AMK "DaBenz" PC Case

MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
edited August 2003 in Science & Tech
"A PC case with headlights and a grill? It's true and AMK Computers let us take DaBenz out for a test drive. It has been our experience that many PC cases are the same chassis except for the bezel but AMK chooses their product line carefully. It's not until the "up close and personal" do the reasons why become obvious."

Check it out for yourself.
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Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited August 2003
    Cool. I know people who will want one of these just for the "wow" reaction from their friends the first time they show it off.

    Nicely written review, I enjoyed it.

    Now, this would take a larger heat sink, but it's my kind of grill:
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited August 2003
    lol at grill. Heat up dem briquettes would ya?
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited August 2003
    The front end looks an awful lot like the front end on the Mercedes CLKs... wonder where they got the name? ;)

    Have to get myself one of these things, if just to go with the avatar & sig... :D
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited August 2003
    As I said in my review....wonder how long it will take for someone to mount a hood ornament from said car on it?

    ;D
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited August 2003
    Well... I do have a few I could slap on there... hmm... ;)
  • ketoketo Occupied. Or is it preoccupied? Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Well done, MM ... tho I think ... make that I "no" there's a typo near the bottom of P.2 :p
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Good review, as per the usual expected quality from our fearless leader...But damn the case is ugly.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    I'm looking for cases at the moment, unfortunately, that one didn't really take my fancy. Nevertheless, I nicely written review MM'.
  • NixxerNixxer Nottingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    Spinner said
    I'm looking for cases at the moment, unfortunately, that one didn't really take my fancy

    Get a Xaser III. If you like the look of them they are ace.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    Nixxer said
    Get a Xaser III. If you like the look of them they are ace.

    Could I have a linky winky pleasey weasy?

    (I've been drinking, and yes, I know it's early over here):crazy:
  • NixxerNixxer Nottingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    Here you go, the Xaser III review.

    Clicky.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    Thanks. Doh! Didn't realise there was one on the main page.

    /me slaps himself
  • CyrixInsteadCyrixInstead Stoke-on-Trent, England Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Ace....? :wtf:

    They are horrible (IMO)

    http://www.thermaltake.com/products/xaser3/v1000cblue.htm

    v1000c.jpg
  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    CyrixInstead said
    Ace....? :wtf:

    They are horrible (IMO)

    http://www.thermaltake.com/products/xaser3/v1000cblue.htm

    v1000c.jpg

    I like the look of the Xasers.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    I should note that Xaser cases are uglier than this AMK case.

    A horrible butchering of a wonderous thing.
  • CyrixInsteadCyrixInstead Stoke-on-Trent, England Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    I like something a little more stylish.

    I recently bought the Coolermaster ATC 710 in black, to go with my Black TFT screen.

    http://www.coolermaster.com/case/products/atc710.html

    710-gx1.jpg
  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    I guess its all down to personal choice at the end of the day :D
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    To be honest I'm not quite sure what I think about the Xaser's, but I wouldn't count them out. I've also been looking in the direction of Coolermaster, in my case it was the Wave Master TAC-T01 that caught my eye.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited August 2003
    Spinner said
    Thanks. Doh! Didn't realise there was one on the main page.

    * Spinner slaps himself
    Ya already said ya was drinkin' - how much did that hurt? ;D
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    11-119-014-03.JPG

    /drool
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    profdlp said
    Spinner said
    Thanks. Doh! Didn't realise there was one on the main page.

    * Spinner slaps himself
    Ya already said ya was drinkin' - how much did that hurt? ;D

    Original Message Edited Out by Spinner

    p.s (Love you...);)

    p.s.s (Your right Thrax, that is a nice case also)
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited August 2003
    If you can hold off on buying a case for a while....I'm digging around for "the perfect case". Whether I'll find it or not is unknown but I'm meeting with a retailer and supplier for 6 retailers this week to pass on our feedback and see what goodies they have.


    The perfect case feedback. (maybe)

    • Average price range $80-125 USD
    • Removable motherboard tray (slide out back or slide out side)
    • Drive rails (min 4 external bays….5-6 are better)
    • Name brand power supplies (ANTEC, ENERMAX, PC POWER &
    • COOLING) They don’t want to buy cases with “generic” PSU of 350 watts that they have to replace with 400 watt name brand PSU’s. Either sell the case w/o PSU or put a decent 400watt PSU into it.
    • Space for 2 intake fans for active cooling across HDD
    • Removable hard drive bay (4 drive space) Drives to be in line with case not at 90 degree angle.
    • Front USB 1.0-2.0/FIREWIRE ports hidden. Prefer mid to top level position instead of on bottom edge.
    • Rolled edges and no sharp corners
    • Screwless design
    • 2 exhaust fans
    • Fans should accommodate 80 and 92 mm. fans (clip mounts not important)
    • Exhaust grills should be as non-restrictive as possible.
    • Solid construction. (weight isn’t as important anymore)


    Bonus Add-ons
    • Removable Floppy bay
    • Space for two power supplies
    • Fasteners & zip ties. Ring style and zip tie mounts for cable management
    • Included drive faceplates to disguise beige drives therefore keeping bezel aesthetics
    • External drive bay hinged door. (no lock necessary)
    • 3 position fan switch for low-medium-high accessible in same area as USB-1394 port and hidden but not behind bezel like Lian Li.
    • Optional windows for side panel.

    Comments
    • Aluminum or metal didn’t matter. They want sturdy.
    • Overwhelming favor towards 19”-24” towers for space.
    • Some asked for more width (especially those who watercool)
    • Only one floppy external is needed but include a 3.5 mount for the 5.25” bay for those who may have a zip drive. (Rare)
    • Some asked for power supply cables to be shrunk wrap with sleeving that matches case color. (loom?)
    • Some are leaning towards 92mm. fans that blow more air at lower noise levels.
    • Most asked for ducts and channels to hide wires in. A wider channel running down the drive bay vertical line at the non-door side of the bays would be great to hide wires in. Same as horizontal.
    • People want to be able to have a tornado if they want but make it quiet too. (50 CFM fans) Some said they are tired of buying cases with fans they have to replace because they are too weak.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited August 2003
    MM... you forgot one thing:

    BIGGER FANS

    Support for BIG fans is really, really important- not dinky little 120mm things; 172mm/6.75" Comair Rotron units. They're <$20 each, so they're not prohibitively expensive, and they do 235cfm+ apiece, and at 1/2 their rated voltage they're nearly silent while still moving a lot of air.

    Also, not only are fan clips unimportant, they cause more problems than any other part of my case. I can't mount 38mm deep fans because the fan clips can't handle them. Screw mounts are just fine. I thought when you were asking for the size, you meant the depth. Depth should be 18"+, and height should be a minimum of 20", up to 27"

    Take a look at an Apple G3 case; the wire management is incredible...

    And that 2 intake/2 exhaust fans isn't sufficient. If they're 80/92mm fan mounts, 4 intake, 4 exhaust is good. 120mm fans should be 2 intake, 2 exhaust, as should the rotron fans...
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited August 2003
    I would like to have enough room to put front case fans in and still not have my HDDs hang over my motherboard. Sometimes all that is needed is an extra inch or 2 from front to back.

    I know with some cases if you put an intake fan in you have to move the HDD a position towards the back of the cases several inches just because there are not enough holes in the HDD mount. Then it hangs over the motherboard and is harder to work the cables.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    MediaMan said
    If you can hold off on buying a case for a while....I'm digging around for "the perfect case". Whether I'll find it or not is unknown but I'm meeting with a retailer and supplier for 6 retailers this week to pass on our feedback and see what goodies they have.

    Yes cool, I'll certainly wait as long as I can. However, is it really possible to find or know what a perfect case would be like. As I imagine each persons needs and requirements differ from individual to individual. Perhaps a better title would be, "the best all round case"? Just a thought. I still like those Coolermasters though.;)
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited August 2003
    That is true Spinner. "The best all around case".

    Aesthetics are a personal thing. I'm just using opportunities to pass on all the things I've gleamed from the members to tell manufacturers. :)

    I'll see what I can dig up for you.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited August 2003
    :) Cool
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Geeky... looks like a mod is in your future, if you wanna put some Rotrons in!
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited August 2003
    That looks cool
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited August 2003
    I have gone out into the world and met with three different sources. I arrive back on the mighty Short-Media shores before you.

    And what bounty did I bring back?

    Coconuts....because they are better than what I saw. The only new case I saw was a Chenbro PC61166 (use the pull down menu) and the UMPTEENTH variation of this case. Yes the UNEEC is the original and ANTEC, THERMALTAKE, etc. etc. etc. don't build their versions. UNEEC just customizes them because those companies order enough of them. Any case manufacturing company will let you advertise the product as if it were your own if you buy a couple of shipping containers of them.

    The new variation of the most popular case of 2002-2004 will have a 500 Watt PSU with clear molding, front temperature gauge, neon lighting and its own assortment of colors. Basically....it's the same case with a couple of new features. Should retail for $195 USD. It has value as buying everything separate would be much more.

    Is there anything new out there?

    Not really. Sadly disappointing. The ANTEC/THERMALTAKE/UNEEC has been done to death and it is reaching the point where you buy the case and that's it....no fun modding.

    I shall keep looking but I looked at over 70 PC cases from Chenbro, Supermicro, and a few other companies that are manufacturing for ANTEC...Thermaltake...etc.
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