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
