X-Blade Case Review
The X-Blade case is one of the better-looking premodded cases.
Outside Appearance:
The case that I got was all black, except for the front panel, which was more
of a chrome. The
overall effect was great. The front panel has 4 5.25 bays, and
2 3.5 bays. There is a door protecting them. Unlike most cases with doors, there
is a cutout for the top bay. This can be used for a cd drive or a temperature
gauge/fan control. The door has a mesh piece attached to it with the X-Blade
logo. It is backlit by 4 leds.
Here, however, there is a huge defect, the wire that provides power to the leds is between two pieces of plastic. Each time the door is opened or closed, the plastic scrapes at the wire. After a while, the sheathing is worn off the wire. This then weakens the wire. A fix is to lift the wire out of that area, and let it sit next the plastics, not between them.
Edit:
The wire is now frayed, even after my fixes, and the light only works when the door is closed, once the door opens, the light goes out
Near the base of the front, there are two intake slots. they are big and imposing looking. They have a plastic filter to keep the larger bits of dirt out. The power and reset buttons are mounted between them, and both are set up reasonably well. At the very bottom of the front, there is a small door that folds up to reveal a mic port, headphone port, and two USB ports.
Another small problem is that the power led and hdd led don't appear to function correctly. I ignored the power led problem, as the all of the other leds were a pretty good indication of whether or not it was on or not. For the hdd led, I stuck a red led in the center of the case, and hooked it up to the hdd led pins on the motherboard.
Edit:
I have found out why the HDD led didn't work. It had a clear backing, and the LED fan in the front of the case overpowered it. A piece of electric tape will fix that, or you could replace the led, or better yet, you could place the hard drive led on the *inside* of the case. This makes a statement and it looks really neat.
The side panel a large window, cut in the shape of the X-Blade logo. The metal that is still attached blocks viewing of most of the power supply, and most of the drive bays. Some people prefer this arrangement.The fan also has a filter.
The back of the case has nothing to distinguish it from all of the other cases out there.
Inside:
The inside of the case is not as well designed as some of the other cases out
there. The hard drive bays are mounted sideways, with the back of the drives
facing directly out the side panel. This makes it very difficult to install
multiple hard drives, the cables generally keep the side panel
from being
installed, unless the cables are arranged just right. An extra half-inch of
width would make using the drive bays much easier. The external drive bays are
tool free. While that is nice, this creates another problem. The front of the
case must be pulled off. If this is done enough times, it is possible that the
standoffs could snap leaving you without a front panel.
There are 4 fan mounts. 2 80mm, one on the panel, and one under the hard drive, and 2 80/92/120, one on the back, and one on the front. The case ships with 2 80mm led fans, one for the side panel, and one for the back. The fans are set up well, except for the 80mm hdd fan. If it is installed, it takes up 3 of the 5 hdd bays.
Space wise it is good except for the hard drive bays. Be warned that 10" ccfls have to mounted in diagonally.
Construction
It appears to be steel and plastic. It rather sturdy feeling. The inside of the case is rolled over and/or smooth, which makes it much harder to cut yourself. However, for some reason, the 3.25" bays are not quite right. The case has warped sideways, so my floppy drive is wedged in place.
Conclusion
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good case, and can deal with the few shortcomings.
Discuss the product and the review here: http://www.furytech.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=64
| Pros | Cons |
| Looks Great
Lots of Fan Mounts Relatively Sturdy Construction Lots of Drive bays |
Hard to use drive bays
Wire problems Junky power supply |
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