Well, I got my new rig put together. My daughter's actually. The system components is in my sig. Everything is installed and I'm letting it sit for a day or two for Burn in before I start the overclocking part. I did want to give a quick report about the Chakra case. Alot of people feel the 250mm fan on its side is overkill.
Fans- Everything installed fine. I did add two Enermax Enobal 120mm fans. One in lower front and one for rear exhaust. Very quiet fans. They run about 1850rpms according to the BIOS. The 250mm side fan is also very quiet. Runs about 900 rpm. True to its word the 250mm fan blows in or out and can also be turned off. The front fan is a little harder to install than the rear but not a major problem. Remove four screws to remove the hard drive cage. Pull off the front cover and screw in the srews provided. Had to pull out the hard drive cage anyway to install the hard drive so no biggie. The rear fan easily installed since nothing to block its installation.
PSU: I installed a Seasonic S12 600w psu and it fits in just fine. You could put in a larger one if you wanted. No install problems here.
Bay covers: The two top bay covers flip down if you want to hide a couple of drives. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your needs. If its a drive you use alot you'll constantly hold down the flip plate cover while accessing it. These flip covers can be removed but make sure you remember how it goes back together. A couple of tiny springs can be easily lost.
Case Design: the case is designed to look nice and it does. The side fan is large but its not an eye sore or anything. People will surely notice it but as my friend and I said as we gazed upon it we thought it was pretty awesome looking. The black color does lend to greasy finger marks though but all black cases tend to do that. The only major drawback I found was there was no front IEEE conector in the front or up top. Its a niggling complaint but some may not like there not being one. There is two USB ports, a external hdd connector port, on/off switch, and a reset switch up top and a cover that closes over them to keep dust out.
The case is a mid-tower case but it'll house a P5W DH Deluxe mobo, 600w psu Conroe proc, and a Zalman CNPS 9500 AT hsf very nicely. without a problem. The side fan clears the 9500 hsf by about a 1 1/2 inches or so. More than enough room for those that want a bigger hsf than the Conroe retail setup.
With everything installed and running idle this is one very quiet case let me tell you. You have to stick your ear up to the side of the case to hear anything running inside at idle speeds. I havent done any temperature checks yet nor have I overclocked it yet but that will come later. I dont think there is going to be a noise problem after I do. Right now i'm just gonna let it sit and burn in for a day or two before I start the stress testing and overclocking.
Price: This case is listed at $69.95 and most places are selling it for that but I ordered mine online from Central Computers. They list it for $55 plus shipping. That seems to be their normal everyday price too and not a sale price. For $55 this is a very good deal I feel.
Its a case certainly worth a look at for those wanting a nice reasonably priced midtower case that wont break the bank and does a excellent job of cooling with little to no noise.
Fans- Everything installed fine. I did add two Enermax Enobal 120mm fans. One in lower front and one for rear exhaust. Very quiet fans. They run about 1850rpms according to the BIOS. The 250mm side fan is also very quiet. Runs about 900 rpm. True to its word the 250mm fan blows in or out and can also be turned off. The front fan is a little harder to install than the rear but not a major problem. Remove four screws to remove the hard drive cage. Pull off the front cover and screw in the srews provided. Had to pull out the hard drive cage anyway to install the hard drive so no biggie. The rear fan easily installed since nothing to block its installation.
PSU: I installed a Seasonic S12 600w psu and it fits in just fine. You could put in a larger one if you wanted. No install problems here.
Bay covers: The two top bay covers flip down if you want to hide a couple of drives. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your needs. If its a drive you use alot you'll constantly hold down the flip plate cover while accessing it. These flip covers can be removed but make sure you remember how it goes back together. A couple of tiny springs can be easily lost.
Case Design: the case is designed to look nice and it does. The side fan is large but its not an eye sore or anything. People will surely notice it but as my friend and I said as we gazed upon it we thought it was pretty awesome looking. The black color does lend to greasy finger marks though but all black cases tend to do that. The only major drawback I found was there was no front IEEE conector in the front or up top. Its a niggling complaint but some may not like there not being one. There is two USB ports, a external hdd connector port, on/off switch, and a reset switch up top and a cover that closes over them to keep dust out.
The case is a mid-tower case but it'll house a P5W DH Deluxe mobo, 600w psu Conroe proc, and a Zalman CNPS 9500 AT hsf very nicely. without a problem. The side fan clears the 9500 hsf by about a 1 1/2 inches or so. More than enough room for those that want a bigger hsf than the Conroe retail setup.
With everything installed and running idle this is one very quiet case let me tell you. You have to stick your ear up to the side of the case to hear anything running inside at idle speeds. I havent done any temperature checks yet nor have I overclocked it yet but that will come later. I dont think there is going to be a noise problem after I do. Right now i'm just gonna let it sit and burn in for a day or two before I start the stress testing and overclocking.
Price: This case is listed at $69.95 and most places are selling it for that but I ordered mine online from Central Computers. They list it for $55 plus shipping. That seems to be their normal everyday price too and not a sale price. For $55 this is a very good deal I feel.
Its a case certainly worth a look at for those wanting a nice reasonably priced midtower case that wont break the bank and does a excellent job of cooling with little to no noise.
