As the modding scene has grown from enthusiastic Dremmel freaks to manufacturers, customized products are becoming commonplace. These pre-modded products can now be found in retail stores, with varying quality between them.
Some case manufacturers have been producing pre-modded cases with windows and other bells-and-whistles, but either they are very expensive, or look bad. The Enermax CS-5866 is an affordable pre-modded case. It comes with a factory cut window design, front panel connectors, sturdy construction, and other details that add up to a quality product. This case is available in two styles; completely white, or white with blue accents.
Packaging
The package arrived quickly from UPS, intact with all its FRAGILE stickers. Opening the box reveals the case wrapped in plastic and completely surrounded by Styrofoam sheets. After removing the foam and plastic, we see that the plexi-glass has been protected with adhesive plastic sheets, which were easily peeled off. The side-panel fan came pre-installed, as did the 350-watt power supply.
| Number of 3½ bays | 1 |
| Number of 5¼ bays | 5 |
| Number of hidden bays | 4 |
| Number of case fans supported | 3 |
| Construction Material | 0.7mm metal |
| Power Supply Included | 350 Watt |
| Special Features | Blue crystal LED side fan, factory cut acrylic window, front USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out ports, durable finish |
| Size | 480 x 200 x 430 mm |
| Estimated Cost | $59 |
The case construction uses a 0.7mm thichkness, which would normally give the case more flex and bend, but Enermax has designed the case to compensate. Steel cases are usually welded, as the construction is cheaper, but Enermax has taken the extra cost to reinforce the corners using riveted joints. The edges of the metal are rounded over to provide even more structural integrity. This case does not sway or bend even a little bit.
The outer finish is not merely painted, but looks like it has been powder-coated, giving the case a satin mother-of-pearl finish and is slick to the touch. Even though this case is white, it is far from ordinary. The finish would match well with a white Enermax UC-A07FATR2.
The front panel is of course, plastic, but it matches seamlessly with the satin paint job. A molded hole adorns the top of the panel, which is large enough to accommodate an internal Zip drive. I like the OEM look of such a stealth mod, and am glad to see the extra thought to support the Zip drive, as the floppy is a legacy device that has no business in a modern computer.
The power panel comes with a standard power and reset buttons, as well as the power and hard drive activity light, which use green and red 5mm LEDs, respectively. The buttons are very easy to press, and make a silent click upon being recessed. Below this panel are hidden front-panel connectors. 2 USB 2.0 ports and a microphone and earphone jack are enclosed in this panel, which is toggled open by pressing the top of the stealthing plate.
This case comes with a ton of drive bays! One 3½ drive mounts behind the floppy/Zip drive hole, and five 5¼ drives are directly accessible from the front. Below this is a removable hard drive cage, which can accept an additional 4 drives. A total of 10 drives can be installed into this case, if one chooses. This feature alone makes this case a consideration for a low-end server.
The bottom drive cage continues to the bottom of the case, adding more stability to the overall construction. An array of holes adorn the bottom to provide additional drive ventilation. The removable cage is secured with enclosed thumb screws, and is placed behind a front intake fan so the drives benefit from direct cooling.
The front 80mm intake fan housing comes with a plastic dust filter, which is easily removed for cleaning. Dust can be easily removed from this reusable filter by running under cold water. Unfortunately, there is no direct ventilation to this fan through the plastic front panel, which might introduce some additional noise.
The factory-cut window is very clean, and machined very well. The thick finish was apparently applied after cutting, as the edges are coated with no metal showing. The window is actually four separate windows, with an 80mm fan secured in the center of the X configuration.
The acrylic itself is one solid sheet, with an 80mm square cut in the center to perfectly fit the enclosed crystal fan. The acrylic is secured with screws that attach to “fake rivets” viewable from the outside of the case. The screws are buffered from the acrylic by square acrylic “washers” which prevent the acrylic from cracking if over-tightened. This mounting method is quite clever, giving the illusion of being riveted into place while allowing easy removal, should the acrylic need service.
The enclosed fan is crystal clear with a slightly blue tint. It produces very little noise, as it rotates at 2500RPM. There are four small blue LEDs in each corner, which illuminate when the fan is powered through its standard Molex connector.
I would have preferred to see a standard 3-pin fan connector, but the fan is still nice. A gold fan guard is attached to this fan, but the gold color does not match the rest of the case, which uses silver accents. I replaced this fan guard with a silver one, and matches much better, IMO. I also attached the fan using rounded screw heads (found in your local hardware store lighting department) to match the “rivets” surrounding it.
The front panel connector’s wires are separated into individual pins, which makes the front panel universal with every motherboard, but makes for longer setup. For example, some motherboard power LED connectors are either 2-pin or 3-pin (with the center pin removed).
Case manufacturers either had to include both types of connectors, or the user had to mod the case. With the pins separated in such a way, the user will not run into this problem when connecting the leads. Since the pins are not clustered together, it is difficult to know the positive/negative orientation, and one must refer to the motherboard manual.
The USB connectors are configured this way, and makes it difficult to install, although each pin is clearly labeled. Enermax should be given praise for this approach, as they are providing a solution to a problem within the industry.
Power supply
The power supply rests upon a lip created within the case’s design. Enermax chose to include a no-name brand 350 watt power supply (Powerup brand), instead of their own high-quality units. The PSU is Pentium-4 ready, with a 4-pin 12V lead, a 6-pin 12V lead, standard ATX motherboard connector, and 2 power leads (one with 2 molex connectors, and a longer one with 2 more standard molex connectors and a floppy connector).
The case is designed that the floppy should be at the very top, and the hard drives at the very bottom. Thus, it does not make sense to include a power supply with the only floppy connector is on the longest lead! The other lead just barely reaches any bottom hard drive. I understand that Enermax must cut corners somewhere to deliver a case of this quality for such a low price, and it IS a 350 watt power supply, so this is just a minor annoyance rather than a significant problem.
The published ratings of the power supply raises suspicion to the quality of its components. Below is a table that shows the voltage rails, its amperage, and the calculated watts. Watts was calculated using the formula “Watts = Volts * Amps”.
| voltage rail | amps | watts |
| +3.3V | 28A | 92.4W |
| +5V | 35A | 175W |
| +12V | 16A | 192W |
| Total watts: | 459.4W | |
According to these specs, once all the watts are summed up, the power supply should be 460 watts! However, the power supply states on the bottom of its specs that “Max 330W for +3.3, +5, and +12Vdc output combination. Well, I don’t know any computer that would NOT use this combination. No rigorous testing was done on the power supply, but it appears to do an adequate job under normal circumstances.
The motherboard panel came pre-installed with brass standoffs for a full-sized ATX motherboard. The back-panel cover was also pre-installed with a standard configuration for most motherboards. The back panel is covered by a silk-screened color coded overlay, which has perforated cutouts for all the ports. The only prep-work needed for installation was to remove the metal 5¼ drive plates. The board slipped right in and was quickly secured to the brass standoffs.
I attached the front panel leads before installing any drives. The industry-common leads (such as HD light, reset, etc.) were in their default 2-pin configuration, but any leads that vary within the industry (namely USB and power LED connectors) are separated into individual pins for universal installation. Being the hardware guru that I am, I did not refer to the motherboard manual; so therefore it took some experimentation before the green power LED basked me in its mighty glow.
The floppy drive slid into place behind the stealth mod in a satisfying manner, with no alignment problems. Each 5¼ bay has a lip for any installed drive to rest on, allowing for easy alignment of the DVD drive I installed. The lower hard drive cage was easily removed after removing the included thumb screws. Each bay in the drive cage has a lip, which again aids in proper alignment when installing a device. With the drive cage back in place, we attached all cables and power connectors. As mentioned earlier, the power supply leads had to stretch to fit the hard drive.
Conclusion
If this case were aluminum, it would be a real killer. This would be an entirely different class of case, so it should only be rated within the class of other mid-range steel cases. There are other cases out there featuring less quality without a power supply that cost as much (and sometimes more) than the Enermax CS-5866.
The fact that the Enermax comes with a power supply at all is a real value, and it would be one of the best values for steel-based cases if a better PSU was included. The thought and care put into the construction of this case deserves it a 9 out of 10 rating!
Pros
- Quality finish
- Pre-modded window
- 10 drive bays
- front USB and audio connectors
- high-quality construction (riveted joints and rounded edges)
- Low-noise crystal blue LED fan included
- Universal motherboard connectors
Cons
- Questionable power supply