Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I got this little case to move a friend's MicroATX board and PC parts from a standard ATX case. I've built all of my own PCs over the last 11 years and worked on many others as a support tech for much longer: For it's size this little case easily matched many qualities I've come to expect from a good solid, well-built PC case (for the money I paid, at least).
This was NOT the easiest case to install parts into only because of it's small size: Otherwise it was very straight-forward and fairly non-problematic to work on.
NOTE: I paid considerably less than the near-60-dollars Amazon is currently seriously over-charging for this case - I bought it on sale and also had a large credit - but if you're paying less than that and getting good shipping options, it will be a good price for a decent work-horse MicroATX PC. So here's what I thought of this little case:
Positives:
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-> This is a very nice-looking case (though slightly generic), with a good layout for CD/DVD and audio/data ports in front, and for internal components.
-> It's very small and VERY light before parts are added. It seems flimsy at first, once parts are installed it feels much more solid and sturdy.
-> Takes a standard-sized ATX power supply. The really small MicroATX boxes don't.
-> Almost all metal edges and cut-outs are smoothed and/or folded over, preventing unnecessary painful bloody cuts!
-> The motherboard post-less "punched-out" stand-offs really work without any problem. No short-outs for me.
-> The back 120mm fan that comes installed at the of the case is fairly quiet (except maybe in a quiet room) and pushes through a decent amount of air for cooling. If you want, changing this fan out would be very easy even after you finish the build.
-> Doesn't come with a front 120mm fan, but there is a spot for one with excellent venting/air feed (air feeds from the front panel, not the bottom or sides of the case). You should install this fan before installing hard drives!
-> Both front and back fan spots will also take an 80mm.
-> Front 5.25" drive punch-outs are covered by a black-painted steel mesh, with added foam-rubber backing, which can provide extra filtered ventilation from areas that aren't in use by DVD drives.Negatives:
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-> It's a very small MicroATX case. Key word = MICRO. You will probably have _some_ trouble fitting everything in, but I fit a lot of hardware into this case.
-> Installing more than one CD/DVD drive is not recommended - I installed only one and was cramped by extra cabling.
-> The side panels are a REAL PAIN to re-install: They take some time to fit properly. Worth the effort and can be done, though.
-> Long/big video cards WILL NOT FIT in this case, and/or may conflict with installed hard drives. I installed a motherboard that had video built-in, so there was no "video card" in this build for me. Other smaller vid cards will probably work but you should research this further before buying.
-> I installed 3 hard drives, the case can take 4, but I recommend only two installed, one at top slot and on on the bottom, especially if you're installing a video card to the motherboard.
-> The front fan is set off-center from the hard drive bays, so air-flow may not be as good as you want over the hard drives. Seems to work well enough, though.
-> Front USB ports are a bit tight, but once used a few times they become easier to use.Some Advice...
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-> You should install components in a specific order to make building this tiny PC less painful. I did it in this order:
1.Power supply
2.Front fan
3.Motherboard - with CPU & heatsink installed
4.Hard Drive(s)
5.All cables
6.Video card
-> A MODULAR power supply is a REAL pain/time-saver. With a non-modular PSU you'll have a few unused power cables to manage.
-> If you install a SATA hard drive in the very bottom slot, you WILL need a straight SATA I or II data cable. An L-shaped cable will not work.
-> The plastic fan/vent shroud attached inside to the main access side-panel sticks half-way in front of the rear fan. I removed it and covered the hole from the inside. This feature may or may not be a problem - I chose not to experiment with it.
-> This is a work-horse PC case: You could build a gaming PC out of it (sort-of), but personally I'd choose something else.Hardware I Used:
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- Antec NEO HE 550W (modular) power supply
- GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H MicroATX motherboard, with AMD CPU and stock HSF
- Three (3) 3.5" SATA hard drives
- One (1) standard DVD/CD read/write drive in the top slot (NEC 3550A PATA drive)
- Front 120mm intake fan
That's it! Pics of this install are posted at the top of the product page.UPDATED ON: 06-11-10
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