Installation and Operation (continued):
The images below show an overview of a complete system installed inside the BT611. There is an ECS brand ATI based mATX motherboard, an Intel D840 dual core processor with stock heatsink, a 64MB ATI x300 PCI Express graphics card, 1GB of Kingston PC2-5400 DDR2 memory, an 80GB Seagate SATA drive, and a Memorex 16x DVD-ROM. The specifications may not be the latest and greatest, but the components do show how quickly the case fills up! There is no space left around the motherboard, and cable management is fairly important. In addition, only low profile video cards (or other expansion cards) will work, and only compact CPU coolers need be considered. Sorry, that monster heatpipe cooler isn't welcome here!
 
I had concerns earlier about the PSU cabling rubbing against the unprotected 80mm exhaust fan. By clipping a cable tie on the PSU, the cables became a bit more flexible and were easily routed away from the fan. Perhaps a new cable tie used to clip them away from the fan would be a good idea, but just freeing them seems to be enough.
The next set of images shows a particularly crowded area of the case. Here we have the front panel connections (power, audio, USB, etc), coming together with the IDE connection for the DVD-ROM, the SATA connection for the hard drive, and close by is the system memory and video card. You may have to work on the order of installation to get everything in place comfortably.
 
The below left image shows the front of the case with the DVD-ROM installed. A nice flush fit makes the installation look professional and hints at the quality that went into the case's design. The below right image shows a glimpse of how the cover's vent holes align with internal components. Although this will vary from motherboard to motherboard, here we can see that the CPU cooler is just below the circular opening, while the video card is just below the rectangular opening. This will allow heat to rise out without obstruction, but with the CPU cooler designed to blow down onto the CPU, the process may not be as efficient.
 
For our final glimpse of the In Win BT611 mATX Case with 300W Power Supply in action we see the front panel. The power button is a large silver knob that has a blue halo when powered up, and hard drive activity is indicated by a reddish/orange LED located just to the right. The power button looks sharp, and adds a bit of flair to the system without being over the top, or too traditional.
The installation on the whole was quite easy, although it may have taken a bit longer since cable management and the order of installation is so important. With such a compact space to work with, even the routing of a single SATA cable can require a bit of extra planning. On top of the space issues, the lack of a manual slowed me down, as the removal of the case's top and drive cages initially had me stymied.
|
|
