Missy Elliott once said something about “flip it and reverse it” and I guess somebody at SilverStone took it to heart. As our first piece of wild conjecture, we’re going to assume some engineer somewhere within the company decided to see what would happen if you put the standard back vents in a case on the top, just for kicks. Heat rises after all, so why not move all the hot air out the top instead of the back?

It must have been a good idea, or at least a good question. At CES this year we got to see the answer to that question in the form of the SilverStone Raven RV01. It’s a massive case with pretty aggressive styling but it was quirky. SilverStone won accolades for innovation but nobody gets things perfect on their first try and SilverStone was no exception. We’re glad they weren’t discouraged because today we have the SilverStone Raven RV02.

The Raven RV02 is a refined take on the RV01’s concept. Gone are the ridicucrazy mecha-angled styling cues, the cute but impractical bay door, and massive footprint. Instead we get more fans, a better motherboard tray, and svelte looks.

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Ginormous side and top fans inside

Computer cases have become much more than a beige box designed to hold the guts of a vanilla PC. To the enthusiast, a case is as important as the components inside; it can be a reflection of its owner’s personality and dedication to their craft.  Today we take a look at one of Thermaltake’s offerings to demonstrate such dedication: the V9 Black Edition.  The V9 Black Edition is an all steel mid-tower case with an MSRP of $94.99 ($74.99 after $20 MIR).

Specs:

• Model: V9 Black Edition
• Case Type: Mid Tower
• Case Material: Steel
• Front Panel Material: Plastic
• Expansion Bays: 4 x External 5.25”, 2 x External 3.5”, 5 x Internal 3.5”
• Expansion Slots: 7
• Cooling: 1 x Red LED 120mm fan (front), 1 x 120mm fan (back), 1 x 230mm fan (top), 1 x 230mm fan (side)
• Dimensions(HxWxD): 18.19” x 8.19” x 19.1”
• Weight: 14.9 lbs (more…)

Photo courtesy NZXT.

Lets face it: Most people don’t need expensive computer cases. But they sell because they’re status items loaded with neat gadgets, bells, whistles, in a box of exotic materials and strange shapes. The majority of folks don’t need anything as fancy as what we often regard as the de facto standards in cases. Then again, nobody likes a beige box either. The market’s shunning has finally made case makers take note, and the ugly beige boxes are no longer sold.

NZXT must have seen the writing on the wall. People want a solid basic case, but don’t want to spend a fortune. NZXT’s recent introduction of the Beta case is proof.

The Beta is all-steel mid-tower sold as part of NZXT’s “Classic Series” line of cases with a $49.99 MSRP ($39.99 after MIR).
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Antec’s open-air Skeleton chassis will soon have a little sister primed to receive a mini-ITX system.

The new Mini Skeleton-90 has a 190mm x 210mm x 230mm (LxWxH) footprint and enough room to rock a mini-ITX motherboard, a half-height expansion card, one 5.25″ bay, two 2.5″ bays and two 3.5″ bays. The boys at Antec also include a 90w adapter that can be used to power the system.

Unfortunately the fat farm was an expensive event, and the newer, lighter, smaller version is only $20 less at $119 MSRP.

Image courtesy Antec, Inc.

Eighteen days, a pile of raw materials, a mountain of ingenuity, and one spectacular lesson in custom computer cases.

Image courtesy of Antec

Paradigm. Merriam-Webster defines it as a typical example or archetype. Put simply, a paradigm is our predefined idea of what something is, and what it should be. Paradigms tend to be the enemy of any new idea. Imagine for a moment that someone asks you to build the better mousetrap: How would you begin? Even if you had a great idea, how would you sell it to your peers when the existing design has served the masses perfectly well for many years?

The engineers at Antec obviously set out to challenge the paradigm of conventional computer case design. Sure, we love our standard mini, mid and full towers, and we love a well-designed enclosure that guides the air through the intake and across our motherboards; these design elements are the archetype. In fact, Antec has been quite successful at manufacturing to the paradigm. Yes, you can add LED fans, add a giant exhaust port on the top, add an acrylic side window, and implement fancy cable management options, but at the end of the day, it’s still a rectangular metal box to hold our components.

Benchmarkers have used open-air stations for doing quick PC assemblies for years. These “cases” are fine for the job of quick hardware changes, but this design not very practical as someone’s primary system.

Enter Antec’s Skeleton, an open-air design with a twist; it’s an “enclosure” suitable for use as your primary PC system. (more…)

NZXT keeps the new cases coming and they’re back today with their newest offering: The Panzerbox. The name alone conjures images of Germany’s elite Tiger tanks from the Second World War. Their imposing size and armor were a sight to behold on the battlefield as they dwarfed other tanks and effortlessly deflected seemingly lethal blows. At least, that’s how I envisioned it. My war experience is limited to the History Channel, tabletop gaming, and Battlefield 1942, so I might be mistaken.

Courtesy of NZXT

But back to the Panzerbox. NZXT’s latest is an all-aluminum getup with dual 190mm fans and a perforated front and top panel to allow for a ridiculous amount of airflow. We’re big fans of the Antec Nine Hundred at Icrontic but the Panzerbox, just from our initial impressions, looks like it’ll give the incumbent Antec a run for the money. We aim to find out. Let’s start ze Panzer, Hans!
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Thermaltake’s new LUXA2 division aims to bring posh media center cases to the masses.

Based on the principles of flexibility, innovation, and efficiency, Chieftec has been producing computer cases and power supplies since 1990. Its products aren’t typically flashy or heavily advertised, but they have always featured sturdy construction, subdued looks, and good value for the money. Today, we’re looking at Chieftec’s unique CH-02 case.

The Chieftec CH-02 is part of their “Mesh” line of computer chassis. This line is focused on workstation and gaming towers with open mesh front and side panels for optimum air flow. The model Icrontic received is silver, but the CH-02 is also available in black, green, and red.

Specifications

• Model: CH-02SL-SL
• Case Type: ATX Mid-Tower
• Dimensions: (w x h x d) 205 x 442 x 540 mm
• Cooling:
  • Rear, 1 x 120mm Fan
  • Side, 2 x 90mm Fans
• Drive Bays
  • 3 External 5.25”
  • 1 External 3.5”
  • 6 Internal 3.5”
• Expansion slots: 7
• Tool-less rail design
• Weight: 28.7 lbs
• Motherboard Support: Extended ATX, ATX, Micro ATX

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We stopped by the HEC booth to see what these guys are doing, and they’ve got some seriously cool products in the wings. Firstly, they’ve developed a pretty sweet case that appears to have decent features and a plethora of management-friendly features.

HEC's tuner-friendly chassis

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We stopped by the Lian Li booth to see what they’re working on. The first thing that we immediately noticed is that Lian Li is finally focused on cooling. Whereas their older cases featured fine aesthetics with horrible cooling options (one 80mm fan? I mean, really?), all their new cases are packed with quiet 120mm front and rear fans.

The cases, as can always be expected, are pretty and sturdy. But we were originally drawn to their booth by this amazing/preposterous PC888 case for $640 MSRP:

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS

Two weeks ago, I took a look at the NZXT Tempest case which was described as “an enthusiast’s steel tower.” NZXT has also sent us their Guardian 921 case, which I’ll be looking at today.

NZXT calls the Guardian 921 “Power for Gamers,” which I assume means that they consider this the right case for the gaming enthusiast. For many gamers, this case would indeed do the job well, but it comes with features that might make gamers scratch their heads.

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