Installation (continued):
With a removable motherboard tray, installing the board, processor, cooler, memory, and expansion cards is a snap. You have the flexibility to work on things from any angle, and there should be zero obstructions to an easy assembly. There is something to consider with this design, though. The rear panel isn't particularly tall, so any components that are the same height or taller can not be installed while the tray is out of the case. The main problem is with CPU coolers, where I found that the only unit on hand that would work was the stock Intel cooler. Even some of the smaller heatpipe coolers I have were inches taller than could be accommodated. Additionally, I have seen on other websites that some larger graphics cards also interfere with the removable tray's installation.
 
With the motherboard assembled on the tray, I was actually stuck as to what my next step should be. Generally a case shouldn't require much in the form of instructions, but with the top off and the motherboard tray out, I didn't know what to do next. I needed access to the drive bays, but couldn't see how to do it easily, and turned to the manual. While the manual does provide some useful information, I found it to be incomplete and inaccurate. Some steps are not covered at all, and others that are covered reference images that do not exist. The thing that saved me was that this wasn't the first review of this case, so I learned from the trial and errors of others!
The first step to accessing the drive bays was to remove the side panels. This requires a very small Phillip's head screwdriver in order to remove two fine screws at the top of each one. With these removed, the sides hinge away from the case and pop right off. This seems like something that could have been designed to be tool-less with ease, instead you have to keep track of two tiny screws that could easily strip out the holes they go into.
 
With the side panel removed we get a good look at the back side of the front panel connectors. All of them can be disconnected, which could make wire management a snap, since you can eliminate any cable you don't intend to use. Speaking of these cables, the above left image shows just how long they are... Even with them snaked around, they are long enough to reach well out the back of the case, meaning you will have your work cut out for you trying to hide all the excess length.
You still aren't to the point where you can install 5.25" drives yet, as you need to remove the blanks over each drive bay. You wind up having to remove four screws from the backside of the front panel, one in each corner, and the front then comes off. Each drive bay blank is then held on by two screws. It seems like alot of work in order to get an optical drive installed, and none of the steps were obvious or tool-less.
 
The above right images shows the front of the case with the front panel removed. For something that will never be seen in normal use, it has quite a nice finish. The entire case has the same black finish, inside and out, and if the window was larger this detail might look really cool.
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