Aspire X-QPack: A Lanparty Dream
by Joshua Buss on July 2, 2005 1:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Words
For anyone who has ever attended several lan parties, they know how much of a drag it can be to lug around a massive steel tower case fully loaded with multiple drives and other components galore. Shuttle will forever be famous for attempting to break this tradition of 'large' desktop cases, but for a lot of people their small form factor designs simply didn't allow for enough expansion, and others simply couldn't swallow the concept of getting a case that already came with a motherboard pre-selected for it.
Well with this new design from Aspire, buyers have yet another choice available to them. They can have a case that's still much more compact and portable than a standard tower case, but one that still provides 90% of the same functionality provided the user selects an appropriate micro ATX motherboard. With more and more people interested in smaller computers, motherboard manufacturers are going to continue to come up with new and improved micro ATX layouts that offer just as much power as their full-sized counterparts. Also, with so many devices getting put onto either the motherboard itself or into external devices rather than expansion cards, many users simply don't need as many expansion slots as they used to in order to get the same amount of functionality out of their PC.
In the heat and noise arena, the case does very well. We figured a maximum ambient air temperature of 28.3 degrees Celsius, and it kept our decent gaming rig's components each within relatively low ranges. Running full force we only measured a sound pressure level of 44 dBa, certainly low enough to not be a problem for the majority of users.
Considering one can get the X-QPack for $90, and that this comes with the 420 watt power supply, we simply could not recommend this case any higher for someone who wants a micro-ATX compatible case that doesn't cut many corners.
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R3MF - Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - link
#52 -"I second (or third or fourth or whatever) the call for some words of comparison to the Antec Aria (it's the only other mATX standard cube case, right?); I can see this offers more bays and a bigger power supply, but what else?"
add the Silverstone SG01 to that comparison too.
and have a part two article looking at high-end mATX motherboards.
that would be ace!
Noriaki - Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - link
Hey is the 420W PSU that comes with this case 20pin or 24pin main connector? And I know it matters less, but does it have the 6pin PCIe connector?sprockkets - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
FSP or Fortron Source Power and it's varients are one of the best.johnsonx - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
I second (or third or fourth or whatever) the call for some words of comparison to the Antec Aria (it's the only other mATX standard cube case, right?); I can see this offers more bays and a bigger power supply, but what else?Also, for everyone talking about the power supply not being standard, I don't think anything prevents you from installing a normal depth ATX power supply, as long as your optical drives are not overly long; most of the newer optical drives are pretty short.
Finally, I do agree about the window. Couldn't they offer a windowsless variant? Cases with windows are just toys to me.
IronChefMoto - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
I'm not real happy that it has a non-standard PSU -- one of the things that worries me about long-term ownership of my Shuttle SN85G4V3 XPC. The advantage with a DIY mATX box like this SHOULD BE the replaceability of parts. Of course, Antec screwed themselves in the ass with their proprietary Aria PSU in the same way.I'm also not keen on the windows. Windows are nice on a large tower where you can clean up your case (when you have the room too). Windows on something like this is akin to showing off a really unkempt closet full of pack rat stuff.
Nice review, by the way. Would love to see a comparison if and when the Antec Aria II comes out.
Pannenkoek - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
[OT] Thanks Kristopher, I missed those comments. Odd that that would be possible, but I appreciate the protection of their sources by editors in any case.R3MF - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
[edit]with the price difference i could even afford to stick the SST VFD panel in the spare 5.25" bay for use in a HTPC!
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R3MF - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
@ 44 (re: SST SG01) -i agree that SST cases are overpriced, but it is very affordable compared to a shuttle.
my SN25P cost me £285
by comparison:
SG01 = £100 (or thereabouts)
NF4 mATX M/B = £60 (tho i would pay more for a better baord)
400W Akasa ATX2.01 PSU = £40 (yeah, sure i need more, not)
Via ENVY PCI soundcard = £25
TOTAL = £225
looks pretty affordable to me.:)
i only wish there were some high-end mATX motherboards to put in it. i repeat; come on MSI/Abit/DFI/Asus, show us what you can do.......
Tujan - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link
Dont know if that was a positive on a different full size power supply. Or the same positive for a full size DVD player.Too Im not fully convinced of the carrying copacity used from the handle of this m-ATX case.
I think that this case however has been the best looking m-atx alternative out there for a few months running. Everytime I look at Newegg.com they are sold out of them.
If used one of those ATX 2.0 w detachable wiring would be a super setup.
Surprising other m-atx manufacturers don't have something like this on a melt already. There are several M-ATX Intel that can run dual-core with this case.Hard to find on the web though. Certainly the m-atx AMDs would go well with it.
Would get one to carry it around.Looks really good,. Nothing beats its value cost. I would trade out the power supply for one I listed,if it fit.
All sorts of colors too.
Tujan - Monday, July 4, 2005 - link