The Sunbeamtech Ultra-tech Station Acrylic Case is a test-bench case for those who find themselves frequently swapping PC components. It’s intended to be a stylish way to keep one’s components all together and safely assembled, while still allowing frequent, easy access. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really hit all of its marks.
Assembly
The case itself takes an inordinately long time to assemble. After taking several minutes to just get the parts out of the package, the sheer number of pieces was daunting at first. The assembly wasn’t challenging, however. The directions were easy to follow, and most of the steps were intuitive. It was simply so many steps, and so many pieces that it took upwards of 40 min to put it all together.
The number of pieces seems daunting at first.
It was nice that it comes in such a small package, but the disadvantage to that compact packaging is that it can never be used again. If it weren’t for the permanently-stuck-on feet, perhaps one could take the time and energy to disassemble the case, and pack it away again—but having to unpack and reassemble the case each time one wished to use it would be more hassle than just using a normal steel case. This means that it’s really only useful if you want to leave it assembled.
The finished case will never fit back in the box.
This screw was destroyed after very little torque was applied
There were several machining errors in the construction of the case which lead to problems. First, the holes in the main panel, which the power and reset buttons are meant to show through are off by a millimeter or so, meaning that once pushed the buttons stay pushed until they get nudged back into place. With the open design, it’s not a big deal to just nudge them each time, but the issue is still not acceptable. Further, two of the screw holes were bored improperly, to the point that it was difficult to get the screws in the right place without extra torque. Unfortunately, the screw heads on the main case screws are chromed plastic, and don’t stand up to any torque.
I attempted to use a screwdriver to tighten the one on the left side of the expansion stabilizing bar, but I just ended up destroying the screw head instead—so that screw, and one of the screws used for attaching the PSU bracket to the lower pane just stayed loose. Finally, the threads on the hard drive screws were not cut deeply enough. I had to use pliers to turn them the rest of the way in, after they got to the half-way point.
The bracket doesn't line up with this PSU because the bezel for the power socket is in the way. On the left you can also see the other screw that wouldn't go in all the way.
The finished case is very light—much lighter than a steel case. It also looks very cool. It’s stylish and interesting.
Operation
Getting the hardware into the case and all connected was a snap—with only a couple of exceptions. First, the bracket for attaching the PSU didn’t work with my hardware. The bracket is shaped in such a way that it didn’t rest flat against the PSU I was using, which meant I had to leave one of the screws off, and the PSU was shifting frequently in the bottom of the case as I put the remaining parts together. Second, the only place for the main power cable to get from the PSU to the motherboard was out the back, and over the board. Since my particular motherboard has its main power socket on the right side, the only way the power would reach was to thread it through the optical bays, which means that I could only fit one optical drive into the case at a time.
The completed case, with a test rig mounted in it.
Otherwise, everything fit into the case well, the operation of the PC was not hindered by the case, and the system kept cool despite the lack of fans.
Rundown
Pros
- Easy to assemble
- Lightweight
- Interesting style
Cons
- Lengthy assembly
- Doesn’t return to packaging
- PSU mount isn’t universal
- Some machining errors
- Plastic screw heads
Final Word
If you are looking for a neat way to leave a frequently used system set up on your test bench, and are willing to push through a few manufacturing errors (or perhaps return the case once or twice), then the Sunbeamtech Ultra-tech Station Acrylic case might be a good solution for you. I wouldn’t recommend the case in general, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who only needs a test case every once in awhile.
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