Testing
This case isn’t going to get any awards for stability, and you can easily bend the case panels with your fingers so my standing test was forfeited. This case is definitely not strong enough for you to have a full blown CRT sat on it, although a 17” TFT should be fine (fingers crossed).
The rear 120mm fans’ LEDs aren’t the brightest but should add some colour to a dark room and will get the ladies at a LAN party (that’s how you do it… right?). Both of the fans – both front and back – are nice and quiet while pumping a reasonable amount of air.
Considering the lack of any vibration killing mounts, the case is surprisingly quiet during operation and also remains fairly cool. The temperatures shown by the sensors never went above 30 C at idle which is nice, although the CPU temperature (3800+ AM2) wasn’t quite as good (~44C) considering as you have to use a stock cooler it was adequate. Combined with an 8800 GTS, the temperatures soon start to rise and any use of Cool ‘n Quiet is left as a pipe dream. Any temperature sensing fans will creep up RPM at full load, although the air in the case is recycled quickly thanks to its small size and ventilation (120mm fan, another in the PSU and the 80mm at the front).
The aluminium that the case is made of is also another bonus in regards to cooling, there is a reason why coolers are made of aluminium rather than steel; conductivity. Aluminium is better at transporting heat and will keep all of your heated components cooler than its steel counterpart.