Kingwin KT-436-WM Case: The Mod Dream

Modification

The 436 includes minor modifications all over the case producing a nice final product.  This case has a little bit of everything to give a well rounded sleek look.  One of the hottest materials in the mod world to work with right now is acrylic, which there is plenty of on the 436-WM.  To find out a little bit more about the acrylic on the case, we performed a simple test by holding the clear bezel up to a UV light to reveal any imperfections.  We were somewhat disappointed to see small hairline cracks throughout the material.  Even though not normally visible, it does go to show that the acrylic pieces on the unit are somewhat stressed, and will crack easily.  Tightening the thumbscrews too much WILL crack the bezel.  After three rotations past finger tight we were able to crack our bezel.  Another problem we have with acrylic is that dust shows up very quickly on the surface.  Keep a cloth nearby your case, you are going to want to brush it off every once in a while to clear the dust off it.

We had a couple issues with the case, but mostly just personal taste.  Our particular model, the 436BK-WM is advertised to come with gold painted thumbscrews, fan grilles, and trim.  Much to our shock, when we opened the case almost all of these components were silver, with the exception of the gold fan plates.  Obviously this is not the end of the world, but we were just a little miffed to not get the same product as the one of the webpage. 

The multi-color LED fan was a nice accent to the case, although it did not seem to accent the case in the right manner.  This exhaust fan seems to barely push air through the top grate.  Since the case has two intake and two exhaust fans already, we are not too concerned about the airflow of this fan.  We really would have like to have seen Kingwin try a little harder with lighting and put a laser LED or a cold cathode tube on the inside and keep a nice uniformed color on the case.  However, since Kingwin does not advertise that the case comes with a LED fan, we gave a little smirk when we saw it came with one.  With a few extra dollars or laser LEDs, one can really put the case’s 3 acrylic windows to use.