Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
eh i don't like cases without doors, they look silly once a drive is installed. cooling looks adequate i guess. but not great... a rear fan and a top exhaust?? blowholes are last resort, they are noisy. fan holes ...can't see in pic too small... can't judge but for free i guess ok.
The X-Dreamer II has two pre-stealthed 5.25" bays for optical drives, and one for a 3.5" floppy drive as well. So no door is required. I like it like that, I prefer not having to mess with a door. The bays work great once you get your drives aligned properly, though that'll really depend on your particular drive(s) button layout. There's also a little strip of translucent plastic in the bay so you can see your optical drive's LED, a nice touch.
Like mentioned above, the case has mounts for 6 fans. I've got all filled except for one of the rears and it keeps my overclocked Barton cool enough. 44-50C with Seti running depending on what I have the a/c set at. However, it definately runs warmer than my old lightly modded Enlight 7237 that I was replacing (cut out fan grills, enlarged front bezel holes, 80mm fan modded to sit in 2 empty 5.25" bays).
I think it could really benefit from cutting out the stock fan grills. The ventilation holes in the lower front could use some enlarging, but I'm not sure if you could drill them out without screwing up the look of the acrylic front.
The temp LED on the front is kinda cool, though you're stuck with fahrenheit. Celsius isn't an option. Also, if you keep your case on the floor or in a low desk compartment you won't be able to see the LED. The viewing angle is too steep, I have to lean down to see it. It's plenty bright however, and the probe itself is thin enough to fit in most places.
Overall I like the case and it's definately a nice score for free. I think the overall build quality could be higher, but for what is a normally $65 case (after shipping) it's acceptable.
Front -
Side -
Temp LED -
Window
Damn, that turned out to be a mini-review...
Facebook
Twitter