Because you get a removable motherboard tray installation of your motherboard, expansion cards, CPU, RAM, heatsink and whatever else you are going to install on your motherboard couldnt be easier. I always complain when I review cases and they don’t have removable motherboard trays because they are so nice to have and make everything so much easier to do. No more will you have to cram your upper torso into your case while you try and change RAM, install a new heatsink, or move around expansion cards.
I went ahead and installed my Pioneer 16x slot load DVD, Plextor 40x12x40A CDRW (review to come), and floppy drive to the case. Installation of all these drives went really well and without any problems. It was also really nice because there were no sharp edges in the case so I didn’t have to cut myself in the process which is a nice thing. The jumpers that come with this case are the kind that are all individual which I don’t like as much as the kind that are all connected only because these are messier but this isn’t really a big deal in the thick of things. You can also see the USB cable for the front USB which is nice and long so that it can reach all the way to the back of any motherboard.
Cooler Master knows that many of us use RAID which means we will need a lot of hard drive space in the case, hey that rhymed. Anyways there is a really cool feature on this case which I love, there is a removable hard drive cage that mounts vertically on the side of the case which you can mount two hard drives to, then install back into your case.
I really like this feature because usually the RAID controllers of motherboards are in the bottom right hand corner of the motherboard so this cage and the RAID will be right next to each other. I also like this because it makes installation and swapping of drives much easier and faster.
Conclusion
There is no question about it, I love this case and there are many reasons to love it. This is an awesome case because not only is it made out of aluminum and looks really cool but it has so many great features. I cant say how nice it is to finally review a case which has a removable motherboard tray because I love these things.
This case has front USB, it comes with 3 good fans and all of the cutouts are really good. I also love that Cooler Master spent the few extra bucks so that thumbscrews would be provided because they make everything so much easier and faster. There are a lot of spaces for hard drives and there are no sharp edges on any part of the case which is really nice because when you are installing those hard drives you won’t have to bleed on them.
I also really like the blue LEDs on the case they compliment it so well and are so much better than the normal colors. The only negative aspect to this case is the high price tag on it, if you want to pick this case up its going to cost you about $300 but let me tell you it is worth every penny if you are looking for a really good case.
Overall I am going to give this case a 9.5/10 and award it the OCmodshop Seal of Approval, I would like to thank Cooler Master for sending this case over to me for review and if you are looking to buy this case you can find the SX4 model which is all brushed aluminum rather than the gray anodized top and sides you can find it at Sharka Corporation.
Pros
- Aluminum
- Removable motherboard tray
- Front USB ports
- 3 good fan cutouts w/ fans
- Lots of thumbscrews
- Blue LEDs
- Lots of hard drive spaces
- No sharp edges
- You can use redundant power supplies
- Excellent packaging
Cons
- High price tag
