| HEC Group 6C28 ATX PC Case - Page 2 of 3 |
The Basics (continued):
The below left image shows off the side of the case where some unique venting can be seen. The below left image provides a closer look at the air tunnel positioned on the side of the case, intended to let fresh air be drawn right onto your CPU.
 
Swinging around the back of the case, we have the below left image. Nothing too special about this area. A close up of the exhaust fan grill is provided in the below left image, where it can be seen that either a 92mm or 80mm fan may be installed.
 
A look at the empty case with the side off is provided in the below left image. The below right image provides a view of the empty fan mounting point through the drive mounting cage.
 
In the below left image we can see a close up of the included 80mm fan. As mentioned above, you can swap this out for a 92mm model, which may provide less noise and more air flow. A view from the side of the air tunnel is provided in the below right image. The tube extends down to guide fresh air to the CPU cooler. Hopefully it lines up with your CPU socket, and you don't have a monster heatsink (like many of the modern heatpipe coolers) that would interfere.
 
Installation:
One of the things you will notice about the case is the unique air tunnel on the side. This tunnel is used for the CPU, so that it can suck fresh (hopefully cool) air from the outside, without it first passing over a hot hard drive as is the case with many designs. When I first got the case I was a bit skeptical about this, as it is a passive air tunnel (i.e. no fan). However, once I got the components installed and running I could feel air being pulled in by the CPU fan. This is a nice little feature to help cool your CPU without adding the extra noise and load of a fan.
Speaking of fans, the case is designed to be able to hold two 92mm fans. One in the front by the hard drives, and one in the rear under the power supply. Unfortunately HEC only ships the case with one 80mm fan in the rear. I think this is a big mistake by HEC, as a couple of quiet 92mm in this case would greatly increase its cooling ability and make it even more attractive to anyone that wants a powerful, attractive, and quiet computer.
I noted another issue while installing the hard drive. The drive cage was really too narrow and it scraped the sides of the hard drive while installing it. I believe they are using the tightness of the fit to make it "tool less", but I honestly didn't trust that and installed a screw to make sure the hard drive didn't go anywhere.
Other than those two issues, every item went in quickly and easily. I also really like the built in drive stealthing that the case uses. One really nice feature of this is you can use any color CD or DVD drive and since it will be hidden behind the covers, your computer will maintain its sleek look. I put my NEC DVD burner in both CD/DVD drive locations, and I had no operations problems.
The below left image provides a look at all of the components mounted in the case. The below right image shows a view with a cool glow from a HEC PSU to be reviewed soon...
 
Please read on to the next page for more... Next
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