige CDROM and floppy in. I think we should start badgering suppliers to make coloured fascias available for their drives. You could always paint them yourself of course, but they never look quite right without the model and/or logo on the front.

Conclusion :

Make no mistake about it, the MT-Pro 1100 plus is one seriously desirable piece of hardware. From its sleek black metallic finish and anodised interior to its quality construction, it oozes class. The price is steep, but so is the price of a Porsche, and the comparison is a fair one. Yes, it has a few niggly problems that need ironing out, but I've yet to see the perfect case, and until I do I'll trade the problems off against the sheer luxury of owning this case.

Soldam have long been known as manufacturers of high end cases, and the 1100 does nothing to dent that reputation. Never in my life have I ever been tempted to wax my computer, and Soldam are entirely responsible for this irrational behaviour I've suddenly started to exhibit.

For the casual user, this is an extravagant waste of money, but for those of you who value class more than cash, this is a case worth selling your grandmother for.

It needs more thumbscrews, a better cooling arrangement, a vent redesign on the side panel (a blow-hole with a shiny chrome lazer cut grill would be nice!), but it still makes you want it. All I can say is.....get saving!

A right to reply

This is a new feature we are introducing into all our future reviews. It's easy for us to sit and pick holes in a product, assuming we know why certain things were done the way they were, but it's only fair that the manufacturer gets the chance to defend themselves. In this section, you will see the manufacturer's replies to the points we raise, and decide for yourself if they're valid or not.

 

3DVelocity: Having read my views on this case's ventilation (the side intake fan being so close to the rear exhaust fan, the lack of any front panel vents and the poor side panel grill design), do you think the comments are fair?

Soldam: The reason for the air intake design in the front of the case is that our MT-PRO 1100 and 1100 Supremo cases are specially designed to be the most quiet cases in our product lines. Number of the air ventilation holes and their size are limited, in order to prevent the noise within the case from getting out. Then we created the MT-PRO2200 cases for the people who look for more cooling solution. Actually, the 2200 cases were designed and created based on the feedbacks from the 1100 case users. One of these days, we would like to create a 2200 based case with Supremo color, and at that time, we'll try to put better design side panel grill!

3DVelocity: With the increasing emphasis on easy toolless case access, do you think more thumb screws, at least for side panel access, are a good idea?

Soldam: Yes!, in future products we intend to adopt more thumbscrews for all the parts of our cases. We do have thumbscrews for sale and they have 4 color variations; Red, Blue, Silver, and Black.

3DVelocity: Four HDD LED's!!!.....why?

Soldam: There were quite many requests from our customers that we should increase the number of HDD lights. Some of them say they want to install as much as 10 HDD into one case. Those LED lights are visually very pleasing and were easy to be adopted after the request.