Aspire X-Navigator: A High End Gaming Chassis

Final Words

Our look at Aspire's X-Navigator shows us, yet again, that we need to choose one over the other, lower noise levels or lower temperatures? Does our decision come down to only those 2 factors? For the X-Navigator, we would have to say "no". For starters, the possibilities for expansion with this chassis seem to be never-ending. With the room to add up to 9 HDDs in its 3 removable cages, we expect this case to have a downside such as high noise levels. If it means the cooling equipment can keep temperatures of those drives as well as all of the other expensive components down, then we will surely go with this 62dBA producing case over a smaller, quieter one that has no room for expansion.

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As we said, we regretted to see the lack of tool-less features that we have seen in cases such as Thermaltake's line of Xaser cases as well as their Tsunami Dream chassis, or the wind tunnel design of SilverStone Technology's BTX look alike Temjin 6. The X-Navigator, though, does have its own set of features that set it apart from the so-called "gaming cases" that everyone else claims their products to be. They have combined the looks of a sleek finish with the features and functions of a $200 aluminum case to create a product that has almost everything an enthusiast/hardcore gamer would want in a case.

With inclusion of a 500W aluminum power supply, which is no piece of junk, the price that we would pay for the X-Navigator is worth every penny. The X-Navigator runs for about $160 at many online retailers, which is a great value. As we mentioned in our "Cooling" section, the 500W power supply runs for about $55, which is a steal in itself for the performance output. We recommend the Aspire X-Navigator to those who are looking for a case with a lot of room for expansion in the future, or anyone wanting to build a small storage server type of system.