SUMMARY: In the not too distant past, the thought of getting an aluminum case meant pouring out a huge chunk of change. While there are some high-dollar aluminum cases out there, it is getting easier to find them in a more reasonable price range lately. Come join us as we take a look at a low cost aluminum case with some very high end features and see for yourself if it is worth the meager entry fee!
The first thing you notice when glancing at the front of the enclosure is the obvious door. While this has been done several times, they have at least gone out of their way to make it look a little different from many others out there. It gives a clean appearance and the rounded air vents give it a more modern look. Also, if you’ll take note, the air vents on the front have a screening material already in place behind them.
But there is something about the front you may not have noticed…
That top vent is really a plastic window that slides up and gives access to the power button and the floppy drive. This allows you to keep the front bezel locked but still allow normal use of the system, even when a boot disk is needed. If you happen to have small children around who are still at that inquisitive age, this could turn out to be a life saver!
Opening the cover gives full access to any optical and floppy drives installed in the system. As can be seen, there is a full compliment of six 5.25” drive bays and two 3.5” drive bays that can be made accessible from the exterior. This is huge as most tower cases only offer four external 5.25” bays and this one is only a mid-tower.
As a note to installation, you will want to make sure you install your floppy drive in the bottom bay to allow access via the sliding window.
The side of this enclosure features a large window with a grid-like appearance. It looks to be another way SilverStone has chosen to create a look that is different from the rest of the flock.
The fan vent toward the rear of the side panel offers the ability to add an 80mm fan, which will sit right over the AGP port of the motherboard. This not only allows another inlet of cool air for circulation, but it also gets that air moving over one of the two hottest components within the case, the video board.
Moving around to the back of the case shows what looks to be a pretty standard layout. While we will go into some of the features when we get to the interior discussion, there is one item that bears noting from the beginning:
Anywhere you see this handy little piece, you’re being allowed access to the system without tools. This clip slides up and down to either lock or unlock the side panels. Both side panels make use of them and there is no need for getting the screwdriver out when getting into the case.
While I generally don’t talk too much about the right side of enclosures, this one has fan vents for cooling even from this side of the enclosure. We’ll go into more detail in a bit, but just make note that the fans used on this side really can breathe.
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