Installation
I found the installation to be fairly simple once I figured it out. Doing multiple case reviews, I have to say that this was the first one that got me frustrated when trying to install components. The User’s Manual provided with the case is little to no help at all during installation, so it was a figure it out on your own installation. It’s certainly different from all of the other cases that I’ve reviewed, but after figuring it out I do see how it is better than other cases.
I had no issues installing the motherboard standoffs and attaching the motherboard to the case.
Nor did I have any issues installing an expansion card into the case.
Removing the left side panel reveals a lot of room to fit cables and work with cable management. You also have to remove this panel if you want to install any drives or remove the front panel. I found out the hard way that there are four two screws securing the front panel to the case; this was the first of many differences I encountered.
I also had a difficult time trying to remove the bay covers. I figured I’d remove the front panel and pop them out like I do with every other case, but this wasn’t the case. Like I mentioned before the front panel is secured to the case by two screws, so I removed those and the front panel still wouldn’t come off. The reason was because you don’t actually remove the bay covers by unlatching a clip, you actually have to remove the two screws, one on either side, securing it to the case.
Once you get the bay out, it’s just a matter of sliding in the external drive and securing it to the case with up to four screws, two on either side.
The next problem I encountered was trying to install the internal 3.5” drive. I figured that I would be able to slide the drive into the case and secure by fastening screws, again this wasn’t the case. After a couple minutes of trying to find some way to slide a screw into the slot I figured out that there was drive cages with the case, secured by four thumbscrews on either side. After removing the thumbscrews you can then easily remove the three-bay cage.
You then have to align the hard drive in the device and attach the four long screws, which can only be attached when the cage is removed from the case.
Once you figure out everything, installation is a snap!
The blue LEDs on all of the fans illuminate the case quite nicely.
