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 Posted: February 23, 2004
Author: Jason Kohrs
Manufacturer: Enermax / Maxpoint
Source: N/A - Search PriceGrabber for Best Deal
The Installation (continued):
The image below shows several drives installed in the 5.25" drive bays using the tool-less rails. One hard drive was installed up in the 5.25" drive bays due to a limitation of the case. The standard IDE ribbons I had could not reach from the internal 3.5" bays to the 5.25" bays in order to attach 4 IDE devices to my system. Having the 3.5" internal bays sideways makes the distance too great to use any of the IDE ribbons I own, except to go from the very top 3.5" internal bay to the very bottom 5.25" bay. So, I had to mount one hard drive in the upper portion of the case so it could share a ribbon with an optical drive.
Close the front face of the chassis and the drives are well fitted into the cutouts provided. Besides from the beige drive faces clashing with the black case, the tolerances are tight and everything looks great.
In order to complete the package properly, I installed an Enermax dual fan power supply, which slid into the provided bay easily. Many cases I have seen lately do not accommodate dual fan PSU's, but you'd expect Enermax to address this, and they did. (As a note, the dice on top of the case is my CPU fan speed controller).
With everything installed, the optional windowed side panel gives you a good look at everything inside the case. The window is larger than most and lets you see the drive bays, as well as the features of the motherboard. The window is held on to the side panel by black plastic rivets, which hold it in place securely, and are more decorative than the standard rivets or bolts you see on some cases.
Since I installed them, I figured I might as well feature the blue led fans that were installed in the side panel.
 
Conclusion:
The Enermax CS-10182-BA is a very well designed case that incorporates many features that one would look for in a high end case that might carry a price tag higher than $68.00 from Newegg. The quality is unquestionable, and the term "heavy duty" is appropriately used to describe the CS-10182-BA. It’s a sleek, stylish case that is spacious enough to easily provide room for all of your drives and peripherals. The top mounted access panel for Firewire, USB, and audio is a unique feature necessitated by the hinged design of the case's front face, that has proven to be quite convenient for me and my regular use of a Crucial Gizmo! USB flash drive.
If I could suggest changes for this case, I would make the side and top fan vents less restrictive to airflow, and reevaluate the tool-less PCI slot mounting system to allow functionality with oversized PCI cards. These items aren't major problems, but areas that could use a bit more refinement.
Overall I am highly impressed by this case, and for the money you might not be able to beat it. That said, I award the Enermax CS-10182-BA 4.5 out of 5 stars... “Readily Recommended”.
Final Rating (4.5 out of 5 stars):  
Pros:
• Heavy duty, high quality construction.
• Sleek, stylish design.
• Spacious interior to accommodate all your drives and peripherals.
• Nearly tool-less assembly.
• Instructional stickers on case are very helpful.
• Integrated features, plus inclusion of zip ties, make wire management easy.
Cons:
• Tool-less PCI card retention mechanism doesn't work on oversized cards.
• Windowed side panel is extra, and costs about $24.99, if you can find one.
• Design of side and top fan guards restricts air flow.
• Extremely heavy at 46 pounds (this won't be your LAN rig).
Please drop by the BigBruin.Com forum and feel free to discuss this review.
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