Bye bye Mr Shuttle - hello evil black hover box from hell :)

[dangel]

Since my shuttle has decided to go wonky (like the last one) i've decided enough is enough - i'm going for something more sensible (takes a standard micr atx motherboard) and yet fun - check this out:




Why, yes, that IS a 200mm fan OF COURSE it lights up blue when on


Removable tray you say?

Got this yesterday for 44quid - it's aluminium too and even has a carry handle. It is slightly larger than the shuttle but boy, is it funky Can't wait to do the build!

Here's the dodgy-english spec:
"• High-value black coated full aluminium case
• Useful flip-out handle in front to carry it easily
• Perfect and silent cooling system by a 22 cm sized blue illuminated adjustable fan on top
• Removable main board carrier and hard disk cage for easy installation
• Blue illuminated temperature display
• Totally 5 drive bays
• Integrated 120 mm fan on the back side, optional 80 mm in front
• Two transparent windows for a perfect look inside
• For Micro ATX main boards (4 PCI slots)
• XL length: Standard PS/2 power supplies as Tagan or Seasonic fit inside
• 2 x USB 2.0, 2 x audio an IEEE 1394 Firewire connectors in front"


I'm guessing cooling won't be an issue!

[Blademrk]

Nice, you going to do any mods to it? what spec are you going to put in it?

[Clunk]

Oooh, I like that.

[menthel]

Cripes! That is one ugly case! Good for it to have a removable tray though. I used to really lacerate my hands to hell when building shuttles etc.

[dangel]

Nice, you going to do any mods to it? what spec are you going to put in it?

It's going to to be:

Athlon 64 3700 (or thereabouts) single core
1 GB DDR 400
ATI PCI-E Radeon of some sort (passive) i forget the model
ASUS A8V-VM uATX Via K8M890 motherboard
Thermaltake ORB II cpu cooler (it's cheap, it's quiet, it's low profile-ish, blue lights)

It's cheap and cheerful as it's main job is as a server and as my missus' PC (she plays UFO extraterestrials and not a lot else lol).

Mods? Well it's pretty er.. bling as it is but some more shiny lighting might earn me wife-points - i may watercool it eventually. First job is to get it up and running

Cripes! That is one ugly case! Good for it to have a removable tray though. I used to really lacerate my hands to hell when building shuttles etc.

Awww be nice - it's my evil little black monster Looks pretty neat IRL tbh I respect your entitled to be wrong, obviously

[amjedm]

Very nice , where did you get it from?

[dangel]

Very nice , where did you get it from?

I got it from http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...cat=655&page=1 but x-case sell them too. I hadn't seen such a small case with so big a cooling fan. I'll post up my thoughts once it's in action.

[BUFF]

Kustom also do them

[weegie.geek]

Would you entrust the safety of your pc's guts to that handle?

it's nice though, definitely.

[dave87]

Loooking good, I must admit I've always been tempted by the sugo, but up untill recently, have needed bigger cases to fit loadsa hard disks...

Interested to see how this pans out

[Phil_P]

Why, yes, that IS a 200mm fan OF COURSE it lights up blue when on

I'm guessing cooling won't be an issue!

Nice

Don't leave your cup of coffee sat on the top though

[scrandman]

Erm, all that will be cooled by thay fan are the top of your PSU & optical drive.

[dangel]

Would you entrust the safety of your pc's guts to that handle?

it's nice though, definitely.

Answer: no, probably not. It feels reasonably sturdy but..

Nice

Don't leave your cup of coffee sat on the top though

Indeedy, aside from the danger of spillage it's bound to cool it down - cold coffee baaad


So, some priliminary thoughts having hacked it togther last night:

- the Orb II is a excellent cooler for this case - it just fits under the top cage and is exceptionally quiet (i used a spare Athlon64 X2 4200+).

- it's aluminium alright - the slide out tray for the motherboard feels quite flimsy because of it (at the back panel). Nothing to worry about though.

- the big fan is... BIG. It's BLUE. The wife likes this It's also very, very quiet even when on max powa It blows air inward BTW. There is a small adjuster for the fan speed to one side on top of the case (look carefully at the pics). At full speed it's inaudible for all intents and purposes. The rear fan is very quiet too (and also BLUE). Side windows let you see lows of blue goodness. Mmm.. Did i mention the blue lights?

- the temp sensor simply plugs into the PSU and you can position the probe inside the case. I left it measuring ambient temp during a windows install with the top and rear fans on - 24.8C or so.

- drive bays: pretty well thought out - i'll probably use the side bay for the hard disk to make things tidier and keep the center clear as possible. Lots of them for a small system.

- motherboard cables are a little on the short side - when sliding out the motherboard.

- PSU location - is directly below 1/4 of the big fan so obviously it's obscuring the air flow somewhat. Plus side is you could open up the PSU and put a wire cage round it and have it cooled by the big fan alone. The motherboard I bought is also much shorter than the length of the case so i might be able to relocate the psu to the bottom/front of the case.


So really no reservations on this one - for the money it's pretty good. Size wise it is larger than a shuttle but the benefits (standard motherboard, less bleeding fingers when working on it) pretty much nullify that. Goes well with a blue HABU mouse and a backlit saitek keyboard too

Early days, much to do (including not using a 20 quid 600watt PSU from amazon lol) but we like it so far..

[dangel]

Erm, all that will be cooled by thay fan are the top of your PSU & optical drive.

Not true, the ambient temp constantly drops when the big fan is on (but yeah see my other comment). The optical drive can be dropped down one which helps too (i didn't do this last night and the fan still had an effect).

Did I mention the fans blue?

[dangel]

As a small followup post-build:

The sides of the case simply lift out once the top is off - this is a very neat feature which i almost missed until i tried picking it up by one of the sides and it came off in my hands lol I'll try and post some pics this weekend once i've finished watercooling my 8800 in my other rig.

[amjedm]

I'll try and post some pics this weekend once i've finished watercooling my 8800 in my other rig.

IMO you haven't got your priorities right , it should be pics of the case first (please) - joking