Testing

Methodology

As there are no synethetic benchmarks for case performance, you’ll have to rely on my own impressions. As I stated in the introduction, I’ll be looking to ensure that it can contain a hearty helping of computing goodness, as well as the normal things like build quality, materials used and cleverness of design. Specifically, I’ll be examining the strength of the case itself, the noise and cooling potential, and the added features included.

Results

Strength

As with most full towers made of steel (specifically Steel Electrogalvanised Cold rolled Coil, or SECC), the Spinerex is quite a sturdy beast. Internally, things seem quite strong and not given to flexing; I couldn’t make much of a dent even if I tried.

There are very few places I’d be worried about damage being taken to the case. One of these is the flip-open arms on the very front, which seems like they could be accidentally snapped off when extended. Apart from this though, the Spinerex looks extremely well constructed, with good materials and workmanship in evidence.

Noise and Cooling

There are certainly a lot of fans on this case. As well as providing an amusing light show (if you’re into that kind of thing), they should also provide good cooling, right? Well, it’s a mixed bag — because the side cooler is so large, larger CPU coolers might not fit, necessitating the removal of the side fan or the fitting of another CPU cooler. Either isn’t an ideal prospect and will result in sub-par cooling performance. On the other hand, with the side fan fitted the cooling potential is quite good, particularly with additional fans fitted.

If nothing else, then the Spinerex gives you options – some configurations will doubtlessly suffer from poorer cooling, but with enough fans installed the Spinerex is at least a decently good choice, although it lacks any special features that would make it ideal for overclockers and other cooling junkies. In terms of noise, there is little sound-dampening, so expect this to score middling marks here as well.

Features

Probably the biggest weakness of the Spinerex is cable management; there is little space to run large cables and not as much hidden area to hide away cables as with other cases. The rest of the chassis’ features are good to middling, with nicely designed hard drive cages and secure but usable expansion ports.

Another small weakness of the Spinerex is that there are no 2.5 inch drive bays. Whilst you can get brackets that will allow 2.5 inch drives to be mounted in 3.5 inch sockets, the continuing popularity of 2.5 inch SSDs mean that this isn’t the most future proof case.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a flashy case then the Spinerex is quite good — the multi-mode ‘Vegas’ front LED fans are quite entertaining  and the side fan’s hardware controls are well-placed.

Conclusion

I really want to like the Spinerex, and I do, but I can’t honestly recommend it as a great full-tower case. It is solid in many areas, but doesn’t really excel in any except for flashiness. That’s not something that really matters for me as a system builder; I’d rather have a beautifully sculpted case (like the NZXT Phantom) than one that has a lot of blinky-lights on it.

While it is outperformed by other cases in many areas, it is only bad in one – cable management – and if this doesn’t matter to you, then the Spinerex is a decent choice. Another issue is its price — it’s at the upper end of the case spectrum, and doesn’t do much to justify it’s relatively high cost.

Overall, it’s an okay chassis, but not one that I’d recommend unless you’re a real fan of dual-colour LED fans. And if you are, why not get another case and install some custom LEDs in it?

Pros

• Good looks, with customisable LED fans that’ll amuse your kid brother
• Well constructed case with strong materials
• Room for plenty of fans
• Handy tray on the top for storing external hard drives and other trinkets

Cons

• Disappointing cable management
• Some large CPU coolers won’t fit
• No 2.5 inch drive bays for SSDs