For a budget Micro ATX case, this comes at a great price with a lot of really nice modern features you often don't find in a Micro ATX case at this price point, but it also suffers a couple of serious design flaws that may or may not effect you (more on that later).
THE STRONG POINTS OF THIS CASE:
Media Bays:
It has all the features you'd see in much larger and more expensive full-size ATX cases... it has a 5.25 external drive bay for your DVD/Bluray Drive... it has a removeable 3.5" bay and multiple dedicated 2.5" connection points (this is REALLY RARE for budget Micro ATX cases). You can also choose to hide your 2.5" drives on the backside of the case if you choose (as I did).
Cable Management:
It also comes with a fairly impressive cable management system (once again, fairly rare in this price segment), it has a large bulge on the back side panel as this adds a good amount of "packing" room on the back side of the case to tuck away all your excess cables... the bulge also gives you some pretty good space to pack it full of cables if you're using a non-modular PSU as I am in one of my builds. Speaking of the backside, there is a cutout to access the backside of the CPU area of your MB, in case you need to install/remove a CPU bracket from the backside without having to pull the MB out of the case.
Airflow:
There are connection points for up to FIVE (yes count-em), five 120mm case fans... I could argue that if you need five case fans, you probably shouldn't be building in a MicroATX format, but whatever, the option is there if you need/want it. I bought a 3-pack of 120mm LED fans for my case. If you handle your cable management well, this is a very spacious MATX case with little to get in the way of airflow.
Filters:
There is a large foam mesh on the front to filter any intake fans you install on the front of the case... the panel is also easily removable for cleaning as the front i/o ports are attached to the top of the case, not the front panel. There is also an easily removable dust filter for the PSU intake on the bottom of the case. I did add an after-market magnetic dust filter to the top of the case to help keep the dust out. You can see it in one of the pictures, but it did not come with the case. This would be an easy add-on if you decide to get this case and want to keep dust out.
Personally i'm used to the older style cases with the PSU above the MB and no cable management, so i was quite pleased to find these newer features in this case... and for an old-schooler like me, I included my DVD drive... which brings me to...
THE DESIGN FLAWS OF THIS CASE:
Yes, they are here... and let me start by saying this... This case will NOT fit all Micro-ATX MBs in it if you want to use the Cable Management or the DVD Drive bay, as both will be blocked-off if you use a full-size (maximum dimensions) MATX MB in this case... oh, you can fit a full size MATX MB in this case, but it will both block-off the cable management system and the DVD drive bay.
The MATX format for Motherboards really only establishes the maximum size of a MB... but you can have a MATX MB that is smaller than the maximum size... so in reality, MATX motherboards actually come in many, many different sizes. The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is 9.6 × 9.6 in (244 × 244 mm)... and if you have three mounting screw holes along the top of your Motherboard, then yes, you have a 9.6x9.6in MB and the MB will end up covering the cable management holes and prevent a DVD drive from fully mounting in the case (you might be able to use it, but it will be jutting out the front... other reviewers have mentioned this).
There are some MATX motherboards that go beyond the second mounting hole, but fall short of the third mounting hole, and I played around with some spare MBs to see what fits and doesn't fit in this case... i've also provided a picture with a ruler to show you where things line-up. These are my recomendations for different size MB use in this case:
Able to use all features of the case, including cable management and a DVD drive inserted fully into case:
Maximum MB Width: 8in (203mm)
Able to install a DVD drive fully, but will probably lose most of the cable management holes:
Maximum MB Width: 8.5in (215mm)
Remember, you CAN use a full-size Micro ATX MB in this case, but it will cover up the cable management holes and prevent a DVD drive from being fully inserted into this case (if you don't care about a DVD drive or fancy cable management, this case will work, albeit with cables running all over the place and no DVD drive)... now if you have a small enough MATX MB, these issues will never crop up and you'll be able to use this case to its full potential, and I must say, it's a wonderful case with a small enough MB [for reference, the MB I used in the pictures in this review has a width of 6.8in (173mm)].
CONCLUSIONS:
I saw many mixed reviews on this case some saying how awesome it was, 5-stars, and others saying they absolutely hated it, ruined cable management or wouldn't fit a DVD drive... i really wanted to get to the bottom of the conflicting reviews, and it all boils down to how big (or not so big) is the MB you install in this case... I have narrowed it down to exactly what will and won't work in this case to the best of my abilities, and provided pictures with measurements for folks to be able to see what the issues are here. Please pay heed to this review... this IS A GREAT CASE, if you use the right sized MB... and it IS A TERRIBLE CASE, if you use the wrong sized MB... you have been warned!
Overall, because I know the limitations of this case and was able to work around that, I really do love this case, my first build in this case had a red theme, it turned-out so nice, I ended-up buying a second case (green theme) for my home (I have four PCs in my home)... it's not a perfect case by any means... but for this price point and if you know what to watch out for, it can be a very nice case you will enjoy.
