Preface: I decided to build a new PC, since the last time I upgraded was 2 years ago. I ended up getting the Asus A8N5X motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ CPU, and the ATI Radeon X1900XT video card, and a new Hiper Type-R 580W Modular Power Supply.
I wanted a case that was fairly light (I go to LAN parties sometimes- also the case is moved around fairly frequently, such as moving in/ out of dorm rooms). I chose the Chenming 301 case, available from Xoxide.com.
Review: Like I said this is a pretty brief review, there are several other reviews on the internet, but few current ones.
The specs include 4 5.25" bays, 2 external 3.5" bays, and 2 internal 3.5" bays. You may be thinking that's not much room for hard drives, and you're kind of right (which I'll address more later).
I mounted 2 80mm fans on the clear side panel, and one in the front. I also pulled a 120mm fan from my last PC, to put in the rear of the case. Contrary to Xoxide's specs, the rear fan space for this case is for a 120mm fan, not an 80mm.
Installing the motherboard was pretty straightforward (no removable motherboard tray, though). Installing the PSU was also simple- but once I did that, I began to see how little extra space there would be in this case.
Especially with a modular power supply like the one I chose, the cables from the PSU are basically hitting the back of the optical drives that I installed.
Then, I installed two hard drives in the internal bays, then attempted to install my X1900 XT, and encountered a problem. Due to the length of the video card, and the smaller size of this case, the end of the video card basically runs right into the back of the hard drives. With the placement of the PCI-E connector on the end of the video card, it was basically impossible to place a hard drive in one of the internal slots (see pic #3 below). I ended up placing my 2nd HDD in the 2nd external bay, but that limits my options if I want more hard drive space.
(Sidenote: In older reviews floating around the internet, reviewers noted that the plastic piece on the back of the case, which fits over the end of the slots and stores screws, would not fit with the DVI connectors on their video card. I didn't encounter this problem, the piece fit back on just fine.)
I do like this case, just wanted to let others know that it may be difficult to fit in very large PCI-E video cards. And if you wanted to do Crossfire, I couldn't recommend that at all with this case.
Pros: VERY lightweight, side window, plenty of places for fans
Cons: No removable motherboard tray, current gen PCI-E video cards extend over to the HDD tray, basically rendering one bay useless. A dual GPU solution would be difficult or impossible with this case.
Rating: 3.8/5
Pics:
1 - Front of case
2 - Case with interior lighting (from my build)
3 - Picture (with flash) of interior, with arrows indicating the low clearance between video card and HDD bays.
I wanted a case that was fairly light (I go to LAN parties sometimes- also the case is moved around fairly frequently, such as moving in/ out of dorm rooms). I chose the Chenming 301 case, available from Xoxide.com.
Review: Like I said this is a pretty brief review, there are several other reviews on the internet, but few current ones.
The specs include 4 5.25" bays, 2 external 3.5" bays, and 2 internal 3.5" bays. You may be thinking that's not much room for hard drives, and you're kind of right (which I'll address more later).
I mounted 2 80mm fans on the clear side panel, and one in the front. I also pulled a 120mm fan from my last PC, to put in the rear of the case. Contrary to Xoxide's specs, the rear fan space for this case is for a 120mm fan, not an 80mm.
Installing the motherboard was pretty straightforward (no removable motherboard tray, though). Installing the PSU was also simple- but once I did that, I began to see how little extra space there would be in this case.
Especially with a modular power supply like the one I chose, the cables from the PSU are basically hitting the back of the optical drives that I installed.
Then, I installed two hard drives in the internal bays, then attempted to install my X1900 XT, and encountered a problem. Due to the length of the video card, and the smaller size of this case, the end of the video card basically runs right into the back of the hard drives. With the placement of the PCI-E connector on the end of the video card, it was basically impossible to place a hard drive in one of the internal slots (see pic #3 below). I ended up placing my 2nd HDD in the 2nd external bay, but that limits my options if I want more hard drive space.
(Sidenote: In older reviews floating around the internet, reviewers noted that the plastic piece on the back of the case, which fits over the end of the slots and stores screws, would not fit with the DVI connectors on their video card. I didn't encounter this problem, the piece fit back on just fine.)
I do like this case, just wanted to let others know that it may be difficult to fit in very large PCI-E video cards. And if you wanted to do Crossfire, I couldn't recommend that at all with this case.
Pros: VERY lightweight, side window, plenty of places for fans
Cons: No removable motherboard tray, current gen PCI-E video cards extend over to the HDD tray, basically rendering one bay useless. A dual GPU solution would be difficult or impossible with this case.
Rating: 3.8/5
Pics:
1 - Front of case
2 - Case with interior lighting (from my build)
3 - Picture (with flash) of interior, with arrows indicating the low clearance between video card and HDD bays.
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