Internal Design
The Sea Hawk's simple outer look is carried to the inside design, but it is carried well. Though not completely tool-less, Enermax has designed the case to look and function in the simplest manner.
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Starting at the front of the case, the drive bays are all attached to the chassis. We did have one question on the construction of the bays - why was it not cut from a single piece of steel? After the third 5-1/4" drive bay, the steel seems to be cut off and continued to form the casing for the top 5-1/4" portion of drive bays.
Click to enlarge.
Looking closer, we saw that the other side of those bays was basically the steel panel on which the motherboard sits. This design made efficient use of the material, but cosmetically, could have been improved upon; maybe using one piece of steel to wrap around to the other side.
Click to enlarge.
Another thing that we noticed with the drive bays was the platforms, which were folded over for the drives to sit upon. Since the metal was about 0.7mm thick, the platforms seemed to bend more easily than other 0.8mm models that we have looked at. Though the platforms did provide some support, Enermax would have been better off doing away with them, and in turn, reducing sharp edges.
Click to enlarge.
As for sharp edges, even though Enermax tried to solder over and dull any of the edges, many remained throughout the Sea Hawk. Attending to all of the edges in a chassis design may be difficult, but the most attention should be paid to those things that are exposed to human interaction no matter where they are in the case.
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Zepper - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
the 1018x series is totally different from this series - in a whole other league of quality. Way overpriced for .7 SGCC (recycled tin can metal - not quality steel) case. I can't imagine why there wasn't more mention of the flimsiness of the metal except re. the drive bay ears.. I wouldn't buy it on a bet. Equal quality can be had from a lot of 3rd and 4th string case makers for half the price and including a PSU.
.bh.
Mday - Sunday, August 15, 2004 - link
You know, I have been wondering why certain non-core reviews by anandtech refer to the name on the box as the actual manufacturer of the item.We all know Enermax didnt design this case. And the same can be said of that case Zirconium has (which I have also).
Zirconium - Sunday, August 15, 2004 - link
I got the Enermax CS-10181 case. It is a very nice case - plain looking, but extremely functional. I can't comment on this one because I don't actually own it, but I'd look favorable on this one since it probably shares some features with my case.val - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
window (shape of flower) on side... for sure :-)Val
val - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
I Have older Enermax case, with window on front, Enermax power supply and one case fan, I am satisfied with those products for over 2 years now. With power supply in range bellow 100USD is no other option, but also overall Enermax quality is highly bigger than price difference.Val
TrogdorJW - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
*MUCH* nicer looking case, IMO. Unfortunately, it just doesn't sound like it's really worth the cost. $65 for a case without PSU? If you're spending $65 without getting a PSU (and here at least we could get a relatively decent PSU, since Enermax is one of the better PSU manufacturers), I would think there are better options. By the time you factor in a decent PSU, you're looking at about $120.And the front lights are still a bit too bling-bling for my taste. But hey - to each his own. I still haven't heard of any nice cases (i.e. not gaudy) with 120mm fans other than the Antec models. Which is why I keep getting Antecs. Is there no other decent option? :p
sprockkets - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
This case is used in a lot of different designs, yet is the same on the inside. I've built two, one that was aluminum and one that was steel. One had a front 120mm or 80mm fan holder, both had a fan on the side, and one had the 2 fan holders in the back while one used a fan duct system. Good points to mention is the fact that the HDD are right in front of a fan for good cooling, plus there is room for four. Those pin out headers are annoying, but if they weren't that way then it wouldn't work for all the different pinout styles.Although the InWin cases are sturdier, the ventilation on most of these, with the expansion capabilities and still being good on style make these a good choice for ATX cases, especially for the cost.
Thoreau - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
w00t!! Finally, a case that doesn't totally suck the life out of installed components! =)