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Price-Point Comparing Three-Way Case Shootout

 by Joshua Buss on January 13, 2006 12:05 AM EST
69 Comments | Add A Comment
69 Comments
Raidmax X1 (cont’d)

Turning the case more, we can see the relationship of the three main elements of the active cooling in the X1: the rear 120mm, the side-mounted 80mm, and the potential power supply fan(s).


Click to enlarge.

Like the P150, the X1 too has additional passive vents near the expansion slots. It’s also easier to tell now that at least in terms of 3½” drive bays, the X1 and P150 also basically tied, as they can both house 1 external and 4 internal drives. The X1’s drive bays are all tool-less, and we’ll explain the usage of the black units visible in the previous two pictures shortly. Before opening up the case though, let’s turn the case around and have a look at the bottom as well.


Click to enlarge.

While certainly not as nicely-finished as the underside of the P150, the X1 still does have feet, but they’re not going to do anything for the absorption of vibrations. More intake ventilation can be found here under the front bezel, and there is a space for an additional 80mm to be mounted in order to actively bring in cool air right onto the hard drives visible here on the right side panel.

Taking off the left side and peering into the chassis reveals a spacious interior delightfully void of any additional crossbars that could make installation difficult. Granted, bars like this are actually preferred by people more concerned with case stability and longevity, but in testing and handling, we still didn't get the impression that the X1 felt wobbly or weak by any means. One very minor strike against the X1, though, is that it doesn't support quite as many form factors as the P150, as one can tell by looking at the available holes for motherboard stand-offs, but the standard ATX sizes won't be any problem.


Click to enlarge.

Notice again how every bay incorporates the usage of tool-less locks. While it might be pretty obvious from the picture, it is still worthy of mention that the locks are all the same and are also equally simple to use. They simply push in and slide to both lock and unlock. In the following close-up, the pin that actually holds the drive into place is pretty visible, and in testing, these did a good job of holding the drives very securely.

Looking at the internals from the other side, one can see that, unfortunately, both sides need to be opened up to completely install 5¼” drives. Thankfully, unlike all too many cases, the side panels of the X1 aren't too difficult to work with, and the hard drives have extra plastic rail pieces, so only one side needs to be clipped for a snug fit. Notice also that if one wanted an even tighter fastening, normal bolts can still be used to augment the tool-less clips for all the forward-facing drives.


Click to enlarge.

Raidmax X1 Raidmax X1 (cont’d)
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  • Tamale - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    Lol.. I've gotten this several times now. It's a solid, quiet, dependable, modular unit that's made by NEC. It's a great unit that we've chosen OVER similarly priced and even much more expensive units from antec, ocz, and thermaltake.

  • photoguy99 - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    I'm sure the first time I read the article it warned that people have been having problems with the P150 powersupplies.

    I've also seen reports of this.

    Has it been removed from the article?

  • yacoub - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    If the article doesn't mention it, here you go:

    Antec has been aware of the problem with the NeoPower 430W PSU (with Asus motherboards) that happens to be the one included with the P150. They have fixed the problem but no idea if all the P150s that were already stocked at distributors have been sold by now and the new ones have worked into the system.

    Either way, Antec support will work with you to swap you an updated model of the PSU.

  • puddnhead - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    For me thre are four standards to evaluate a case: cooling, noise, installation proagmatics, cost, and "interface" (getting stuff into and out of external ports and removobale media drives mounted in it). While I realize it's a subjective thing, IMO the last is too often ignored. THis review did a good job in one aspect, noting how far the USB ports are spaced apart. But it failed to notice what I immediately saw as a HUGE flaw in the "edotors choice" case, the X1: the USB, etc ports are BEHIND the door! SO if you have anything plugged into the port, the door MUST stay open. A door is nothing more than something that gets in the way if it can't be closed. AM I the only person in the world that has things plugged into front USB ports for more than a few seconds at a time (the amount of time the door on my current Sonata case is open, to insert and remove CDs & DVDs. The front ports, not behind the door & including firewire, is a big reason I went with the Sonata.

    What I would really like to see is a case that has USB/firewire/audio/etc ports AND one 5 1/4" drive bay not behind a door, and the rest of bays hidden behind the door. Like most people I suspect I pretty much have one CD/DVD drive I need access too a lot, and another less frequently, & of course other bays with no external access needed at all. That would be cool.

  • Zepper - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    Why was the front fan mount on the X1 ignored in the review. Looks like it can hold a 120mm there too. Personally I'd mount the front and rear fans and block off the side fan (unless I was going to duct directly to the CPU) and any other large area of ventilation holes like those at the back. Looks (from the limited view in the one picture - should have taken the front bezel off and taken a shot of the naked front so we could see what's there for ourselves) like the front fan grille is very restrictive and would need to be cut out for best cooling. No real technical-level user or reviewer would have missed that.

    For the fellow in Australia looking for Raidmax, those cases are sold here under several names like Fudin and Logisys as well as Raidmax. I suppose that anyone that wants to can import them from Korea (I believe) and sell them under their own brand name. Another little item that any reviewer with any level of perspective on the PC market would know...

    One would hope to get better than superficial, FANBOY-style reviews from AT. <rolleyes>

    .bh.

  • Zepper - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    Another question I have is why is there a Mad Dog PSU in there? That is one of CompUSA's in-house packagers. Raidmax usually uses L&C-type bottom-feeding junkboxes...

    .bh.

  • Zepper - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    re. the Mad Dog PSU - OIC, the X1 can be had either with or without PSU. The OE one is a junky old design w/ only 14 Amps on the +12, so now we know the why of the PSU swap.

    And the 0.7mm metal thickness is marginal in my book. Can't imagine how that case could not feel flimsy and have ringy acoustics.

    .bh.

  • Tamale - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    Actually, we couldn't use included power supplies because the P150's unit would not allow us to boot the test bed.

  • yacoub - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    For a review of the P150 based on what it was designed for (silence and usability) read this review: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page1.htm...">http://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page1.htm...

  • Tamale - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link

    I'm sorry, but spending $150, and then going to a lot of extra effort on top of that, all to get a computer as quiet as the X1 would've been in the first place for a third the price seems a little silly.

    I compared these cases for a reason... I really like the P150 too, but I really feel people need to know that there's much cheaper options that are just as/almost as good.

    As for usability, you do have a nice point. The P150 definitely is a nice advancement in this regard. Still, please use some common courtesy and don't use the public comment space to advertise for other websites. Thanks.
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