Mounting
The latest hardware from the Swedish company is a case for Mini-ITX boards. However, thanks to the sensible interior layout, it is also possible to mount larger components. Their cooling is taken care of by the ubiquitous perforation of the outer plates and two 140 mm fans. With or without them? You’ll have to decide what you want to cool more effectively. We measured four different scenarios in our tests.
Mounting
The motherboard mounting is standard, you don’t need to disassemble anything else. However, I struggled slightly with the power supply in the frame. Specifically with the placement of the power input cable from the case frame. But it also depends on which side you have the power connector on the power supply. You have to fiddle with the cable a bit to make sure you don’t pinch it between the frame and part of the case. Don’t forget to switch the power supply on before mounting it. If you forget anyway and find out after the case is fully fitted, don’t despair. Just remove the bottom panel to get to the button on the power supply.
Personally, two positions for holding the main cables in the case were enough for me. On the tray and on one the floor, under the CPU cooler. The latter can be mounted in the case but with a maximum height of 70 mm.
Simply plug the center panel with the PCI Express connector extension into the motherboard and tighten the rail with three screws. But that’s not all. From the accessories, another extension needs to be fitted to allow the graphics card to reach the holes for its outputs. With the fans mounted on the side, the dimensions of the hardware need to be considered. With fans, the graphics card should supposedly not exceed 57 mm in height. The test one is 58 mm thick and still lacks about 6 – 7 mm to touch the fans. But it’s good to have some distance between them.
Mounting the case went without any difficulties and it somehow intuitively worked itself out. I would even venture to say that, if you ignore the amount of screws, it was easier than fitting hardware into some of the larger cases. The only difference between an unfitted and a fitted case is the noise of the fans and the white LED on the front panel. It shines subtly through the fabric and doesn’t strain the eyes.
- Contents
- Exterior
- Interior layout
- Mounting
- Test methodology
- CPU and GPU cooling tests
- Motherboard cooling tests
- SSD cooling tests
- Conclusion
I wonder how the thermals of an exhaust only setup will look like. So three 80mm exhaust fans, with the two 140mm fans removed. That would be a negative pressure setup which I think will provide the best balance of CPU and GPU thermals, though it will severely limit GPU options.