Fong Kai FK-603 ATX Mid-Tower

Power Supply & Cooling

Fong Kai manufacturers their own power supplies to go inside their cases. The 250W ATX-250-1 is included with the FK-603. The ATX-250-1 is on AMD's Athlon Approved Power Supply Listing and performed well in the first test system used in our AMD Athlon Buyer's Guide - Part 4: Power Supplies. However, it failed to even boot our much more strenuous second test system. That's not too surprising since this is "only" a 250W unit. An 80 mm fan exhausts air out the back of the PSU in accordance with ATX 2.01 specifications. Air is drawn in from the bottom of the power supply, standard for an ATX model.

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Just below the PSU, a big gray fan duct funnels air away from the CPU and out the back of the case with another 80mm fan. This duct is attached by a simple hook and clips and is easy enough to remove - release the clip and slide up. Palo Alto offered a similar option on their ATCX and we found that it generally did help to cool the CPU better than a "standard" configuration. A 3-pin fan connector, which allows for monitoring of the fan speed, if your motherboard supports it, simply clips into this duct.

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A third 80mm fan is located at the bottom front of the case and is configured to take air in. This fan also simply snaps into a plastic bracket that attaches to the case. This time, the fan used a standard 4-pin power connector. Both of these optional fans were included in our evaluation sample.

Vents at the top of the case allow some more of the hot air to escape as it rises naturally to the top of the case. There are also plenty of vents at the rear of the case, although some of these may be covered by the rear bezel. That rear bezel, however, can be removed to prevent any problems.

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Click to enlarge

Despite the two additional fans, the FK-603 was subjectively a fairly quiet case, most likely thanks in part to the plastic side panels that really help mute the sounds from inside the case. Our digital sound level meter measured 57dB at 10" from the front of the case. This puts it right in line with the Palo Alto ATCX and PA-600, which both also use plastic side panels and have been praised for quietness.