Introduction

The PC Cabinet space has seen a lot of changes in the recent years, both good and bad. It has certainly traversed a long way, and the cabinet has now become as much of a pièce de résistance of the PC build as it is just a humble container for the components. While I dont really mind much when manufacturers go to extreme lengths to just make a cabinet look better, it does get on my nerves when they choose to ignore the features and primary purpose of the cabinet in lieu of aesthetics, and use good looks as a justification for exorbitantly high prices. In this era of apparent hopelessness, comes the NZXT’s Source series as a breath of fresh air. With it’s simplistic styling, ample room and abundant features all at a reasonable price, it has earned the respect of many PC builders.

This review is of the Source 530, the biggest cabinet in the Source series.

Specifications

Packing and Accessories

The Source 530 comes in a corrugated cardboard packing which is pretty much standard for PC cases. On the front of the package is a front view render of the case. On the left side, an angular projection of the Source 530 in all it’s glory is printed out as a promo, and the right side features, ahem, the various features of the case. Vents are cut out in the front and back of the packing to make carrying it easier.

Inside the packing, you’ll find the case wrapped in a plastic sheet to shield it from moisture and dust. Styrofoam packing inserts are given in the top and bottom of the case to protect it from any shocks encountered while transit. A user manual is also provided with the case to help you with your build.

Packing Front

Packing Left

Packing Right

Packing Inside

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Exterior

The Source 530 has a fully meshed front panel covered around the edges by plastic. The steel mesh is slightly angled on the top-right and bottom left portion. On the top portion of the front panel you’ll find an embossed NZXT logo, two USB 3.0 ports and 3.5 mm jacks for audio in and out. Below that there are three tool free (latch type detachable) 5.25″ bay covers that are also meshed to give a uniform look.

Exterior Front

Exterior Front Angled Parts

Exterior Front Drive Bays

Exterior Front IO

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The right side lip of the plastic edge is slotted on the top for three buttons; Power, Reset and a third button that lights LEDs provided on the back for rear I/O. Pretty cool and innovative! The left side panel has a trapezoid shaped transparent window rivetted to it. The right side panel is just the regular plain steel. The side panels can be removed by removing the thumb screws on the back and simply sliding them out (duh!!!).

Exterior Right

Right Lipped Part Slot for Buttons

Exterior Left

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The top of the case is again, meshed(but with slightly bigger holes and pitch for exhaust). The top is slightly elevated at the middle to provide more clearance for thick radiators and/or fans. Three 120mm/Two 140mm fans and/or radiators can be mounted at the top. The mounting holes are kept slotted to account for any tolerances and position adustments.

Exterior Top

On the back of the case is the normal arrangement of one 120/140mm exhaust fan mount(with slotted mounting holes) and the backpanel slot at the top, eight expansion slot covers at the middle and the PSU mount at the bottom. Apart from these, you’ll also find 2 rubber grommets at the mid-right portion for passing through the tubes in case you’ve got an external water cooling setup. Pretty handy.

Exterior Back

Expansion

Grommets

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On the bottom of the case there is a tray type dust filter provided that can be slid out easily. Also, four rubber pads are given to keep the chassis stable and fixed.

Exterior Bottom

Exterior Bottom-Dust Filter

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Interior

Removing the front panel exposes mounts for two 120/140mm fans or one 200mm fan.

Interior Front

Front Panel Removed

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The left side of the chassis accomodates the motherboard tray, the drive and PSU bays. The motherboard tray comes prefitted with standoffs. It has an assymetrically placed cutout to provide access to the CPU Cooler backplate. Apart from this five other cutouts are provided for cable management. All the coutouts are hemmed to provide smooth edges. On the PSU bay, six rubber dampeners are provided to keep PSU induced vibrations and noise to a minimum. There is also space for an additional 120 mm fan towards the front of the PSU bay. The three 5.25″ external drive bays are tool-free and have latches to hold the drive in place. Below these are three modular 3.5″ drive cage sections that can house a total of upto 6 drives(Top Section-3; Mid Section-2; Bottom Section-1).The top section has a tiltable 120mm fan mount attached to it.

Interior Left

Interior Left w. Drive Cages Removed

Removed Drive Cages

Drive Cage

Drive Tray

Drive Bay Latch

PSU Rubber Dampeners

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On the right side you’ll find a 2.5″ Drive mount, perfect for low profile SATA SSDs. Adjacent to this NZXT has provided a PCB with all the chassis fan connections (FAN1-FAN11) broken out. Really helpful to keep the wiring organized when you use more than 4 fans in your chassis.

Interior Right

2.5″ Drive Mount

Fan Connections PCB

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NZXT provides two 120mm fans with the Source 530 case. One fitted at the back and the other at the top.

The Build

Specs:

Images:

Build Interior

CPU Cooler

Front Fans

Side Window

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Temps:

Closing Thoughts

I must say I’m pretty impressed with the Source 530. Not only does it look simple and inconspicuous (No one’s gonna stare at THIS like it’s something that’s come straight out of a sci-fi movie!!!), it’s also a pretty capable performer in it’s own right. The temps achieved in our tests were pretty stable and well under control. For anyone who’s looking for a simple looking cabinet with a good build quality, I highly recommend having a look at the Source 530. Trust me. You wouldn’t be disappointed in the slightest.

The post NZXT Source 530 Full Tower Case Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

The post Corsair Obsidian 250D Mini ITX Gaming Case Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

NZXT, launched NZXT Source 530 Full Tower Enclosure through their National Distributor – Prime ABGB. The NZXT Source series was created to offer all of the essentials with a focus on affordability and simplicity and Source 530 continues the commitment with better features. It is designed to prove the fact that high performance doesn’t mean a high price tag.

Along with its sleek mesh design, the Source 530 brings comprehensive air and liquid cooling support. With support for a 360mm radiator on top or 240mm radiator in front, the Source 530 offers native support for the world’s largest all-in-one liquid cooler, the 280mm NZXT Kraken™ X60. Additionally, the Source 530 brings unrivaled airflow options with support for up to nine fans: 3x 120mm or 2x 140mm fans on top, 2x 120mm, 2x 140mm or 1x 200mm fans in the front, 1x 120mm or 1x 140mm fan in the rear, 1x 120mm or 1x 140mm fan in the internal pivot slot and 2x 120mm fans on the bottom.

Designed for mainstream users, gamers, modders and enthusiasts alike, the new Source offers an unprecedented variety of customization at its price point. Complete with NZXT’s signature modular hard drive cage design, and full-coverage fan filters, the Source 530 is truly a high performance chassis without the premium price.

The chassis also includes all of NZXT’s latest technologies: a discrete 2.5″ SSD tray located behind the motherboard tray, integrated 10-port fan hub, steel 5.25″ latches and rear I/O LED lighting system.

Nzxt Source 530 is matte black in color. It has fully modular, interchangeable hard drive bays. It has steel and plastic body.

Technical specifications:

• Size – Full Tower
• Model Number  CA-SO530-M1
• Drive Bays – External 5.25″ x 3
  • Internal 3.5″ /2.5″: 6
  • Internal 2.5″: 1 + 6
• Cooling System – Front 2x140mm/ 120mm or 1x200mm
  • Rear 1x140mm / 120mm (1x120mm included)
  • Bottom 2x120mm
  •  Top 2x140mm or 3x120mm (1x120mm included)
  • Interior 1x120mm/140mm
• Clearance – CPU Cooler 183mm,
  • VGA Card 282mm (With Cage & Pivot Fan),
  •  310mm (With Cage), 444mm (Without Cage),
  •  Cable Management 26mm (Lowest Point)/ 34mm (Highest Point)
• Dimensions – 235mm x 507mm x 510.5mm
• Material – Steel, Plastic, Mesh
• Motherboard Support – ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, EATX (322x272mm)
• Expansion Slots – 8
• External Electronics – 1 x Audio / Mic
  • 2 x USB 3.0
• Product Weight – 9.2 kg

Price, warranty and availability

NZXT S530 comes with the MRP of Rs. 5884/- and available ex-stock with Prime ABGB carrying 2 years warranty

Source: press release

The post NZXT Launches Source 530 appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Product Showcase and Thoughts

Starting from front you have four 5.25” drive bays with metal clip ons which adds a very unique and rugged look to the case, the power and reset button along with power and HDD LEDs in the middle and an intake grate on the front. The bay covers and intake grate are metal while the rest of the front bezel is made of plastic.

The power button is a bright red with the green power LED with red HDD LED and a black reset button on right side.

The front of the top of GX700 is boosting two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports and audio ports as well as a fan controller which have 3 fan speed settings high, medium and low with a unique flap on it enhancing the military theme.

Closer look at fan controller looks like it only have high and low options but it also have a middle position for medium speed.

The top of GX700 you will find a military badge shaped mesh with mounts for 140mm fans or two 120mm fans you can also mount a 240mm radiator for water cooling.

Fairly simple side panel with mount for 120mm fan for blowing air directly on graphics card, would have liked to see a window option for side panel.

On the back you find a pre-installed 120mm fan,pair of grommets for water cooling, seven vented expansion slots with a plastic cover over the mounting ends. The mounting cover unclips and have hinges to give access to thumb screws for securing expansion cards, but while it’s a good idea but the plastic feels really cheap and flimsy and the execution of it could have been better.

Moving along to the back of the motherboard tray you have 5 tool-less hard drive bays they were really easy to use and felt very durable, you also have a large CPU cutout. But there is only 13mm of space behind the motherboard tray and routing cables can get really hard if you are planning to house a lot of stuff in here.

With the left hand side panel removed we have four 5.25” tool-less bays and five hard drive trays. All the front panel cables come in all black or gray colors to enhance the whole military themed look. There is enough space for any power supply and you also have a removable dust filter beneath it. Although there are a lot of cable management holes none of them have grommets.

The top of gx700 comes with two pre-installed 140mm fans, there is also enough room to install 240mm radiator or even a 280mm radiator depending on its thickness.

Final thoughts and conclusion

Over all the Antec GX 700 is a very compelling case for its price. Awesome military theme, built-in fan controller, great water cooling options with 240mm on top and 120 in rear. Removable fan filter for PSU and front intake, and really sturdy drive trays at just Rs.4425/-.

Pro’s

• Military theme!
• Built in fan controller
• Good water cooling options
• Front and PSU fan filters
• High quality drive trays
• Great value for money

Cons

• Two more connectors on fan controllers would have been great
• Bad cable management option
• Plastic cover for expansion slot feels cheap and flimsy

In the end Antec have delivered a very compelling value for money gaming cabinet with tons of features at very strong price point!We are giving Antec GX 700 a strong 8/10.

CloudVII

The post Antec GX 700 Mid-Tower Chassis Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Cooler Master,today announces the launch of its enthusiasts chassis, Cosmos SE. Basically the smaller cousin of the Cosmos II the chassis aims to bring most of the features and glamor of the bigger brother into a small form.
With its big expanding capabilities like 8HDD/18SSD,up to 15.5 inches long GPU support and even support for tall CPU coolers up to 175mm / 6.9 inches. you cant really go wrong with this case at least on paper.

Till the time we get our hands on the case  take a look at the specifications.

Source: press release

The post Cooler Master launches its New Enthusiasts Chassis: Cosmos SE appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction
Hello again guys! Today we will be looking at Cooler Master’s CM Storm Trooper gaming oriented cabinet. It is a solid full tower cabinet with a built-in fan controller. This cabinet looks great and has a ton of features in it which will be discussed later. But by looks this cabinet seems like a dream cabinet for a gamer.

Features:

• The first full tower chassis with two 90 degree rotatable 4-in-3 HDD modules
• The first with an easy-to-carry handle, and hidden tool box for storing private goods
• Removable dust filters on bottom and top intakes
• A built in fan controller for cool and quiet operation
• Supports up to 12 hard-drives for future upgrades
• Convenient external 2.5” HDD/SSD X-dock
• Supports high-end hardware, XL-ATX Mainboards and Quad SLI/CF with dual slot VGAs

Specifications
Lets go through the specs first :

Product Showcase:

The CM Storm Trooper in all its glory.

Front:

The CM Storm Trooper has a honeycomb structure i.e each and every removable optical bays have mesh on it for maximum air to get in as an intake or u can set it as an exhaust as well. The CM Storm logo with the caption looks amazing at the bottom side. You can even put an SSD in the X-DOCK and all you have to do is connect the molex power to it from inside of the case and hook a sata cable running it to your motherboard sata port.

When the rig is running the top CM Storm logo on the power on button looks awesome. The 120mm led fans on the front intake looks great. These fans do a great job in terms of airflow. They blow air to the graphics cards. You could even put one more fan as front intake above these two unless you are using any optical bay of the top three.

Back:

It is pretty much the same like the other cases. We have a 140mm fan at the back as an exhaust. You could even put a 120mm fan coz they have provided holes to do so. There are 9 pci-e expansion slots. On the right hand side of expansion slots you could see the Storm guard which secures your peripherals inside the case like GPUs. The PSU is obviously bottom mounted. The holes with rubber grommets are there for routing your tubing if you have your water cooling radiator outside the case.

Top:

Mostly the top of this case looks like a car. The right hand side has the inclined front panel. The middle section is actually a metal handle which is attached to the metal main chassis and is coated with rubber which don’t hurt your hand while carrying the case. There is a TROOPER caption to its left which looks cool. Other area to the sides of TROOPER caption is kept open to let maximum air to pass. Not again coming to the left hand side there is a mesh area.

Left:

The left had side of the case has a removable side panel having big mesh area where you could even put 2X120mm fans to blow fresh air inside the case onto the GPUs.

Right:

The right hand side of the case has a removable side panel having mesh area on the left hand side so as to let the air pass through the hard drive cages over the hard drives itself if you have set the fan orientation sideways.

Cabinet interiors:

The hollow part in the mid section helps to install most of the coolers’ custom back plate on the motherboard without actually taking out the motherboard. The rubber grommets help in cable routing. To the right hand side we have the hard drive cages.

We have a 140mm fan as a rear exhaust. PSU mount at the bottom. Storm Guard for securing the peripherals and 9 pci-e expansion slots.

At the top we have the molex connection and sata connection ports for the X-DOCK where we can put an SSD. The hard drive cages are removable just in case you want a 360mm radiator for water cooling in there. You could also see a small SSD cage at the bottom.

From this angle you could see the cable management features like the rubber grommets, zip tie clips where you could tie a bunch of cables.

Front removable bays:

All of the front optical bays are removable. You could see 2X120mm fans set for intake. You could also remove the top optical bays and chuck in a pump-reservoir combo dual bay for water cooling or you could add an extra fan in there.

Top dust filter:

As you could see there is a dust filter at the top on the 200mm fan which is set as an exhaust.

Removable hidden box:

The front CM Storm logo plate on the front does come out. Behind the CM Storm logo on the front bottom side there is a box where you could keep things which you need like some cable ties, screws etc. It can be completely removed if you don’t want it in there.

Front panel & fan controller connections:

Let us start from the left. E-SATA, USB .0, HD Audio/AC’97, USB 2.0 headers.

The front panel headers power, reset switch, HDD LED.

These are the 3-pin dc power input for the dc fans which are connected to the fan controller at the top.

The molex connector is the provide power to the fan controller. The other 3 actually supplies the power to the fan LEDs which could be turned on or off as required by the button at the top of the case in the front panel section.

Components inside the case:

The Corsair AX-1200 is the PSU which is in there. The CPU cooler is the Cooler Master V8 GTS. The motherboard used is the ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z running an AMD FX-8150 processor. The GPU is the XFX Radeon HD 5970 which is very long as compared to this generation single core GPUs. So this case can fit really long GPUs.

Cable management:

I am not that good at cable management but tried to do something which is not so bad. the cable management in this case is awesome. You could pretty much route the cable wherever you want as per your wish.

Angled view:

Overall this case looks really very nice and is really build for the gamers.

CM Storm logo with beautiful LED fan:

The LED fans look great and does a good job on cooling as well.

Fan controller section:

Right at the top is the power on switch. Below that we have the – & + keys to decrease the fan speeds. The middle button is to turn the LEDs on or off. Other than that we have reset switch, E-SATA, a pair of USB 3.0 & USB 2.0, headphone and microphone jack with power and HDD LEDs.

In the dark the CM Storm Logo and the surrounding LED lighting is awesome. It gives the feel of a gaming rig.

Wanna drive this baby ? Go for it I say !

Conclusion

A complete package in terms of build quality, air flow, flexibility, water cooling options, cable management and compatibility with respect to graphics card length, motherboards of various form factors upto XL-ATX and dimensions of CPU coolers. This cabinet comes in an different edition CM Storm Trooper Window which has a window on the side panel to show off their rig. I have tested my Noctua NH-D14 and Cooler Master V8 GTS which gave better thermal results than that off Corsair 600T. This means that the airflow within the cabinet is very good.

Pros:

• Solid build quality
• Very good airflow
• Affordable with ton of features and flexible
• Good for custom water-cooling

Cons:

• Instead of thumb screws could have provided clip arrangement for opening and closing the side panel.

Video Review:

Here’s the video version of this review :

The post Cooler Master Storm Trooper Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Bitfenix already got a good response when they released there Colossus E-ATX cabinet.
Now they decided to bring the Colossus lineup in SFF systems too.

Bitfenix just came out with the Colossus Mini-ITX and Colossus Micro-ATX version of the award winning case line.

Here are just some of the features that were pointed out by the manufacturer.

• Futuristic Form — Bold lines with a compact design
• LiteTrak™ Technology — Smooth multimode lighting with three colors and an included pulse mode
• Unmatched Flexibility — Supports long graphics cards and up to 240mm water cooling radiators
• Maximum Storage Potential — Multiple HDD and SSD locations available
• BitFenix FlexCage™ – Modular hard disk cage can be completely removed for added flexibility
• SuperSpeed USB 3.0 — Two ports included for blazing file transfers
• BitFenix SofTouch™ Surface Treatment — Luxurious matte finish and soft feel
• Friendly Installation — Cable management and filtered intakes

The Colossus Mini ITX offers two preinstalled 120mm front and rear fans, and includes the option to install up to five 120mm fans for extra cooling boost. Up to five 3.5″ drives or seven 2.5″ drives in total can be installed, or for those looking to run high-end graphics cards up to 330mm, the 3 bay FlexCage™ can be easily removed. Colossus Mini-ITX supports installation of thick 240 mm radiators on the top or front, and the easily removable bottom dust filter

Colossus Micro-ATX adds Micro-ATX motherboard compatibility, which means added expansion possibilities. The included bottom fan can be easily replaced with up to two 3.5″ hard drives, and with the included removable storage rack, an additional two 3.5″ HDDs or three 2.5″ SSDs can be installed for excellent flexibility. The included magnetic heat shield prevents warm exhaust from the PSU from re-entering the case. Users can also opt to install a single graphics card and a slim 240mm water cooling radiator at the same time. Users who require added PCI-express expansion are going to love Colossus Micro-ATX.

Source : Press release

No info on the price yet.the post will be updated with price as soon as we get them.

The post BitFenix introduces Colossus M Series appeared first on OCFreaks!.

The HAF series was one of the best-selling products of Cooler Master. Right from the gigantic HAF-X to the HAF 912 the series has something for every range. Today we will check out a new product in the HAF series which is mainly portrayed as a LAN BOX.
Presenting the HAF-XB :the LAN Box and test bench fusion from Cooler Master.

The post Coolermaster HAF XB Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

The entry level enclosure market is double edged sword : you really need to get your engineers and market analysts together to make a product which doesn’t break the bank, yet provides fair expansion abilities, tool and hassle free installation and cable routing options and produces above average thermal and acoustics. To most manufacturers, this is a daunting task. But as days progress, we are seeing more and more companies trying their hands on this niche – some failing, some succeeding. Today we put one such case from Antec under scrutiny.

Presenting the Antec V1, a new entrant in the 3k range.

So lets see what we have in there…

The post Antec V1 Entry level Cabinet review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Well people today on the test bench we have a case in our test bench for review.
Here’s a sneak peek..the case is good.

A bit of disclaimer at first:The case is aimed at silent computing in an office environment.So more importance is given to better acoustics and sleek aesthetics.

Now since i don’t have a setup to measure acoustic performance i will try to make up for it by looking at other features.Please bear with me on these as i collect more money without robbing banks to create a more professional environment.
Now that out of the way let’s go on to the important stuff..shall we?

The case we have up for review is Antec SOLO II ; an update to the Antec SOLO case.

Some info about the company itself

Founded in 1986, Antec, Inc. is the leading global brand of high-performance computer components and accessories for the PC upgrade and do-it-yourself (DIY) markets. Antec pioneered this fast-growing category at retail and has quickly achieved a market-leading position in each country as our products have been introduced throughout the world. Antec has achieved equal success in the distribution channel meeting demand from quality-conscious system builders, VAR’s and integrators.

Now as said earlier the whole Sonata and SOLO series is focused towards Quite computing and as such they have specific features which enhances the acoustic performance of the Case,so expect a very quite PC if you are using one of these.
Specifications:

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