Somehow during christmas time my parents found my NewEgg wish list. Pretty sure my wife directed them to it. So when we got to the end of the presents and I saw a large, heavy box with my name on it I almost left a little brown gift in my shorts.
SO, on to the good stuff. The first few shots are around 600mb, wasn't paying attention with the camera settings. Too lazy to resize.
My old SLK1600
Good case for $15 at Fry's after rebate. Just a touch too small and a PITA to change anything, had to remove the top to get to the side panels. It'll make a lovely mini-server box.
The goods next to a pile of crap.
My new white wonder. It's not bling glossy, but just enough to give a little light reflection on the top.
Standard reflection shot of heatsink base...Hey! Get that dust off of there!
On it's back waiting for me.
Version 0.1...YIKES! That huge bundle of wires is from my CoolDrive 6.
Version 0.2...Boot test. Took out the CoolDrive for now, notes below.
Everything booted up with no problems, currently running with side panel open.
So, some notes and my thoughts.
1. I love the look of this case. Black is so 2005.
2. With packaging this thing is a heavy wildebeast. Picking it up from behind the tree was a shocker.
3. It's important to read the manual, look at some reviews, or just sit down and admire it for a while. There are some features that aren't really obvious at first and if you just try to figure them out quickly you're going to miss the good stuff. Some important ones:
4. That's a ATA/133 controller PCI card at the bottom. Motherboard only handles ATA/100 so figured I'd get a little faster speed out of my OS HD.
5. FanMate 2 on bottom left will be removed, so didn't bother hiding the wires. Of course, at this point I had forgotten to plug it into the mobo, GPU temps got up to 78C (idle) before I realized it.
6. HD's will be turned around so their butts and wires are facing the front.
7. I have 2 PATA drives. The Neo 430 only comes with two 3 connector molex modular cables, so if you have 2 PATA HDs, 2 optical drives, a video card that needs a molex, and a floppy drive (floppy connector for this PSU is a molex to floppy Y-connector) that's about it. Without an additional modular cable you're going to have to use splitters and passthroughs to power any additional molex devices (like the CoolDrive 6 or any fans), or get another modular cable. Luckily, I found someone to trade with (Golgatha) on the FS/FT forum.
8. So far, no problems with the PSU. Serial number SO5100031091. Warranty sticker is already ripped as with 95% of the PSU's in these cases from NewEgg so that's a little worrisome.
9. Did some gaming testing with CS:S and HL2:LC for power reliability. These aren't the "everything" tests but they do give your system a bit of work. +12v maintained 12.16v (charted via SpeedFan) through both.
10. Idle temp dropped 10C from my 7000AlCu - 42C to 32C at about 5v (45% RPM through SpeedFan) with shoddy fans and case closed.
11. Currently running with side panel off. I wasn't expecting this case, so I don't have the fans to give it the proper sendoff. I only have the stock TriCool and a Zalman 92mm that came with a fan bracket. I never knew how loud that fan really was until I replaced the 7000AlCu...now it's the loudest fan in the case. At idle everything else in the case is DEAD silent with the side panel off.
12. The PCI card didn't match up to the 2nd to bottom screw hole. Moved to the next one up with no problems.
Once I get the new modular power connector and some new fans, I'll upgrade to version 1.0 and run some temperature benchmarks. Changes made to 1.0 will be the fans, CoolDrive 6, addition of new molex modular PSU cable, removal of the passthroughs and FanMates, and wire management. I do hate wire management with thermal sensors, but oh well. Also going to cut out the mesh grills over the fans and add a fan guard to the rear one.
-z
SO, on to the good stuff. The first few shots are around 600mb, wasn't paying attention with the camera settings. Too lazy to resize.
My old SLK1600
Good case for $15 at Fry's after rebate. Just a touch too small and a PITA to change anything, had to remove the top to get to the side panels. It'll make a lovely mini-server box.
The goods next to a pile of crap.
My new white wonder. It's not bling glossy, but just enough to give a little light reflection on the top.
Standard reflection shot of heatsink base...Hey! Get that dust off of there!
On it's back waiting for me.
Version 0.1...YIKES! That huge bundle of wires is from my CoolDrive 6.
Version 0.2...Boot test. Took out the CoolDrive for now, notes below.
Everything booted up with no problems, currently running with side panel open.
So, some notes and my thoughts.
1. I love the look of this case. Black is so 2005.
2. With packaging this thing is a heavy wildebeast. Picking it up from behind the tree was a shocker.
3. It's important to read the manual, look at some reviews, or just sit down and admire it for a while. There are some features that aren't really obvious at first and if you just try to figure them out quickly you're going to miss the good stuff. Some important ones:
- Mount the drive rails on the farther back holes to use the stealth drive covers
- To open the front you have to open the side. Clips on the side facing you (left).
- On the right side after you open the door are thumbscrews to remove the dual 92mm fan mount. Once those are unscrewed, lift out the panel. Don't try to swing out too far.
4. That's a ATA/133 controller PCI card at the bottom. Motherboard only handles ATA/100 so figured I'd get a little faster speed out of my OS HD.
5. FanMate 2 on bottom left will be removed, so didn't bother hiding the wires. Of course, at this point I had forgotten to plug it into the mobo, GPU temps got up to 78C (idle) before I realized it.
6. HD's will be turned around so their butts and wires are facing the front.
7. I have 2 PATA drives. The Neo 430 only comes with two 3 connector molex modular cables, so if you have 2 PATA HDs, 2 optical drives, a video card that needs a molex, and a floppy drive (floppy connector for this PSU is a molex to floppy Y-connector) that's about it. Without an additional modular cable you're going to have to use splitters and passthroughs to power any additional molex devices (like the CoolDrive 6 or any fans), or get another modular cable. Luckily, I found someone to trade with (Golgatha) on the FS/FT forum.
8. So far, no problems with the PSU. Serial number SO5100031091. Warranty sticker is already ripped as with 95% of the PSU's in these cases from NewEgg so that's a little worrisome.
9. Did some gaming testing with CS:S and HL2:LC for power reliability. These aren't the "everything" tests but they do give your system a bit of work. +12v maintained 12.16v (charted via SpeedFan) through both.
10. Idle temp dropped 10C from my 7000AlCu - 42C to 32C at about 5v (45% RPM through SpeedFan) with shoddy fans and case closed.
11. Currently running with side panel off. I wasn't expecting this case, so I don't have the fans to give it the proper sendoff. I only have the stock TriCool and a Zalman 92mm that came with a fan bracket. I never knew how loud that fan really was until I replaced the 7000AlCu...now it's the loudest fan in the case. At idle everything else in the case is DEAD silent with the side panel off.
12. The PCI card didn't match up to the 2nd to bottom screw hole. Moved to the next one up with no problems.
Once I get the new modular power connector and some new fans, I'll upgrade to version 1.0 and run some temperature benchmarks. Changes made to 1.0 will be the fans, CoolDrive 6, addition of new molex modular PSU cable, removal of the passthroughs and FanMates, and wire management. I do hate wire management with thermal sensors, but oh well. Also going to cut out the mesh grills over the fans and add a fan guard to the rear one.
-z
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