Fractal design Core 1000

[Walker]

Does anyone here own this case? i've been looking for reviews about it but i couldn't find any, at least not in English.
it seems like a good small MicroATX case, plus i'm liking the old speaker look of it

[Homeking]

There are a few buyer reviews up on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352009

Also the Core 1000 is the smaller version of the Core 3000. A couple of reviews on the 3000:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=30808&page=1

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/F...ign/Core_3000/

[Pob255]

There are a few buyer reviews up on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352009

Also the Core 1000 is the smaller version of the Core 3000. A couple of reviews on the 3000:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=30808&page=1

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/F...ign/Core_3000/

No, it's a totally different layout from the core 3000

Spleenharvester did a sort of mini-review of the core1000 over on ebuyer
https://forums.ebuyer.com/showthread...872-uATX-cases

That thread has got most of my objections to it already mentioned.
It's really nothing special and the cost reflects that.
the steel is a bit thin, the layout is fairly standard only exception is the hard drive mounting.
It can only take 2 hard drives but that's fine for most systems, however if you want to put a very long graphics card in there then you'll have issues with two hard drives. A very long card will fit but very long cards have the pci-e cables coming out of the side of the card and will conflict with the hard drive.
Space for cable management is poor, after market cpu cooler space is limited and it only has space for a 92mm fan on the rear.

All of these issues could of been fixed by making the case a bit wider, but then the steel would of needed to be a bit thicker and the price would of gone up.

One thing I really don't like is side mounted usb + audio connectors, it's a bit of a personal thing, I find it's too easy for me to accidentally kick them, which I don't do with front mounted sockets, but spleenharvester finds the opposite to be true for himself.
If you have the case on top of your desk to the left of your monitor then I can see the side placement working very well.

All told for the cost, around £30, it's the best of a rather poor range of mATX cases available atm.
I still want to slap coolermaster silly for stopping production on the elite 340 which was easily the best low cost mATX ever. (the 342 and 343 are pale shadows compared to the 340, which lose the key advantages that made the 340 good)

There are some very good mATX cases out there but you really have to up your budget.
Fractal design ARC Mini, about £65
Fractal Design Define Mini, about £75
Silverstone TJ08-E (Temjin Evolution) (it's out not but in the UK expected in oct for the UK) About £78
The original Silverstone TJ08 is still a great case, a bit hard to find at a reasonable price now. ie under £60

Go up to the £105 mark and you've got things like the Silverstone Fortress FT03 which is flat out lovely, but far from low cost.

EDIT: one other case I should mention the Aplus CS-566C http://maxpoint.de/en/products/cases..._objectID=1236 and before anyone says it's a copy of the core 1000, this case pre-dates the core 1000
Uses the same hard drive mounting as the core 1000, but with 2 differences, it uses 2 brackets for up to 4 hard drives, the case width is increased.
Making the case wider (just 10mm) means it's got that extra space to allow for a 120mm rear fan, give the graphics card that bit more clearance so you can use really long cards and if you remove one of the hard drive rails you'll have clearance for the majority of large after market cpu coolers (granted it cost you two hard drives.)
The down side of this case is it's very hard to get hold of, I've only found one place that sells it and that's in germany.

[Walker]

I was thinking of harvesting some old components put them in this case and build a home server

[Pob255]

As long as you're ok with a 2 hard drive limit, it'll be fine

[bassjunkie]

Not sure if this helps but just bought a Core 3000 and the quality of the case is great and I can not knock the fans supplied either as they would be great for a media player/home server.