Kingwin KT-424 Aluminum Midtower Case

Reviews: Cases

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
Case-Mod
Oct. 25, 2004

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First Impressions

When I look at the KT-424 I see a wonderfully simplistic PC chassis with what look to be great features. As I mentioned earlier, I really don't like the current case design trend. I don't want to name any names, although my friends Mr. Minotaur and Mr. Guardian might be able to further explain what I mean.

Looking at the front of the case you will see that there is no door covering the face plates. I personally find front panel doors to be a nuisance, and they will oftentimes break, or may not be able to close with certain bay devices installed. To the right of the external 3.5" bays you will find the power and reset buttons, along with the case's status LEDs. The power/reset buttons are a soft blue color, which I think looks pretty cool.

Continuing our tour down the front of the case you will find the case's air intake, which we will discuss more later. In the bottom right corner there are two USB ports and a Firewire port. To access them, you simply pull down the clear acrylic door in front of them.

Moving on to the left side of the case you will see a large square window, but this is not your ordinary case window. What is unusual about this window is that for starters it sticks out from the side of the case (rather than mounting flush, or nearly flush, with the case). It is also unusual in that the edge is beveled at about a 45 degree angle. It took me a minute to get used to it, but it doesn't look bad and it certainly isn't your run-of-the-mill case window. I suspect that the extra thickness of the window also helps to reflect light to its edges, but we'll have to wait and see if that holds true.

On the back of the case is where you will find, quite possibly, its greatest feature: the removable motherboard tray. The motherboard tray and side panels are secured via thumbscrews which were included with the case. Of course the motherboard tray is where you will find the I/O shield, the back side of all the PCI brackets, and an exhaust fan. You will also find something that is rather unusual - two spots for Firewire ports under the exhaust fan. Above the motherboard tray you will find a gaping hole where some lonely PSU hopes to one day find a home.

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Page 2 of 6

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Opening the Case
Page 4: Inside the Case
Page 5: Quality Check
Page 6: Conclusion & Extra Photos

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5 User Comments

1 - Posted by flip-mode on October 27, 2004 - 7:21 am

I've had this case for over a year and I love it.

My complaints:

1. The front usb port door should have been black aluminum and not the cheesy clear plastic. I removed that plastic crapper on day one.

2. The fan adjuster should be accessible without removing the front panel for crying out loud.

3. The fan adjuster does not go low (quiet) enough.

This case is a keeper though. I haven't even thought about replacing it.

Oh, yeah, this is my first post in these forums, Hello World!

2 - Posted by handrail on October 27, 2004 - 10:58 am

crappy USB doors seems to be a theme lately...even on higher level cases. i prefer just a hole in the bezel for my USB ports, thank you very much.

welcome flip!

3 - Posted by Kurtis on October 27, 2004 - 12:18 pm

Welcome to the forums flip-mode! :) Did you ever have problems with the "Danger Zones" I pointed out? :P

The fan adjuster probably only goes to like 7V instead of 0 or 5V, but I didn't find it to be a problem since I think it is such a big plus that it is integrated. I also like that it is hidden, personally. Even if you have to adjust it, pulling off the front of the case is so easy, that for me it isn't a big deal.

Anyways. Thanks for your comments, and once again welcome to our forums! :D

4 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on October 27, 2004 - 12:19 pm

woah, at first when i saw the picture i thought it was a lian-li.

5 - Posted by Guest on October 27, 2004 - 11:45 pm

Nice review of a nice case...
I would like to see more details about the hidden fan controller, though... how does it work? Knob-style?

Congratulations and keep up the good work!

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