Expansion

In addition to the 3 external 5.25" and single external 3.5" bays mentioned previously, a metal bracket holds the 3 internal 3.5" drive bays. The metal bracket can be removed by pushing a single button and sliding it out. It can also be attached by a single screw if that makes you more comfortable, and that's how our evaluation unit was shipped to us. According to Fong Kai, those internal bays are all rated for 10,000 RPM hard drives, thanks in part to a set of vents in the case sheet metal right in front of these drive bays. While there is no fan mount in that location, it wouldn't be too difficult to rig something up.

External devices slide into their bays from the front of the case and are attached by screws to the non-removable external drive bays. The 5.25" bays can also be used with optional drive rails that can help speed up the assembly process.

Fortunately, great care was taken in this cases construction as sharp edges are virtually nonexistent. We did notice a few around the expansions slots, but just about every other edge was carefully rounded, even in the drive bays - a common culprit in many cases.

Motherboard Installation

Fong Kai pushes this as a "workstation class / enterprise chassis" that can handle a dual Xeon system. The permanently attached motherboard tray features the appropriate mounts to hold the Xeon retention mechanism. However, in order to provide clearance for the Xeon processors, you'll need to remove the fan duct. We'll talk more about this duct a bit later, but the fan itself can stay.

Although there's no removable motherboard tray, the 18 inch depth of the case makes motherboard installation fairly easy. First you'll have to temporarily remove the fan duct to gain full access to the case back plate. This is accomplished by simply pressing one clip and sliding the assembly up. Standard metal standoffs screw into that back plate, and the motherboard then attaches to these standoffs.

Our test bed ABIT BX6 Revision 2.0 fit without any issues and just about any single or dual processor board should fit fine. The layout of the case gives plenty of room to directly access all components of the motherboard.

Index Power Supply & Cooling
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