Problems w/ Fong Kai FK-603 and possible fixes

[OhU81to]

BUYER BEWARE!
After researching options for building a Budget/Value Duron/KT7-RAID System I opted to go with this case and after reading the Buyer's Guide: Value Systems - October 2000 on AnandTech's website I settled for this case, Purchased it on 10/6 from Directron.com for reasonable price, received it 10/13 and upon opening it discovered it was missing P/S and power cord(decided to stay with Athlon cert. 250 wt. standard power supply that it should have included-but since I didn't UPGRADE the power supply they failed to include it, after numerous contacts it finally arrived 10/27, well now is where it gets interesting:

1) All pictures describing this case at Directron and on the Manufactures web sites show this power supply to include a power switch located at rear to cut all power through system (A handy & convenient feature that I'm accustomed to having in existing systems) Seems like they have decided to eliminate this NOW.

2) When installing a KT7-RAID Mainboard with the brass mounting standoffs the upper right-hand outer mounting hole position is not drilled and tapped! You will have to mount board in case, mark center of hole, remove board to drill and tap this yourself, clean all shavings from case and then install board. I fell this is important since this is where IDE connectors reside.

3) Rear Fan Duct, This would work GREAT for my PII DFI Slot1 Board but this comes NOWHERE NEAR THE PROCESSOR ON A ABIT KT7-RAID MAINBORD! I wish they included optional designs of the fan duct like they include different FACEPLATES for front of Case. (Still bouncing around ideas to be able to achieve correct position)

I have E-mailed Fong Kai Industries and asked for information on the problems I have been having and left messages as to these recommendations about a week ago with NO RESPONSE FROM THEM!

Feedback from other users using this case with a KT7-RAID Board would be appreciated, I will post any remedies that I find here for everyone?s benefit.:|Buyer's Guide: Value Systems - October 2000 UPGRADENOWHERE NEAR THE PROCESSOR ON A ABIT KT7-RAID MAINBORD!

 

[raindog406]

I already have this case upon Anandtech's recommendation and currently have all of the necessities (Abit KT7-RAID, Pretested T-bird 750@1050, Mushkin rev2, IBM GXP75, Asus GF2) on their way to my house. Needless to say I am somewhat disturbed about what you report. Mine did come with the power supply and everything else it was supposed to. Now I am wondering if the 250W will be enough to run such a system. Perhaps some kind of case mod would allow better cooling of the CPU. We'll have to work on this. I too would be interested if there are any out there with a similar setup. Should I work on this case, or get rid of it? I personally think it is kind of irresponsible for a site like Anandtech to recommend a case for a system when it hasn't actually built around it. Seems like they would have mentioned the issues you brought to light.

RD

P166@210
Generic everything.
This computer sucks.

 

[MelvinPSquidmond]

Missing power supply issue - Sorry to hear about it, the units are often sold to distributors so they can offer various power supply solutions. The missing switch is also an issue with the power supply chosen by your distributor. The reason these switches have been removed it to meet the ATX 2.01 power supply spec provided by Intel.

2) RE "the KT7-RAID Main board & brass mounting standoffs"
The FK-603 meets the Intel ATX 2.01 spec, therefore should accommodate all boards that meet the spec as well. I will verify this next week.

3) "Rear Fan Duct, This would work GREAT for my PII DFI Slot1 Board" These are the majority of the products on the market, that?s why we design for them.

I have E-mailed Fong Kai Industries and asked for information on the problems I have been having and left messages as to these recommendations about a week ago with NO RESPONSE FROM THEM!

I am sorry to hear this, I will look into this and see if there is some reason the TS people have not replied. It could be Comdex was last week and most everyone was there or out on other projects. Not an excuse, just a reason.
Thanks
Melvin

 

[clumsum]

OhU81to,
1) The issues you raise w/the F-K 603 are nothing to get alarmed about as I encountered a similar experience w/the F-K 320 (except the missing ps) the early F-K power supplys w/both cases had rear on/off switches, the case I finally purchased was missing the sw also:-(

2) As to the missing mb hole, I have checked numerous other major brand cases and ALL of them were missing that same hole. I checked: Antec SX1030, Adtronics 6890A (although it did have a long slot that the adapter would fit in, but was not well anchored), Enlight 7237, InWin S500, plus several very expensive aluminum cases at Fry's and numerous other cheap ones.

I finally settled on the F-K320 as I really liked it and it DID have a threaded hole in this location (however, when I mounted my KT7-R that same damn hole - upper r/h corner was half a hole off no matter what I tried!)
As it turns out all the holes on the mb tray have initials stamped next to them - such as AT, ATX, etc. - the one that was 1/2 hole off was labeled XEON!
I have since noticed this hole on other cases (just a few).
If the KT7-R mb was slightly larger, there is another set of holes not very far away that would line up perfectly.(maby next time I will look for a larger mb, what the hell might as well use all of the case that is available.

The pc techs I quizzed told me to "just use a plastic stand-off in that hole and cut off the end that protrudes through the mb tray, they do it all the time, no big deal."
I didn't like that idea, as there is still nothing to secure the mb when removing ide cables or RAM and pulling up-ward.

You made the best modification available (I just left my board sitting on the brass stand-off still 1/2 hole off - I don't want to screw up the threaded hole (just in case it fits the next mb I use?)

3) The plastic duct on the 320 works ok and is in approximately the correct location over the cpu.
Your 603 case was designed mainly for the pentium slot-1.
I agree F-K needs to supply a modified duct!

I know how frustrated you feel about all this, but its not just the Fong-Kai cases that have these problems/issues, check some of the others out for yourself and please post your findings.

Hope some of this info helps....................................?

 

[clumsum]

Anyone else notice these problems w/KT7 mb or others?

 

[Usul]

I bought it following anand's reccomandations too.
It come WITHOUT a power switch in the FKi PS, this is bad.
The KT7 fits, you just have to figure out a differnt hole for the screw near the ide, but there is one that is ok, it just isn't marked as ATX hole.
The fan duch sucks!
I tried to kee it as it come, noise and poor cooling.
Reversing the fan: more noise and average cooling.
Removed fan & duch: better cooling.
Then I put the fan as intake in the bottom, with the duch laying on the bottom to make air go up, and it is fine.

 

[Maverick2002]

hey hey stop dissin my fk-603.........of course i, like an idiot, opted for the 300watt ps, and they gave me a crappy a** deer ps (which i modded with a high output sunon by now), so i cant relate to your ps endeavor
as for the fan duct, mine covers about half of my cpu hsf, which isnt all that bad, and if you dont like it, remove it!
now for the holes: yea i must agree they did screw up a little with the placement, but then again the abit board is especially large, so a lot of its holes AREN'T standard......
finally, there were enough spots that matched up, so im not complaining: all the major pressure points are covered (although i wish they had holes for the screws in the mobo next to the cpu so i wouldnt have to remove the mobo every time i wanted to take off hsf cause ide bee too afraid ide break the board; but thats just me