Value Case Roundup: A Look at the Affordable
by Purav Sanghani on February 1, 2005 12:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
AsiaPro ASYS 8654BL (cont'd)
Construction
Our main concern with the 8654BL was the lack of support for the power supply. It obviously did a number on the back panel of the case and bent it out of shape. A possible solution, on the design side, would be to add a platform on the right side of the case to support the power supply; otherwise, it will continue to push itself downward.
Cooling
The 8654BL did not come with any case fans, but it does have room for up to four 80mm fans. Two can be mounted upfront, side by side, in front of the HDD bays. We thought that the fans might be more effective if they were positioned vertically to direct air flow past all of the HDD bays instead of just the middle three.
The last two 80mm fans can be mounted at the back in the standard area between the power supply and expansion slots. Here, we see that the vents for the fans are aimed downwards, like horizontal window blinds, to direct exhausted air better.
A Max Power 450W power supply, model LC-B450E, is also included and is the highest output unit in the roundup so far.
Installation
We had no difficulties installing any components in the 8654BL. We were very cautious, however, when we installed our OCZ power supply. We left the unit in the case for a few hours and it seemed to push down even more than the original unit that was shipped with the case.
To reduce any further damage, we had to lay the case down on its side to reduce the stress on the steel.
58 Comments
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semo - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
what is up with anadtech and cases...it is either ugly and flashy and expensive or ugly and flashy and expensive and cheap looking or just plain cheap.
and like arfan said... where do you buy these things? here in the uk there are cheap cases, but almost non of the reviewed
suggestions for next case reviews:
cooler master cm stacker
antec P160
i know we all know these are gd cases but its a start imo
ocyl - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Agreed with Jynx980 here. I am getting tired of all those flashy cases in the market nowadays.Jynx980 - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Guess I'll be the first one to say somthing positive about this article. It a good roundup for entry level cases. Nice to know what ranks high up when your building something for a friend or family member who really doesnt need a $50-$75 case.kcma - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
OFMG!!!so much ugliness in 1 article!!!
agreed with #4, please do yourself a favor... save some money and stay away from this ugliness by buying a Dell.
aeternitas - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
I'm sorry, but if you are gonna go with something as cheap as these cases, I doubt youll be putting a whole lot of quality inside, thus I reccomend those people to just get a dell.nourdmrolNMT1 - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
this article likes to keep disappearing on me.intriging.
MIKE
arfan - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
there is bad link when i clik to Benchmark-Sound. Please fix it, thxarfan - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
No one in list is available in my country :( We usully buy case only with U$$ 25-40