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 Posted: December 09, 2003
Author: Spire
Manufacturer: Maxtop
Source: Maxtop
Assembly:
This case uses a combination of brass standoffs and small clips that are inserted into keystone shaped holes. Brass standoffs were already installed in most of the necessary positions, and I added clips to the right keystone positions for my motherboard. After installing motherboard, processor, heatsink, and memory, I added a black Liteon DVD player and a black floppy drive. Drive installation is typical 4 screws in adjustable slots and the drives fit nicely. There is room for (4) 5 1/4” devices and (2) 3 1/2” devices on the exterior of the case. Also, 4 internal 3 1/2” hard disk drives can be added. In front of the hard drive area is a holder to mount one 80mm intake fan to keep your hard drives nice and cool. Your video card will appreciate the included 80mm fan mounted in the side panel, too.
 
On the back is space for adding 2 more 80 mm fans for even more cooling if your big plans include Overclocking. One more suprise I noticed when looking over this case was the addition of many punchout areas on the lower half of the back, next to the PCI slots. There is a DB9, DB25, and a few I have to admit I have never seen before. One is longer than DB25 but the same shape. Only being somewhat familiar with SCSI, I would guess that the upper left one is for adding a SCSI connector. Having all these punchouts may have something to do with the AT style of backplane panel included with this case.
 
Components installed for this review:
• Asus A7V133 motherboard
• AMD Athlon 1 GHz processor
• 512Mb PC133 SDRAM
• ATI All-in-Wonder video card
• Creative SB Live 5.1 sound card
• D-Link NIC
• 40 Gig Western Digital HDD
• Black floppy and DVD-rom
 
Final Product:
With all the goodies installed, I have to say, I really enjoyed assembling this machine using this case. Plenty of room, no sharp edges, lots of attention to detail. The fit and finish were more than expected. The power supply seems to be able to handle its own, producing some nice voltages. Even when fully loaded, the voltages stayed stable. Below are a few screenshots of Mother Board Monitor 5, showing the voltages at no load, and full load. I'm pretty sure the increase in the +12 volt line at full load was just a anomoly. The +12 volt measurement never went back down to 11.92 volts, and it still hasn't. The +5 volt line was just a bit lower than I like to see, but then again the +3.3 volt line was equally a bit high. At 350 watts, this supply should be able to handle everything thrown at it short of filling the case with 4 more optical drives and a bunch of harddrives.
 
Conclusion:
Special features dominate this case, and not just flashy gizmos, and blinking lights. The additions to this case are functional, well thought out, useful, and make for a great home case, or a traveling LAN party machine. A great black paint job and contrasting gray front accents make for a very nice looking case. Available from online retailers, such as Newegg, for right around $40.00, this case definitely stands out from the pack.
Pros:
• Carry handle
• Many fan configuration options
• Attractively priced
• Power supply included
Cons:
• Non-removable Drive Cage
Special thanks to Maxtop for supplying the CSX-147KBF-TOP case to BigBruin.Com for review!
Please drop by the BigBruin.Com Forum and feel free to discuss this review.
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