Chip-Con's Prometeia Cooling Unit

Author : Martyn Date : 2002

...Product	'Prometeia' Cooling System
...Manufacturer	Chip-Con
...Supplier	Chip-Con
...Price	475 Euros ex VAT

 

 

 

Part Four: The Case

Chip-Con, as you have guessed, don't make cases; they make cooling equpiment. So what case have they chosen to house their Prometeia system? Let's take a look...

(The case is made by Enlight and is their model number EN-7230.)

(All images can be viewed in a new window for a closer look.)

Upon first inspection it's a certainly a tough task to scrutinize the case. It was presented with real flair and style. As I mentioned above, the design is such that it could be placed anywhere and it wouldn't look to out of placed. The only initial flaw is it's impressive stature, it is certainly a very big unit indeed. But when we consider what is placed underneath it this has to be overlooked somewhat. Ample storage and expansion is achieved through an impressive four 5 1/2" drive bays and one standard 3 1/2 " bay.

The power button, while not having a particularly positive action is placed in just the right place. The same thing however can not be said about the reset switch, it may be used less in the modern PC but that makes it's placement no less important. It can be difficult to reach that far down if your chair is placed at certain heights and indeed, in a few instances I have had to move the unit and/or my chair to achieve optimal distance from the switch. With more consideration the switch could have been placed just below or beside the power button and thus a more friendly unit would have been displayed here.

I was however, highly impressed at the integration of the cooling unit below. Chip-Con have used a similar style of presentation to match the EN-7230 and this is commendable. It would have been very easy to make this extra height at the bottom look very odd indeed and luckily Chip-Con have given us a unit that looks unique yet beautiful.

Here is an image with the side of the bottom unit removed. Presentation is again good here even though we are unlikely to see this part in everyday usage. All the parts mentioned on page one are clearly visible here.

Here is an image with the front lower panel removed so you can easily see the condenser. Once more, exceptional build quality is on display here. Note also the LCD screen which will enable us to read temperatures when the system is in use.

Here is the case fully exposed, even with the covers removed the cooling unit seems like a part of the whole package which is to Chip-Con's credit. Four easily accessible 5 1/2 inch slots was just about right considering the total size of the unit and no one can argue that option to install a front chassis fan is a nice option to have.

The case can also accommodate two hard drives above and below the floppy drive. I'd have liked to see a little more expansion potential in this area, many users are opting for a RAID setup thanks to the inclusion of RAID chips among many of the popular boards. I would suggest unless you have few 5 1/2 devices you may have a hard time physically fitting anything but a standard two span RAID setup.

Although the exterior finishing on the case was very good indeed the inside was less than perfect. Many sharp edges exist on this unit and while some have come to be expected, this one contained far to many and it reflects on Enlight's commitment to the end user in my opinion. Installing the devices into the case would be a precarious task, I estimated I would receive more than a few cuts and scrapes along the way with this one!

It's also very worth noting that to remove the front sections, one has to be very forceful indeed. The removal system is my no means user friendly and the case 'manual' (a 'generous' piece of paper!) instructs users to basically pull the front off. It left me feeling like I could snap the plastic at any stage of the operation and rendered removal a time consuming process as I was sure I was gong to break something with every tug and push.

Another design flaw inherit in this case is the dynamics of the side panels. You must remove the front piece of the case above and then, and only then can you remove the side panels. This is highly irregular and a most frustrating design choice. It makes having a quick check inside the case a very drawn out and physical task. The side panels in no way glide off either. I felt almost like I had to wrestle with them to achieve what I desired. Again this is down to a fundamental design flaw in the sliding of the sides. The user must partially slide the side forward and then pull the panel upward and outwards, a process that is a lot harder than it sounds a can assure you!

Chip-Con's part in the unit is excellent to say the least, clean user friendly ( although it does have the same frustrating side panel movement) so it is somewhat fustrating to see it paired with such a poor case. Chip-Con clearly had to utilize a smaller styled case but this choice was very poor indeed. I would recommend that most people stay well away from Enlight's offering's in the future. They need to see what A-Open and Coolermaster have done to help end user's with their excellent cases and build upon those designs because clearly this one isn't working. I haven't even addressed the 'removable drive tray' yet, as you may have guessed removable is placed in inverted commas for a very good reason. It is hardly the word I would use to describe it. In reality it is a very, very thin sheet of metal than is affixed with some of the most diabolical screws I have ever used. Installation seemed to take an age while the board buckled and bent as the metal was clearly not strong enough to take any manipulation at all!

At this point I was going to post a picture of my left hand post installation. I have decided against it for the simple fact children may be reading this and the picture was truly X rated material! I'm not joking when I say I had to clean at least six very deep cuts on my fingers. In fact the back of the back plate now has an interesting stain and color to a few edges which I can only artistically describe as Martyn's Blood Red!

I have spent a while addressing negative points here but let me state that while Chip-Con are responsible for choosing the case it is also true, as they would point out, that the ease of which you can change the case is excellent. Preliminary inspection shows that a simple task of undoing two or three bolts is all that is required to move the whole bottom unit to a more suitable case. This is somewhat harder on other cooling systems such as a Vapochill

Overall therefore we can summarize the presentation thus:: Excellent build quality from the Chip-Com provided parts, a true credit to their innovative product. Less than poor build quality from their housing solution. Something for future designs to work upon I would suggest.

I've included some more images of the unit below should you wish to view as many angles as possible.

 

Despite my initial misgiving about the tough task of installing everything in a very awkward case I was still very excited to see what this unit could do for those all important temperatures!

 

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