Anyone mess with this case?

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Thinking about getting this case: Enermax Chakra. Took me a bit to find the name of the case since newegg doesn't specify it, but I could only find one review on it and they didn't really test it for cooling or anything interesting. Anyone had experience with this case?

 

[foosa]

I would tell you not to get it. But thats up to you. Look into antec. They have great power supplys that come with them and the cases are good stuff as well.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Originally posted by: foosa
I would tell you not to get it. But thats up to you. Look into antec. They have great power supplys that come with them and the cases are good stuff as well.

Aye, I have an Antec case right now, and aside from it's excessive weight (due to it being steel not Antecs fault) it's a great case. I don't have brand loyalty though, and this case caught my eye. Enermax seems to generally carry solid products. I'm more than likely going to get it, but if someone has firsthand experience with it I'd like to know how it was.

 

[Zepper]

Very similar to iCute or XClio cases. About the only thing I don't care for about it is all the open mesh to let the noise out. But if you buy quiet components or some noise doesn't bother you, then no problem with that. The big fan spins slow and quiet from what I've heard. Don't really need an exhaust fan as the big one pushes air out of every available opening - just a slow and quiet front fan to run a little breeze over the HDDs.

.bh.

 

[RallyMaster]

That's a pretty looking case...not as much bling as those AeroCools. Definitely something I would look into for that price.

 

[Skott]

The only drawback to the case I see is the open mesh around the fan. Something better to filter the dust would be better IMO. Its not a bad looking case as far as looks go IMO. I shot a email off to PerformancePCs about this case and the 250mm fan and got a email back saying their we're going to be coming out with their own version of the 250mm fan in about 3 weeks. If PFPCs comes out with a modded side panel for that case then I'd say buy it from them because when they do that kind of mod they do a better job of making them more dust proof than the standard mesh.

 

[Zepper]

Most mfrs that use that fan put some sort of paper filter in it.

.bh.

 

[potato28]

Looks nice.

 

[VinDSL]

Okay, here's the deal with this case...

My theory (being a Enermax fan): This case was designed for *free* word-of-mouth advertising. I mean, come on, this thing will move more air than a NASA wind-tunnel.

Why the 250mm fan on the side? To showcase their most excellent Enlobal Fan series!

If you don't know anything about the Enlobals, the fan blades aren't connected to anything, so they're friction-free and noiseless! You can take the blades off, wash them in the kitchen sink, whatever. The Enlobal magnetic-barometric design allows their fans to even run totally submerged in water, so I suppose you could clean them with a garden hose, if you want, without taking them apart.

Apologies to those of you that already know all this, but a lot of ppl are walking around with their head in the clouds!

Personally, I think this is Enermax's attempt to draw attention to their "Triple rEvolution Of Cooling" revolution, so called...

Source

ENLOBAL-based fans for all needs and applications:

WARP ... for manual speed adjustment
EVEREST ... for auto-control speed adjustment
MARATHON ... for no speed adjustment

Might as well take advantage this situation, yes? Enermax makes the best 'cheap computer cases' on the market, and the best case fans, bar none.

Sounds like a win-win, to me. My recommendation: go for it! You might end up owning a piece of history!

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Looks like a nice case for the price. Buy it and tell us how it works.

 

[Geiser34]

:thumbsup: to the 250mm fan. Nice case.

 

[nwrigley]

Any updates on this case? How anyone bought one yet? I am curious if the front mesh is a problem for letting noise out.

 

[mdcrab]

I happen upon this same case last night except it was the

Black and Blue Version

Looks pretty cool.
Let me know if you get one as I would like to know what you think.

Also listed as:

World's first case with external SATA port in front

mdcrab

 

[nwrigley]

New case review: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/index.php?x=reviews&id=462&page=1

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I bought the case and am liking it a lot. Lighter than my old case, smaller, but still plenty of room on the inside. Good airflow from the front vent (metal grill a lot of cases don't even have any way to pull air from the front). It's not as tooless as some cases are. The top two 5 1/4 drives need to be screwed in probably so people have finer control over how far the drive sticks out (so the panel that hides them can hit their button). I didn't need to do any adjustment to get my drives to work with the thing that hides them. Fans need to be screwed in. I don't really care about needing a philips screw driver to work with my case so it wasn't an issue with me. I've got 2 120mm fans in it, I can't especially hear them or the harddrives with it closed up, but I'm not really picky about noise so I don't know what others will think. The side fan came DOA with mine, and I'm trying to get a replacement. Enermax seems a little slow with it, but it's not something urgent for me so I'm not worrying about it.

Kind of weird in that review. They said you only had to remove one screw to get the harddrive cage out when there's actually 4 screws (2 inside the case and 2 on the bottom of the case). Also you don't need to take the cage out to put harddrives in. You just push the rails into the harddrive (no screws) and push the harddrive into the cage. I had to take off the cage to install a fan in the front though.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Okay, here's the deal with this case...

My theory (being a Enermax fan): This case was designed for *free* word-of-mouth advertising. I mean, come on, this thing will move more air than a NASA wind-tunnel.

Why the 250mm fan on the side? To showcase their most excellent Enlobal Fan series!

Sadly, the 250mm fan is a power cooler fan of some sort, and not an enobal fan. I was thinking of buying those for the 120mm intake/exhaust, but Newegg didn't carry one with enough CFM for my tastes when I went to buy my rig; hopefully, they'll come out with ones witha bit more umpf in the future.

 

[Skott]

Performance-PCs has a case with a 250mm fan on the side now. Not a cheap case though. They named it, 'The Goliath'. I think they also sell the fan seperately but not totally sure. Can check with them and see what they offer. LeveL0rd posts over on the HardForum site. He's one of the PPC employees that builds them. He can probably give you some info as well.

 

[Skott]

Anyone know how big of a psu you can fit into this case? None of the reviewers listed their psu size in their notes and I'm wondering if i can get a 550w-600w into it(fingers crossed). I saw one review that used the ASUS M2N32-Deluxe mobo and a 3800 X2 chip which is exactly the mobo and chip I want to build next. I was thinking the Zalman AM2 9500 hsf but not sure if that would fit with this case. The review that used the M2N32 did use a Zalman hsf but its a lower one and I couldnt determine which hsf it was. Looked kinda like a 7700 but I'm not well versed enough in hsf to tell by just looking although I know a 9500 when I see one.

Anyway does anyone know how big of a psu you can get into this case? Would really like to know.

 

[Skott]

Okay, I spoke to the good people over at performance-pcs.com (they sell the Chakra) and the salesman there told me that the case will pretty much hold any size psu due to its openess at the upper back of the case where the psu rests. This is indeed good news for those interested in this case. I wanted to be able to get something in the 600w range for my next build. PPCs also carries the special Enermax 120mm fans the Chakra can utilize for whisper quiet cooling.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I put a 550W in mine, and there's nothing near the PSU that would limit it's size unless you can manage to hit the 5 1/4 bays.

 

[Skott]

Thank you for that confirmation, AK. Looks like I found my next case. Looking into power supplies now.