For the moment Testseek.com has collected 10 reviews of the Lian Li LanCool PC-K58 and it has received 9 awards (!) and a staggering 85% average score. Those numbers says a lot but I wanted to know what the fuzz was about so here’s my own review of it.

INTRODUCTION

When one looks for a case for a new high end PC building project, Lian Li always comes up among the interesting manufacturers. It is my opinion that Lian Li is synonymous with quality; design; elegance and exclusive features. This time I will be looking at a case which has all those features but also a reasonable price tag.

The LanCool is really more a brand of itself than just a Lian Li product series. Lian Li is by most considered as a high end brand, so to diversify into the medium range consumer market without negatively affecting the Lian Li brand, they started the LanCool brand. It is in some places sold without the “Lian Li” in the product name. Anyhow, what really matters is that Lian Li targets lower price level market with the LanCool brand/series.

One of the differences that I have noted about Lian Li versus LanCool cases is that Lian Li mostly uses aluminum while LanCool uses SECC steel for the construction of their models.

OK, so here are the technical specifications of the LanCool PC-K58:

Even though the price tag is not very high for this case, I would like to put this case in the high end segment due to all the extra features. One big plus of this case is that it is quite spacious and supports high end graphics cards.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The LanCool PC-K58 comes in a very large and heavy card board box. And it’s normal since it is a large case and it is mainly made of steel and is thus quite heavy.

The accessories include; a printed manual; an anchorage adapter for the power supply; a mainboard speaker; a plastic cable management clip, one molex adapter and some screws. If anything, the accessories made me more curious about the assembly process to come.

LANCOOL PC-K58 IN DETAIL, THE OUTSIDE

My first thought about the design was that it looked like something from a SF movie but still sober. I guess it’s the block build style which makes me think of SF. I really liked the design which is of course my subjective opinion. Anyhow, the finish is absolutely top of the line.

The entire outside of the case is completely black, except for the back of the case which has the old gray steel look. The sides of the case is very simple, there’s no window or side cooling system. It is actually possible to acquire a side panel with a window and the logo of the “Dragonlord” series printed on it.

Something that I have seen coming more and more with high end cases is the metallic grid in the front. It’s great because it enables the air to move in and out the case more easily yet it keeps the dust on the outside.

The back part of the LanCool Dragonlord PC-K58 is quite interesting. The first thing I noticed was that the PSU is placed at the bottom near the floor where the coolest air always is. Above the PSU hollow, there are eight expansion slots. Note that all the slots have back plates with grids to increase the ventilation. The location of the tubes for the liquid cooling system is placed more or less at the medium height. This is good because it allows us to keep the circuit short. Another good detail is the screws for the fan which have an anti vibration function patented by Lian Li.

The bottom and the top of the case share an essential characteristic: the build of the fan slots. Unlike other manufacturers LanCool has a metallic grid which looks more like a sun screen window on an old house than the typical bee wax cake look. The bottom fan also has a dust filter which is great since it will keep dust from the floor on the outside.

The front connectors are located at the top of the case in the middle of the power and reset buttons. The connectors are two USB ports, one mic and one audio out. Take a look at the images below to check it out.

LANCOOL PC-K58 IN DETAIL, THE INTERIOR

When I removed the side panels I was surprised by their rigidity, they are really thick and heavy. Not a bad thing I suppose. LanCool hasn’t bothered with painting the back or the interior of the case which has the traditional grey metallic color.

The first thing I noticed was the fact that this case has a cable management system. There’s also a hollow in the motherboard back plate for the CPU. Another detail I noticed what the LanCool has already fastened the separator (between the motherboard and the motherboard back plate).

The bottom of the case is mostly occupied by the space for the PSU. As you can see LanCool has placed a rubber vibration dampener for the PSU.

Another one of the great details that this box incorporates is the tool free installation of the expansion slot cards. The system that LanCool uses with this case is very easy to work with and provides a safe anchorage for the expansion cards.

In the upper part of the back there’s a 120mm fan with a 1000rpm rotation speed which naturally makes it produce very little noise.

In the “ceiling” of the case are two places where you can install 120mm or 140mm fans. As you know, hot air wants to rise so these fans would be turned to blow air out of the case.

The inside front of the case is divided in two clear zones. The lower zone is dedicated to the installation of hard disks and the upper part houses the optical units or other systems that use the 5.25” expansion bays.

The rack for the 3.5” units holds a maximum of four drives, both 3.5” and 2.5”. LanCool has a great solution for the installation of the hard drives. You just put the drive in the tray; snap the plastic adapters tight and the push the tray into place. The trays are held by rubber fasteners so no vibration will be transferred to the case.

If at all present, most manufacturers have a 120mm fan in the front. LanCool has chosen to place a 140mm fan in the front and this is great because it manages to cool the hard drive trays perfectly as you can see from the images above.

From the other side of the case there is not much to talk about except maybe the cable management system.

The problem of dust seems to be very hard to completely avoid no matter which case you try. I believe that the best way to avoid it is the use of dust filters in one form or another. In this case, LanCool has really taken it to another level by placing dustfilters on all the air intakes of the case. The front of the case actually has a double dust filter, one which is removable and can thus be easily cleaned.

INSTALLING HARDWARE IN BOX LANCOOL PC-K58

I began with the optical unit, which was easily installed thanks to the tool free system. The installation of the hard disks was no mystery either, I just pulled out a tray, inserted the hard drive and made sure it was secured and then I just put the tray with the hard drive installed back in place in the rack. No screw driver needed.

The installation of the power supply was also easy thanks to the unique anchorage system. You just place the PSU on top of the rubber feet and snap the anchorage arm in place. It holds the PSU firmly in place without any risk of it gliding to either side.

The case is very spacious and I am glad to report that it does support expansion slot cards with a length up to 290 mm which means that it does supports all graphics cards on the market except the Radeon HD 5970 cards.

The fans that LanCool has chosen for this case are very quiet, mainly thanks to their large sizes and low rotation speeds.

CONCLUSIONS

This was actually my first experience with the LanCool brand/series of products and I must say that I am very impressed. If I had to choose one thing about this case that I really appreciated, it has to be the fact that the installation procedure is entirely “tool free”.

In my opinion there are two things that LanCool can improve with this case. First they need to paint the inside and back of the case and secondly why no add an eSATA port amongst the front connectors? Of course, as always the more extra features we ask for the more expensive the product becomes.

In all other aspects I can do nothing but praise the work of the LanCool designers. All in all the PC-K58 is a high quality case with great features such as: super easy installation; nice finish and good looking design. Maybe the best thing of all is its price at around $80.

Pros:

• Build quality and finish
• Spacious
• Wiring management system
• Plenty of anti vibration thinking
• Installation 100% tool free
• Good price level

Cons:

• -No eSATA support
• -Do not support HD 5970

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Lian Li LanCool Dragonlord PC-K58″ our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to Lian Li/LanCool for letting me review this case.

Check out our case category for alternatives!

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Cooler Master’s Elite 310 seems to be a good option for consumers looking for a sober looking high quality case for a cheap buck.

INTRODUCTION

Cooler Master is by many considered to be the number one manufacturer of high end cases for gamers and overclockers. But everyone does not need all the extra features and details which you will find in Cooler Master’s high end cases. There are those who are just looking for a simple and cheap case to mount their system in.

In order to cover the demand for those less sophisticated cases, Cooler Master has released the Elite 310. This case may not have all the clever details from the top line cases, but it do have a spectacular finishing and a structural sturdiness equal to the top the high end cases.  Before further going into any details, let’s have a look at the engineering specifications:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The packaging of the case doesn’t reveal anything of the case itself; it’s just a regular brown cardboard box.

When I opened the box I found the case enclosed in a plastic bag and protected by white foam plastic in each end. It should normally be enough for everything that can happen in transport but maybe some kind of protection for the sides would have been good also.

There are not many accessories included, just a printed manual and a bag with screws.

COOLER MASTER ELITE 310 IN DETAIL: OUTSIDE

Cooler Master Elite 310 is a “semi-tower” which has a very clean and sober look. The front is characterized by its glossy finish which differs from the finish of the rest of the case. The front also has a silver color frame. The case is also available with two other colors of the frame: blue and orange.

There’s really no too much to say about the front. It holds a reset button; a power button and the corresponding LEDs. More over; the front holds a series of connectors at the bottom, with the regular USB 2.0; FireWire and audio connectors. What is unusual is that it also holds an eSATA port which is great. One potential problem about the position of the connectors is that they are not protected against dust.

The right side of the case is totally clean but the left side (viewed from front) holds two positions for 80, 92 or 120mm fans. The intention is that those fans will extract the hot air coming from the graphics card and the CPU.

In the back side of the case, there are seven expansion slots. From the image below you can also see the hole where the motherboard’s I/O panel will be placed. To the right of the hole for the I/O panel, there is a metallic ventilation grid; behind which a 120mm fan can be placed. It is also possible to install an 80 or 92mm fan in that spot thanks to clever positioning of the screw holes. Above the fan and the I/O shield is a hole where the PSU will be placed.

Regarding the placement of the PSU, I have seen it becoming more and more common to place the PSU in the bottom of the case. The point with that is to force the PSU to take cool air from the outside. As you know cold air is heavier than hot air so the coolest air in a room is always closest to the floor. Of course at the floor is also where all the dust is. Anyhow, a second point with placing the PSU at the bottom is that it facilitates the cooling of the CPU (more space).

The case rests upon four plastic pivot points. It may have been better if these “feet” where made of rubber instead of plastic to better secure the case on different surfaces.

COOLER MASTER ELITE 310 IN DETAIL: INTERIOR

Cooler Masters Elite 310 is compatible with both micro-ATX and ATX motherboards as is common with most medium tower cases. The interior of the case is rather simple as you can see from the image below.

The rack for the 3.5 inch hard drives is located in the front of the case and it allows for 6 units to be installed. The rack is not removable but it’s not a problem since it’s easy to reach the screw holes from the front (front needs to be removed). A good thing is that the hard drive rack is turned 90 degrees which makes it easy to install new drives or remove old ones, you will not be in the somewhat annoying situation that you have to remove the CPU heatsink when installing a new drive.

Aside from offering great possibilities with respect to 3.5 inch hard drives; the Elite 310 allows us to install up to 4 5.25 inch units and one 3.5 inch external unit.

The cooling possibilities of the Cooler Master Elite 310 are rather extended considering the case being a medium to low end case. The included fan is located in the back and is a 120mm fan with a regular 3 pin connector, but Cooler Master have been kind enough to make it possible to connect the fan directly to a molex connector.

The motherboard plate is perforated to improve the heat dissipation and to allow a better management of the wiring. But due to the format of the box, the possibilities to keep the wiring behind the motherboard back plate are very limited and we are left to place the remaining cables under the installed hard drives.

ASSEMBLY OF THE EQUIPMENT

The components I used for this review were:

Many of the high end cases in Cooler Master’s series do not require the use of hand tools to install the components. This is however not the case with this case (funny eh?). Still, all you need is a screwdriver and some patience.

There was no problem to install the GTX 260 graphics card which I used for this review, but there wasn’t much space over so I really recommend that you think twice before using this case with a high end graphics card of bigger dimensions.

The case doesn’t offer us many ways to hide the wiring, the space behind the motherboard back plate is just too narrow which leaves us with the only option to hide the cables in the space below the hard drive (provided that you don’t have more than two or three HDs installed).

In the assembly of the equipment the robustness of Elite 310 surprised me. Unlike other cases, where their chassis and their panels bend while working them, the Cooler Master Elite 310 offers an impressive sturdiness.

When I first turned the system on, I was also pleasantly surprised by the low noise of the fan and its ability to move a good volume of air. But I have still seen much more efficient fans so it’s clear that this fan is not from Cooler Master’s high end series.

CONCLUSIONS

One has to consider the price when writing up a conclusion of this case. The lowest I could find when doing a search at Google was $27 which to me feels like a steal considering what this case has to offer.

Cooler Master’s Elite 310 is a semi tower case with a structural rigidity competitive with much more expensive cases. It doesn’t have too many extra features but a few smart details like the turned rack for hard drives and the side panel fans still makes it feel like more than just a standard case.

Overall, this is a case for someone looking for a cheap solution which will work for almost any purpose, however if you are building a high end system I would recommend you to look over other possibilities.

Pros:

• High construction quality
• Nice finish
• Structural solidity
• Cooling system
• Spacious
• Low price

Cons:

• No anti dust filters
• Screw driver needed to assemble components
• No rubber feet

The final score is 85 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Cooler Master Elite 310″ our Recommended Award.

Thanks goes out to Cooler Master for letting me review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: SilverStone has given me the opportunity to do a detail study of one of their Micro-ATX cases; the Sugo SG04B-H. The special thing about this case is that it supports high end (read BIG) graphics cards and power supplies.

INTRODUCTION

The SG04B-H which I will be reviewing today, is a new addition to SilverStone’s famous “Sugo” series. You can check out its siblings at the manufacturer’s website.

Let’s start by taking a look at the specifications of the SG04B-H:

The first thing that strikes me about the Sugo SG04B-H is its capability to mount a high end system in very little space. It is even possible to setup a CrossFire or SLI system in this little case.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The cardbox box in which the Sugo SG04B-H is delivered is of bigger dimensions than what I had expected for a micro-ATX case. As you can see from the images below, the cardboard box has some images of the case printed on it, together with some of the specifications. A good thing is that the specifications are available in multiple languages.

When I opended the box I found the case protected in white foam plastic as expected. It was also protected by cardboard folded to support the sides of the case. The case itself was enfolded in a plastic bag. All in all the packaging gets an A+ from me.

The accessories provided by SilverStone are numerous and some of them very practical. All of them are placed in a cardboard box which was located in the bottom of the packaging. The included accessories are; a front cover for a 5.25 inch optical device; plastic bridles for organizing the wiring inside the case; a plastic bag with screws: an extender 12V 4 pin ATX adapter, rails for the installation of the 3.5 inch internal drive and lastly a manual.

SILVERSTONE SUGO SG04B-H, THE OUTSIDE

My first impression of the case when I took it out of the packaging was that it looked really strange. Mainly because of the handle that has been placed on top of the case. Another thing which I noted is that the outer panels of the box are made in aluminum, which gives in impression of high quality.

The front has only one 5.25 inch expansion bay. In the images below you can see the hole for it but as I said earlier in the review; the manufacturer have included a front cover which goes well with the overall design of the case. I also noted that there is no reset button in the front, only a power button.

The rest of the front is made up of two covers. The first one can be opened and is located to the left and hides a bit surprisingly a 3.5 inch external expansion bay. It also houses 2 USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, an audio input, an audio output and the reset button which I missed in the front. The second front cover is mentioned further down in this review.

As you can see from the images below, one of the side panels has a window which gives us a fabulous view of whatever equipment we install in the case.

The backside of the case looks a little peculiar or at least unusual. It’s mainly the placement of the power supply that makes it feel strange.  Another thing I noticed was all the holes in the aluminum back plate of the case. They are of course there to increase the air flow in and out of the case.

The top side of the case is dominated by the handle which as considerable dimensions. Even though this handle looks a bit strange, it is great to have when bringing your equipment to LAN parties.

The bottom of the case has two plates which can be removed to further increase the cooling possibilities of the case.

SILVERSTONE SUGO SG04B-H, THE INTERIOR

In the right side of the case (viewed from front) there is an steel plate which covers the entire side. The left side has a small steel plate located in the lower part. We can also see the mounting bay for the 5.25 inch unit in the upper part of the case.

I removed the lower steel plate and found a lot of cables; some strange structures at the bottom of the case; the 120 mm fan and the PCB for the external front ports.

The two structures at the bottom of the case are made of steel and are intended to hold two 3.5 inch hard drives. It is not a bad utilization of the space.

In the upper part of the backside you can see the holes destined for the power supply. You can also see the open space intended for the back panel of the motherboard. A ventilation grid have been placed between those two in order to increase the air flow.

In the lower part, there are four expansion slots for PCI or PCI-Express cards. Notice that the plates in front of the expansion slots are full of holes to further increase the ventilation of the case, a nice detail. There’s even an extra ventilation grid below these four expansion slots.

In the front panel of the box I found a plastic structure with a dust filter in which SilverStone has installed a 120 mm fan. It is also possible to install an extra 120 mm fan. One of the possible weak points is the great amount of wiring that I found in this zone. Of course this is normal since the manufacturer has installed numerous ports in the front panel, in addition to the power and reset buttons and the corresponding LEDs.

‘The second and larger front cover holds the cooling system and which is removable as you can see from the images below.

Perhaps you think that everything is super duper with this case by what I have written so far. One thing I have to put on the negative side though is that I had to resort to the manual several times when I disassembled the case. Of course one could argue that is more a problem of mine that of the construction of the case.

SILVERSTONE SUGO SG04B-H, INSTALLING HARDWARE

To install all the components in the Sugo SG04B-H I had to almost completely disassemble it, which is also the reason why it took longer than usual to get the components mounted in this case. Once I had the case disassembled it was a piece of cake to install the components though. An example is the installation of the hard disks in the trays at the bottom of the case, I didn’t even need any tools to do it.

If you choose to install the cover for the 5.25 unit, you will have to concentrate to get it right. It’s a bit tricky but if you have steady hands, it shouldn’t be a problem.

The installation of the rest of the hardware didn’t raise any kind of problems to me and when I already had the experience of disassembling the case, it was easier to put it together again.

Once I had installed all the components, there were no problems adding a big graphics card like the Sapphire HD 2900 XT which I used in this review (the longest one I have in my arsenal). The cabling really came together pretty good in the end, in contrast to my previous worries.

CONCLUSIONS

SilverStone has managed to create a real jewel for the Micro-ATX format. The Sugo SG04B-H is not only an attractive case but it is also full of smart innovations. I am also impressed by the high quality of materials chosen by SilverStone. Especially happy am I to see that they have chosen aluminum for the outside chassi.

SilverStone’s Sugo SG04B-H is a case both for HTPC builders looking for a case of great diversity yet with small dimensions and for gamers looking for a case in which they can assemble a powerful system which is also portable for LAN events.

The main limitation is without a doubt the maximum allowed height of the CPU cooler. Thankfully, nowadays there are a multitude of manufacturers offering high performance low profile CPU coolers.

All in all, I cannot do much else but congratulate the engineers and designers at SilverStone. They have done a great job constructing this case.

The price level is a bit above what I feel it should be at around $150 (120€ approximately). However one must take in account all the extras that this case offers.

Pros:

• Construction and finish of great quality
• Inner distribution
• Expansion possibilities
• Handle facilitates transport
• Small size yet possible to mount powerful system

Cons:

• Price

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “SilverStone Sugo SG04B-H” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to SilverStone for letting me review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: NOX has a new little beast in their catalogue: the very small NOX IT’X Fantastic case for Mini ITX systems.

The available standards for smaller PC cases such as the Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX and Mini-DTX standards are nothing new, but lately things have started to happen in this segment. Previously VIA was more or less the only manufacturer for CPUs and motherboards for the ITX standard. However, the last year or so, we have seen new low powered (but powerful) CPUs coming out from Intel and new powerful integrated graphics chips from NVIDIA have also been released.

There are also many other recent shifts in technologies which have led to an increasing demand for good looking, slim, yet powerful media PC systems, suitable for the living room. The High Definition (HD) standard, flat screen TVs and Media Center software are examples of fairly new innovations which have pushed the PC into our living rooms.

It’s not until recently it has been possible to build a really small PC with enough power to play 1080p HD content. Today I will be taking a look at a nice looking case from NOX, the IT’X Fantastic Mini-ITX case

INTRODUCTION

The last couple of months, I have seen new cases with included power supplies, specifically designed for small dimensions living room PCs. NOX is one of the more prominent manufacturers in this segment and they have been getting a lot of attention for their new cases. Let’s take a look at the specifications of the IT’X Fantastic:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

If you are used to handling normal ATX cases, you will be surprised by the small size and low weight of this package. The IT´X Fantastic comes in a regular cardboard box which you can see in the pictures below.

As you can see from the image above, the case is available in black or white. Surely the Apple lovers will be drawn to the white box, I rather like the black finish though and that was the color of the model I tested.

When I opened the box, I noticed that the case was even smaller than I had expected. In the image above you can see the case between the white foam which secures the case from the crazy postal service people. As you can see, the case is also enveloped in a plastic bag to protect it from scratches.

The accessories included in the bundle are nothing special, a power cord, some mounting screws, two plastic feet for vertical placement of the case and a SATA power and data converter adapter cable.

NOX IT´X FANTASTIC IN DETAIL

When I took out the IT´X Fantastic case from its box I noticed that NOX has placed a plastic film to protect the front even further from scratches, a nice detail.

I found the design to be quite sober and attractive with not too much extra details. I looks like something I could easily place in my living room. Of course design is something very much personal, but I like my living room to be clean from too much technology, I don’t want the technology gadgets to take up too much space or attention. Thus for me, the design of this case is perfect.

As you can see from the images, the front has a 5.25” bay for a DVD/blu-ray drive (slim standard, like the ones in laptops). In the front panel I also found 2 USB 2.0 ports and connectors for audio (headphones and microphone). The power button is located to the right side of the front panel below the LEDs for the power and the hard drive.

The cooling system seems to be well thought through and well distributed but there is only room for a single 60mm fan. This fan is directed towards the hard drive which normally is a big heat generator within any system. The other openings seems to be placed smartly and should allow the flow of air to circulate nicely.

As you can see from the image above, the back side of the IT´X Fantastic is not much to talk about. There’s a hollow where the panel of connectors from the motherboard will be placed and to the right of that, the PSU is placed with a tiny 40mm fan and the power cord connector.

The underside of the case has 4 small rubber feet which have two functions; to lift the case about 2mm from the surface and also to absorb any micro vibrations from the case fans and thereby eliminate unnecessary noise.

I opened the box by removing 3 screws and then I just lifted the top cover away. The first thing that caught my attention was the anti dust filter seen on the images below. The inner structure of the case is divided in 2 main sections, one for the power supply and another one for the motherboard, hard disk and optical unit.

As the specifications say, the power supply offer 160W and below is a few more specifications unique for the PSU.

The power supply is well equipped with many connectors considering that it is not possible to use PCI-E graphics cards in this case. But for mounting a system based on the NVIDIA GeForce 9300-ITX chip or an Atom or ION system the power should be enough.

In the second zone, there is enough space for a 3.5” hard drive and an optical 5.25” slim drive. The wiring in this case looks alright but the wires are a little shorter than normal which should be expected since everything about the Mini-ITX standard is smaller than normal.

MOUNTING THE COMPONENTS

The components I used for this review was a ZOTAC GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi motherboard, an AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition CPU, 4GB of Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 T1 Series and lastly a Seagate 320GB SATA hard drive. As you can see from the image below, I was left with a true case of cable hell after having assembled the system. I managed to hide some of the cables in the space behind the PSU but because of the short length of some of the cables I never managed to clean it up entirely.

Beacuse I didn’t have access to a low profile cooler at the time of this review, I wasn’t able to analyze the temperatures with the top cover on, I’m sorry for that guys. But at least I was able to measure the voltage levels from the power supply which you can see in the graph below.

As you can see the power output was very stable both in idle and full load, so as I said previously, this power supply should have no troubles to support a high range system. In operation the 40mm PSU fan is a bit noisy.

CONCLUSIONS

NOX has managed to produce a high quality case at a good price level at around 50€ (only available in Europe at the time of this review I’m afraid). Considering that it includes a good power supply, this is really a good price.  I found the design of the case very attractive, especially the front panel with its sober and elegant look. Something I would have liked to see is anti dust filters for all the ventilation openings.

The interior of the system is well distributed, it was easy to mount the components but I never really managed to arrange the wiring as I wanted, mainly due to the cables from the PSU. So, all in all, NOX has created a case of high quality with a built in and stable PSU that makes a tad too much noise for my likings. Overall this is a great buy for most of you looking for a Mini-ITX case for the living room.

The final score is 92.5 out of 100 owls, and we give the “NOX IT´X Fantastic” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to NOX for letting me review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: The AeroCool Vx-e Pro is directed towards the gaming market with outstanding features such as the advanced cooling system with an integrated cooler controller and of course the aggressive design.

AeroCool has been around for quite a while. They are well known for their cooling solutions, their multifunction front panels and their cases. Their most recent launch is the “PGS”-series (Performance Gaming System) which includes a total of 5 families of products: VALUE; Professional; Aluminum; Ultimate Gaming and Compact. So far only the “VALUE”-series is official with 5 different models.

INTRODUCTION

The case that AeroCool has sent us is one of the more extreme gaming cases in the VALUE line, the “Vx-e Pro”. With the VALUE-line, AeroCool tries to reach out to advanced users by providing them with complete solutions of quality but with a reasonable price tag. Let’s take a look at the specifications of the Vx-e Pro:

The specifications for this case are interesting to say the least. What really caught my attention was the extra room given to PCI cards. With a free length of 307mm we will be able to install any of the currently available high end cards on the market.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

OK, so let’s take a quick look at the packaging. The case comes in a quite discreet cardboard box. On the backside, AeroCool has printed some of the specifications of the case in different languages.

When we opened the box, we found the case perfectly protected by the usual white protective material and a plastic bag. The box arrived to us without any marks or bruises so this protection seems to be enough for postal transport.

The accessories that AeroCool has included with the case are not much to speak about, a mounting kit (5.25” to 3.5” adapter), three bags of screws in different sizes and a manual.

AEROCOOL VX-E PRO: OUTSIDE

At first sight of the case, my first thought was the aggressive design of the case. It really brings me then years back in time, when cases looked somewhat like this. Extra everything. But that is not to say it looks out of date or anything, in my opinion the design is quite is nice.

The front has a total of 5 external bays, 4 of them are 5.25” and one is 3.5”. Below the expansion bays, AeroCool has placed a 140mm fan with blue illumination with the looks of an airplane turbine. The fan is slightly tilted which gives it a nice touch and also helps the air flow to go slightly upwards into the case. This should help the circulation and the overall cooling performance, excellent idea.

In the upper part, above the expansion bays, AeroCool has installed another entry point of air, but I guess it will have little effect without any dedicated fan drawing air into the case from it. The top of the box has the Power and Reset switches and the fan controller. The fan controller has three modes: “Off”, “60%” and “100%”. They have also placed to very convenient USB 2.0 ports and a microphone and a headphones outlet. Behind these controls, they have placed a grid which should give provide some dust filtration for the two 120mm fans placed below them.

Moving over to the left side of the case (viewed from the front), we find a generous opening for the 200mm fan installed on the interior side of the side panel. If you flip the case over and take a look at the bottom side, you will find two more fan openings, one for the PSU and one for a 120mm fan. Sadly, if the PSU is of normal size, it will prevent us from installing the 120mm fan.

AEROCOOL VX-E PRO: INTERIOR

OK, so let’s take the clothes of this baby. When completely disassembling the box, we see the hollows for the two 120mm fans (or one of 140mm), which can be installed in the ceiling of the case. The cables from the top panels come out from a small hole next to one of the fan slots in the ceiling of the case.

Behind the front panel I noticed that there is a free space, i.e. possible space for liquid cooling radiator. Of course, the amount of DVD-drives and hard drives you install will perhaps limit the possibilities for this.

Because the PSU is placed at the bottom of the case, the possibilities of distributing the wiring are quite interesting with this case. Another one of the interesting aspects of this case is the hole which lets us change the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard, great!

In the back side of this case we found a pretty standard distribution of holes for PSU, motherboard, a 120mm fan and the PCI expansion slots. As we mentioned earlier, the only thing that’s abnormal about the backside of this case is the placing of the PSU. The fastening of all the installed expansion cards with only one screw is new to me.

Given all the extra components of this case, we are talking about a lot of wires. This means it will be difficult to get a clean install that lets the air flow through the case.

MOUNTING THE SYSTEM IN THE VX-E PRO

The assembly of the system was as easy as with most ATX cases, thanks to the good spacing. The only problem I had was with the wiring. On the right side of the case the free space between the bottom plate and the right side panel is totally insufficient to pass larger cables, which forced me to leave them just hanging on the inside.

I really liked the space available for graphics cards, since for example the Radeon HD 2900 XT that I used in the assembly has sufficient free space.

Check out the pictures above to see what the case looks like in action when it’s dark. The fan control system works very well and I like the placement of the buttons on top of the case for easy reach. The 3 fans standard to the AeroCool Vx-e Pro are rather quiet as long as you don’t run them in the max mode.

CONCLUSIONS

AeroCool has succeeded in producing a nice looking and good performing gaming case with a cheap price tag. I did find some annoyances which I hope AeroCool will fix for their next series. One must remember that this case is from their “VALUE” line with a price tag around $80 (50 Euro), which means there is room for much improvements for their next level series.

To me, the Vx-e Pro is aesthetically excellent, with a nice finish and giving me both an aggressive and sober impression at the same time. The internal distribution of the box is very good. I was especially pleased by the extra room given to large graphics cards and the possibility of putting a liquid cooling solution in the front of the case. One thing I didn’t like was the wiring in the case; I just didn’t find it to be well thought through.

Overall, this is a very good case; especially the price/features (price/performance) ratio is impressive. I am really looking forward to see more from Aero Cool’s PGS series.

The final score is 92.5 out of 100 owls, and we give the “AeroCool Vx-e Pro” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Check out more cool gaming chassis over at our Cases category. Here are some popular alternatives:

• Cooler Master HAF 932
• Antec Skeleton
• Antec Twelve Hundred

Thanks to AeroCool for letting us review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: The Tuniq 3 is an old chassis, but even today, it has features that could be interesting and attractive, as well as a very interesting price around 60 bucks.

Here’s another Tuniq product, which although it’s not new (it was launched about two years ago), struck us as worthy of a detailed look.

INTRODUCTION

The Tuniq 3 is a mid tower box with some very interesting features. The technical specs are as follows:

We’ve already noted that the Tuniq 3 isn’t a new design. That’s why it doesn’t include some add-ons that have become fashionable recently, like hookups for water cooling. But it does have a complete tool-less mounting system and an advanced cooling system.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Yes, the Tuniq 3 is a mid tower chassis, but its packaging is still pretty big. The cardboard box is all black, with attention-getting images of the product on front and back. On the back, Tuniq lists the features of the core fan assembly, as well as the parts of this tool-less system.

When you open the box, you see part of the front of the product. As usual, it’s well protected, by a plastic bag and Styrofoam panels.

The box also includes the necessary accessories. These include rails for 3.5″ units, all the fasteners needed for installation, and a complete user manual.

THE EXTERIOR OF THE TUNIQ 3

The Tuniq 3 is completely finished in silver, although the aluminum front stands out from the rest of the product. From the very first, several things catch your eye, such as the openings at the bottom and on the lower part of the front side. The former let you see the unit’s internal illumination, and the latter are intake vents for the front-mounted fan.

The front of the chassis is made of aluminum, as noted by the specs, and is very well finished. Just below the access door for the 5.25″ and 3.5″ units is Tuniq’s engraved logo. The door is large and closes with magnets. This avoids problems that can develop with time and makes sure that the door is always completely closed.

Although we’ve seen almost the entire outside of the box, we haven’t seen the ON/OFF and RESET buttons, or the usual LEDs that indicate the unit’s operations. Tuniq has put them on top, in the front, where they are easily accessible, although they don’t call attention to themselves.

Tuniq has placed 2 air intakes on the left-hand panel. One can accept an 80 mm (3.1″) fan, while the lower one is uniquely designed to let air flow naturally to the inside of the chassis. This side also includes two USB 2.0 ports, an audio out, and a microphone input.

The back of the box is pretty standard. It has an opening for mounting 120, 92, or 80 mm fans (4.7, 3.6, or 3.1″). The red switch in the lowest slot turns the unit’s bottom-based illumination on and off. We haven’t shown it yet, but it consists of 2 CCFL light tubes.

INSIDE THE TUNIQ 3

It’s time to open up the Tuniq 3. To do this, we’ll take off the left-hand panel. The first thing we notice, and that’s not surprising, since it’s out of the ordinary, is the central core fan assembly, which is anchored to the top and bottom of the chassis and includes 2 silent 120 mm (4.7″) 3D Core fans. When we took off the cover on the right side, we didn’t see anything to point out. But we definitely noticed that it doesn’t have a cutout for quickly installing a cooler.

The core fan assembly has many pre-drilled holes, which you can use to install fans, as you choose, to cool the unit. This cooling system is ingenious, but it may be more showy than anything else when it comes to actually installing fans.

The unit includes two racks for 3.5″ bays. The bottom one has room for 3 units, and the top one, which is for external bays, can only accommodate 2. You just need to use the sliders to install the units that you put in the lower rack.

The rack for 5.25″ bays has space for 5 units. To connect things, we didn’t need any type of fasteners beyond what came with each bay — we could forget tools completely.

Space for the power supply is at the upper back. It’s a traditional configuration, which has its pros and cons. The rear fan, which draws hot air out of the chassis, is also located here. There are two options for powering the fan: a 4-pin Molex or a 3-pin fan connector.

At the bottom are 7 expansion slots. Like the rest of the chassis, they’re tool-less, which makes installing things like video cards easier. Tuniq has placed the switch for the lighting system, which you activate from outside, in the last slot. Power for the lighting system uses a cable with a Molex connector. It uses a transformer, which is located inside.

INSTALLING EQUIPMENT IN THE TUNIQ 3

To mount units in the Tuniq 3, you first have to remove the central core fan assembly, which you can do by taking out 3 screws. To install 3.5″ units, you just need to insert 2 sliders. For 5.25″ units, simply put the unit to be installed in the most convenient slot and tighten the latches. This box is really tool-less: we didn’t have to use even a single screw.

While we were installing everything, we realized that we could have problems with the configuration of the fans in the core fan assembly, depending on the hardware that we installed. In our case, the biggest problem was the graphics card. But we finally found a place that didn’t interfere with the lower fan.

When we turned everything on, the illumination caught our attention. It’s very impressive and gives an eye-catching modding feel to the Tuniq 3, without being too garish. The fans were a true pleasure — extremely quiet, and with good airflow.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the design of the Tuniq 3 is somewhat outdated and lacks some features found in more recent boxes, this chassis is very interesting and has some unique features. If our memory doesn’t mislead us, it’s the only chassis that permits truly tool-less installation of all components.

Going back to the start, we’ll mention again that the Tuniq 3′s finishing is excellent. This is especially true on the front, where the aluminum adds a very elegant touch. The cooling system is also well designed, and although the core fan assembly may be incompatible with certain hardware, it’s an excellent solution for directly cooling the most important components.

The illumination at the bottom of the unit gives it an elegant modding touch. Even then, thanks to the included switch, you can turn the lighting on or off, as you desire.

The final score is 91 out of 100 owls and we give the “Tuniq 3 Chassis” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks to Fashion PCs and Tuniq for loaning us the Tuniq 3.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translated by: Ed Winograd