Recently I've been shopping for a case. And not just any case, I wanted something big, sturdy, expensive, with a high-tier brand name slapped on it. I was looking at various offering from Silverstone, the NZXT Whisper, and perhaps the CM ATCS or Cosmos. And it is a strange fact of my PC purchases that I always overkill on certain parts and aim for things I don't really need. I think I came to my senses for a brief moment because in the midst of wanting to spend 200-300$ on a case I went and picked up the Xigmatek Asguard, seen here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811815002
Before this case I had an RC 690. It was big, bulky, heavy, but it was sturdy and had good airflow which was what I was going for at the time. Now this Asguard is probably the size of the RC 590 which it resembles. I even broke one of my cardinal case requirements because the Asguard has a top mounted power supply where I really favor bottom mounted. The main downside to this is the 8pin connection wire on nearly every PSU is too short in most bottom mounted situations.
This wasn't a case that was even on my radar before two days ago.
And so just an hour or so ago I finished putting all my components into this case and these are my observations:
-Its a beautiful black. I know its kind of hard to think of how many shades of black you can actually recognize or what sort of difference they'd make, but inside and out the color is really nice. I really cant say enough about its particular shade of black.
-It came with lots of screws, standoffs, and a couple of those sticky cable holder things. The accessories were ample for something sub-50$. It even came with a case badge.
-Built like a Dwarf. Its compact and sturdy, nothing flexes too bad and nothing was broken when it arrived. I did manage to accidentally break one of the drive locks when installing my DVD driver but there were plenty more.
-Its just big enough. I had to move my HDDs around so I could connect power to my HD 4870 1GB. I also had to re-seat and turn my Thermolab BARAM because it didn't fit due to PSU placement up top, they bumped by a couple mms or so. If the BARAM was any taller I don't think the door would've fit. But to be fair to the case on this one, the BARAM is beastly. Its no Megahalem but its got some weight to it.
-It fits just enough fans. I'm an airflow junky. I like fans, lots of them, as much air as they can push despite how loud they'll be. I currently have three 120mms in it, I would've liked to fit four but the BARAM made things difficult. I can see here how the RC 590's bottom mounted PSU and top fan spaces would've been nice. But this costed a lot less.
-Cable management was great. Better than my RC 690. I fit just about everything behind the mobo tray. Aside from my SATA cables being too long and the front panel wires being annoying, all my wires are tucked away nicely and should I have need to open the case I can show a very neat and tidy setup.
I spent 40$ on this case, another 20$ on the fans, and with 60$ invested I have something I'm completely happy with. Its no NZXT Whisper on aesthetics and its no Silverstone on airflow, and maybe it doesn't have hotswap bays. But when I look at the parts I own, what I do with them, and what I'll be doing in the foreseeable future, I can't help but smile that I got off satisfied for so cheap.
Before this case I had an RC 690. It was big, bulky, heavy, but it was sturdy and had good airflow which was what I was going for at the time. Now this Asguard is probably the size of the RC 590 which it resembles. I even broke one of my cardinal case requirements because the Asguard has a top mounted power supply where I really favor bottom mounted. The main downside to this is the 8pin connection wire on nearly every PSU is too short in most bottom mounted situations.
This wasn't a case that was even on my radar before two days ago.
And so just an hour or so ago I finished putting all my components into this case and these are my observations:
-Its a beautiful black. I know its kind of hard to think of how many shades of black you can actually recognize or what sort of difference they'd make, but inside and out the color is really nice. I really cant say enough about its particular shade of black.
-It came with lots of screws, standoffs, and a couple of those sticky cable holder things. The accessories were ample for something sub-50$. It even came with a case badge.
-Built like a Dwarf. Its compact and sturdy, nothing flexes too bad and nothing was broken when it arrived. I did manage to accidentally break one of the drive locks when installing my DVD driver but there were plenty more.
-Its just big enough. I had to move my HDDs around so I could connect power to my HD 4870 1GB. I also had to re-seat and turn my Thermolab BARAM because it didn't fit due to PSU placement up top, they bumped by a couple mms or so. If the BARAM was any taller I don't think the door would've fit. But to be fair to the case on this one, the BARAM is beastly. Its no Megahalem but its got some weight to it.
-It fits just enough fans. I'm an airflow junky. I like fans, lots of them, as much air as they can push despite how loud they'll be. I currently have three 120mms in it, I would've liked to fit four but the BARAM made things difficult. I can see here how the RC 590's bottom mounted PSU and top fan spaces would've been nice. But this costed a lot less.
-Cable management was great. Better than my RC 690. I fit just about everything behind the mobo tray. Aside from my SATA cables being too long and the front panel wires being annoying, all my wires are tucked away nicely and should I have need to open the case I can show a very neat and tidy setup.
I spent 40$ on this case, another 20$ on the fans, and with 60$ invested I have something I'm completely happy with. Its no NZXT Whisper on aesthetics and its no Silverstone on airflow, and maybe it doesn't have hotswap bays. But when I look at the parts I own, what I do with them, and what I'll be doing in the foreseeable future, I can't help but smile that I got off satisfied for so cheap.
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