Hardware review · 2006-11-27 · reviewed by CybrWlf

Mountain Mods acrylic cube case in UV blue. From the Reviews forum, November 2006.

Reviewer: CybrWlf

Bob Slay
mountainmods.com

Specifications
Material: .25 inch Ultraviolet Blue Cast Acrylic
5.25 devices: Up to 2 (External)
Hard drives: Up to 3 (with purchase of acrylic HD bracket)
PSU size: Full ATX
Form Factor: ATX/mATX
Fans Mounts: 2 x 120mm
Empty Case Weight: 10.5 lbs.
Dimensions: 14.59" (L) x 11.11" (W) x 12.21" (H)

Shipped - it was shipped in a plain brown box with foam peanuts and wrapped in plastic film. It LOOKED kinda beat up but upon closer inspection it was just the box that looked beat. Nothing inside cracked or looked damaged in any shape.

Assembly - the site allows you to order it shipped unassembled or assembled for an extra charge of $40. I ordered mine unassembled, figuring that its a simple process, I mean it is a cube basicly... not rocket science. Boy did I regret saying that later on. Now it's THAT hard .. I mean it IS a cube, but there were some things we noted that could have improved or simplified the process. Per other reviews it should have been a piece of cake. I had invited Mr.D1sturbed over to help assemble the case. Originally I thought he could just take some pics and spend the time just chatting. Well we changed that plan almost as soon as we opened the film.

Now I do admit all the probs were not just based on bad instructions. It also helps when your sent ALL THE RIGHT PIECES!!! (actually in this case all the LEFT pieces) On the 3rd piece of the build one of the connecting acrylic block would not go in and match the holes in back with ones on the bottom. After a few min we decided that we were at fault and unassembled the 3 pieces and to start over more carefully. As we did so the probelm became apparent. When Mr.D went to lined up the 10 left blocks and the 10 right blocks we found out we didn't have 10 of each. Instead we had 7 left blocks. So after deciding which blocks were in use the least we built the case. And even with those pieces missing it's still a strong and sturdy box. (in case you were wondering which ones I decided to leave out it was the 2 middle bottom ones and then the topextra supports. Contacting the company to send me out the rest of the pieces.)

After all that was the assymbly charge something I would next time? Nope ... I still think the charge, even thou was convient, was a lil too steep for me.

Overall - Well number one on my list was this new case had to be light. Weighing in at only 10.5lbs as opposed to Thermaltake's Armor 35lbs, I think it does the job. Design/style? I have to say I seen alot of cases and this it pretty different yet doesn't need specialised hardware to fit. SFF cases like the shuttle maybe lighter but you have to sacrafice your powersupply and mobo. While that's not much it's still too much of a compramize for me. The unique looks is a def plus, Mobo on top, video cards right there.. it's different and something you wont see too often in a prefab case. I definately like the UV blue acrylic over the clear, but then again I always liked blue for some reason. I will say you do have to be ready to do some real cable management, there is very little you can hide by jamming cables behind things. It's gonna take me forever but it CAN be done.

Conclusion - Everyone can use this case, yet this isn't a case for everyone. Clear acrylic is not easy to get used to. Some don't care about being able to see the mobo, but if you have a visually pleasing case like the Lanparty UT (uv reactive parts) this is the best case to show off. If your looking for a "semi-sff" case then this is it. Im very happy with my purchase.

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