Enermax MaxFlow Full Tower Case - Articles / Reviews

Reviews: Cases

Enermax MaxFlow Full Tower Case

Author:
Editor:
Sponsor:
Published:

Nicholas Hart
Kurtis
Maxpoint
Feb. 17, 2005

<< Previous

Next >>

First Impressions

Overview

The UPS man dropped off the Enermax CS-718 in a rather beat up box. He was at least nice enough to have me inspect it before he left and, despite the poor outward appearance, the case itself was in excellent shape. Pulling the case out gave a clear indication of just how heavy it was; at 25 pounds it's certainly no lightweight.

It's no surprise that this case is so heavy because while the front bezel and door is made from aluminum, the bulk of the case is steel. And this is no small case, it definitely deserves the "full tower' designation. There are four 5.25" bays, two external 3.5" bays and room for six hard drives in a side mounted internal drive cage.

This case comes in a variety of colors assuming you think silver and black is considered a varied assortment. Actually there is a bit of choice, as you can choose from solid silver, solid black, silver with black trim or black with silver trim. The case I received is solid black which not only looks good, but my CD-ROM drives and the ThermalTake Hardcano match it as well. I must say that the black with silver trim looks pretty nice too.

Front Panel

The front panel of the Enermax CS-718 consists of an aluminum frame with the face made up of steel mesh. Too many cases offer large intake fans only to be restricted by a solid front panel door that limits airflow. The CS-718 does not have that problem and you need simply hold your hand in front of the case to feel the air being drawn in.

There are two dominating features on the front panel of this case and they are the large aluminum fan control dial near the bottom and the front panel connectors/display at the top of the case. The aluminum dial controls the two 120mm fans with the option of controlling two more that are plugged into the small header block inside the case. Action of the dial is smooth and you will notice that when you adjust the fans' speed that the fan's LED brightness changes as well.

There are 4 USB ports, 1 Firewire, a Microphone and a Line-Out jack at the top of the front panel. Above them, on the rounded top of the front panel, are the power and reset buttons and an LCD display showing fan speed and the temperature reading taken from the included temperature probe. The LCD display glows a rather bright blue and the LEDs for HDD and Power will leave stars in your eyes if you look at them for too long.

Drives all mount flush to the front of the case, and again I will point out that the front of the case does not have a door to cover the drives. I look at this as a good thing, as I find doors to be annoying, but if your drives don't match the color of your case you might not be so happy. The front of the case does swing open to allow for installation of your drives and a lock is provided for some added security. There are magnetic strips on the door and the case that keeps the door from swinging open unexpectedly and they also help to reduce vibration.

Side Panels

The Enermax CS-718 I received had solid side panels with no window. Rather than screws, there are small plastic clips that lock the panels in place. Simply push up or down to lock/unlock the panel. The panels fit very well but are quite difficult to remove. They don't slide out easily and require force to pull off; often with a loud thud as the metal edges on the inside impact the case.

The panels are relatively thin and have little to stiffen them. This allows them to flex quite a bit which makes putting the panels back in place difficult when the case is upright. I would have much rather seen some sturdier side panels that slide more easily into place such as on an Antec's SLK or ThermalTake's Xaser case.

Case Rear

One look at the back of the Enermax CS-718 and you can tell that this is not a standard ATX case. It doesn't jump right out at you, but the placement of the rear panel cut-out looks odd since it is at the bottom instead of the middle of the case. Your motherboard will actually sit up-side-down relative to other cases. This allows the wind tunnel to be at the bottom of the case and out of the way of other components and cabling. There are some other considerations too, but ill point those out in the installation section.

<< Previous

Page 2 of 5

Next >>

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Inside the Case
Page 4: Quality Check
Page 5: Testing & Conclusion

Subscribe to Full-Tower [more info]

Add Comment

0 User Comments

Add Comment

To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields.