Let's see, 420W PSU, room for two HD's & two Optical Drives, decent cooling, and a stylish appearance. Four of those five items (style is subjective) address the reasons I would have previously considered an mATX system as a novelty. It looks like I've some rethinking to do, especially considering the price tag.
Great review with lots of pictures that most sites don't post.
One question: How sturdy did the handle feel? Were you ever worried the rest of the case would crash to the ground with just a handle left in your hand?
Here are some current mods to my new X-QPack.
System: ASUS K8V-MX, AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1GB Hyper-X 3200,
200GB WD SATA, XFX 6800GT, Audigy 2.
Mods: Zalman 7700 CPU cooler, just fits!, NV5 Video cooler
Plans are to add vent for video cooler and additional case fans.
Current Temps at idle are CPU 35C, video 49C.
Added intake tube for 6800GT NV5 cooler also tried
an 80mm fan in the same location, resulting in the same temps.
(see image). I will add a fan guard to fill in the holes to keep kids
fingers intact.
Just got one (silver) and am really liking it so far. Got a MSI RS480M2-IL mobo w/ a AMD 64 3000+, Seagate Barracuda 160GB 7200 SATA HDD, LiteOn DVD-RW...
Installation was a snap. I think Aspire has corrected some of the issues mentioned in this review.
- There's plenty of clearance on the stock AMD heatsink / fan; probably about 3/4 inch maybe. But I can see how it would be an issue w/ bigger sinks.
- The rear fan is a bit noisy, but at a fairly low frequency whir.
- All the wires from the front panel were labeled on mine, so no problems figuring out what went where.
- I did not have to remove the front bezel to install my 5.25 optical drive. Not sure why the reviewer did.
- The internal frame appears fairly strong. However the shell and windows are very thin; something could puncture / fracture them fairly easily. I don't think the case will fall apart, but don't bang it around either.
- Handle seems OK too: good enough for basic carrying, but don't stress it too much.
- So far the thing is running cool (26 cpu, 23 hdd) but i haven't pushed it at all.
Comments
One question: How sturdy did the handle feel? Were you ever worried the rest of the case would crash to the ground with just a handle left in your hand?
But I wouldn't swing it about your head like a monkey in a cage with a piece of luggage.
System: ASUS K8V-MX, AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1GB Hyper-X 3200,
200GB WD SATA, XFX 6800GT, Audigy 2.
Mods: Zalman 7700 CPU cooler, just fits!, NV5 Video cooler
Plans are to add vent for video cooler and additional case fans.
Current Temps at idle are CPU 35C, video 49C.
Wow...that's a REALLY tight fit on that heatsink.
an 80mm fan in the same location, resulting in the same temps.
(see image). I will add a fan guard to fill in the holes to keep kids
fingers intact.
Installation was a snap. I think Aspire has corrected some of the issues mentioned in this review.
- There's plenty of clearance on the stock AMD heatsink / fan; probably about 3/4 inch maybe. But I can see how it would be an issue w/ bigger sinks.
- The rear fan is a bit noisy, but at a fairly low frequency whir.
- All the wires from the front panel were labeled on mine, so no problems figuring out what went where.
- I did not have to remove the front bezel to install my 5.25 optical drive. Not sure why the reviewer did.
- The internal frame appears fairly strong. However the shell and windows are very thin; something could puncture / fracture them fairly easily. I don't think the case will fall apart, but don't bang it around either.
- Handle seems OK too: good enough for basic carrying, but don't stress it too much.
- So far the thing is running cool (26 cpu, 23 hdd) but i haven't pushed it at all.
One of the newest and latest ideas......