Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAffordable - Great Air Cooling - Unique - Easy To Build
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2023
Picked this case up after watching several very positive reviews on the interwebs. I was originally torn between this case and the Be Quiet Pure Base 500DX as I wanted a good air cooling case that minimized noise and looked good. I have not been disappointed - this case does everything pretty well. It looks good, the included fans are both unique and very efficient (for large fans they actually make use of the full front opening, unlike those even larger fans where the case frame blocks 1/4 of the blade surface area) and it is very easy to build in with nice cable management features. While not the biggest disco RGB guy, I did get the RGB version for a bit of flash and the included RGB controller with 2 additional USB 3 ports was preinstalled and wired up from the factory which lights up the 2 large front fans (the rear 140mm exhaust fan is not lighted). The included fan hub (rgb version only) located in the back side is simple but does the job, providing expansion for 2 additional fans if you'd like (personally, I connect most of my fans directly to the mobo and don't use hubs much). The rgb effects are basic but do provide for separate fan blade and ring adjustments - they look good to me.
The case offers a nearly infinite combination of cooling arrangements using both air and/or water, with a unique motherboard positioning option that can lower the mobo down about 1.5" to provide additional room for radiators up top. Speaking of which, the removable top frame makes system building and fan installation very easy and should be a standard feature of any modern pc case these days. An included "shield plate" can be installed to block off the front top opening, preventing air from bypassing areas you want cooled. The rear 140mm exhaust fan is larger than the typical 120mm used in most cases, which produces less noise. Fans can also be mounted on the bottom psu shelf to pull in cool air through the side mesh panel for the GPU.
There are MANY more features this case provides - I suggest you check out some reviews from Gamer's Nexus etc who have rated this case highly across the board. Keep in mind these reviews account only for the fans included with the case - I noted the GN review showed middling GPU cooling for this case, but having installed one single 120mm fan at the bottom center position (directed upwards to the GPU) that my RTX 3070 never broke 68'C in benchmark tests. Likewise, my Noctua U12A air cooler kept my 13600K cpu at 80'C running Cinebench R23 - excellent results for an air cooled system. All this while running virtually silent thanks to the large fans that can spin at lower rpms.
In conclusion, I'd recommend this case to anyone building an air cooled system. If you are planning on water cooling, I think the unique 160mm fans are wasted in that scenario and you'd be better off with something else. But for air? This case HAS to be one of the best options available.
