Athenatech A747SS Case

Reviews: Cases

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
Athenatech
Jun. 23, 2003

The Box

As most cases do, this one came in a retail box with Styrofoam protecting both sides of the case. Once you take the case out, it is wrapped in plastic, as expected. This case is a lot cooler looking than I thought it would be, and the paint job is excellent, leaving it nice and shiny. On the front of the case appears to be 4 5.25" stealth bay covers, but it is only an illusion. The silver bar is just for looks, it is not a button. Let's open the case!

Taking a Peek Inside

With the case opened, you will see the standard things inside: a brown box with some goodies in it and some cables for the front panel (HDD LED, Power LED, Power/Reset button), and some more cables coming from the top I/O port. There are also PCI slot fillers that are tool less, but to install actual PCI cards, you will need to use screws. Inside that little brown box I mentioned, you will find some adhesive case feet, an installation guide, (2) zip ties, some screws, and a tiny speaker to plug into the motherboard.

Taking a Closer Look

The first thing I would like to point out is the left panel on the case. The side is held in place by a locking mechanism and 2 clips. To remove the panel, simply insert the keys included with the case, turn clockwise 90 degrees, and push both clips toward the front of the case. Now just pull off the side panel. Once the side panel has been removed, you can see the fan duct. This fan duct is not meant to accommodate a fan mounted on the side panel, but rather to let your CPU cooler suck in cool air from outside the case. Toss the panel to the side; let's check out the inside of the case now.

The first thing I said when I opened this case was "what the hell are those things on the drive bays?" Athenatech has decided to use some new locking mechanisms for the 5.25" and 3.5" bays. They look confusing at first, until you look closer and see how they are supposed to be used. Each clip has 2 sliders. One slider moves horizontally for Open and Closed positions, and the other moves vertically for the Locked and Unlocked positions. These clips are very easy to use once you get used to them, and they hold things in nice and tight.

Before I continue with the inside, I would like to note a couple of things about the front of the case. On the front panel are 2 chrome buttons, one for power, and another for reset. These buttons look great, but the power one sometimes sticks. If you push the power button right in the middle, it will usually get stuck, and you have to push on one of the sides of the button to spring it back. If you just always push the button on the sides, you won't have this problem, but it is something Athenatech should have caught early on. The reset button does not stick at all. As I said earlier, the bay covers do not stealth your drives, they are only for looks. With that said, we will need to remove some to install CD drives, etc. To remove the front panel, all you do is grab the bottom of the front panel, and pull away. This is quite nice because having to unclip the front panel from the inside can be very annoying. Once the front panel has been removed, you will be able to remove the bay covers via clips. You will also gain access to the screws for the removable external 3.5" cage. Once you remove these screws you will have to unlatch the cage from the inside!

As you now know, the external 3.5" cage is removable, and so is the other 3.5" cage. To remove the external 3.5" cage, you will next have to unscrew the internal 3.5" cage and pull it out in the direction where the left side panel was. With the internal 3.5" cage removed, simply push the metal tab labeled "PUSH" and pull the cage towards the back of the case. With these cages removed, you will have plenty of room to install new peripherals.

Yet another nice thing about this case is that every panel is removable (Left, Top, Right, Front). In fact, the Top and Right panel are one in the same. We have already talked about removing the left and front panel, so let's talk about removing the large top/right panel. The first thing you will need to do is locate the 2 screws on the top of the left side of the case. They are sort of tucked away, so I made sure to take pictures so you can find them easily. There are also the obvious screws in the back of the case, 5 to be exact. Once you remove all of these screws, all you have to do is pull it off (left to right). The reason it is such a nice thing that every panel is removable is because if you ever want to paint your case, you will be able to do so easily, without having to get paint all over the insides. Okay so we've talked about all the sides of the case, or did we? Still one more side, let's talk about the top of the case!

On the top of the case there is an I/O port, with optional connections for (2) USB ports, a microphone, and a headset port. These are all inside a small bay that is opened by pushing down, and closed in the same way. If you haven't used a case with connections on the top like this, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the convenience they offer. I thought that it was a stupid idea until I moved my computer into the Enermax CS-1018S Server Case, which also has a top I/O port.

Something else I haven't mentioned yet is the included PSU. That's right; Athenatech even included a 300W Sparkle PSU with the case. 300W is likely enough for the average user, but you may want to look info getting a 400W or greater PSU. I quickly checked out the PSU and it was pretty much on par with most other included PSUs. The wires were well-organized, and the heatsinks were large, but the PSU only has one fan. I turned on the PSU, and I couldn't hear the fan. This is a very quiet PSU. Now that I have talked about all of the features in this case, it's time to do the quality check.

Quality Check

This case is VERY sturdy. It has reinforcements in the front corners and it has no weak spots. This case also has all edges folded like they should be, to prevent cuts while working inside the case. Unfortunately, the air flow in this case is nothing amazing! The front intake fan is unable to pull much air through the tiny slots in the front panel. The case does, however, have a nice ducting feature that allows the CPU to receive cool air from outside the case, which is a very nice feature.

Conclusion

Overall this is a great case packed with great features such as the tool less drive installation, removable cages, and a top I/O port. Athenatech even goes as far as to include a power supply. This case is also very sturdy and very safe with all edges folded to prevent nasty cuts. The only department this case is really lacking in is the airflow, but Athenatech makes up for it with the left panel duct. I would definitely recommend this case to anyone who loves a feature-full case.

Pros

Looks great
Tool less drive installation
Top I/O port
Removable cages
Snap on/off front panel
Left panel duct
Keyed entry for left panel
All panels removable
Included PSU

Cons

Poor airflow
Power button sticks

Some More Pictures

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