APEVIA X-QPACK-BL/420 Black/Blue Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 420W Power Supply

Pros: Looks nice. Perfect for on top of desk. Compact. Easy installation of components. Temp gauge.

Cons: Many of these cases are defective from factory. Mine kept shutting off and would not start just like a lot of other buyers of this case have been reporting. The problem is the power switch itself, not the button.

No instructions come with the case, so you kind of have to guess about how to do things like removing the front cover, removing the HD cage, and placing the temperature sensors.

Other Thoughts: Regardless of what Apevia says about a ground wire, I repaired mine by replacing the power switch. I pull apart a lot of old cases, power switches have been standardized since the time when the ATX form factor started being used.

Like another buyer, I wanted to like this case and also did not want to go through the RMA process repaired it instead. I will be requesting remuneration from Apevia to compensate me for my time in repairing their defective case.

WARNING: I have a Gigabyte F285M- D3H and got a warning every time started the computer with a good switch, after trying to start it with the defective switch with the defective switch, that the BIOS had been corrupted. This board has a dual BIOS and was able to recover the original BIOS from the backup. If your board does not have this feature, you may have your BIOS corrupted by the case defect.

Manufacturer Response:

Below is a link to the online version of the user’s manual.

External Link(s):

X-Qpack User's Manual|

Pros: Probably the most portable micro-ATX case ever. Fits perfectly on top of my rather small computer desk at home. I was considering building a mini-ITX gaming rig in a Bitfenix Prodigy but that ended up being much heavier and too big for my liking (wonderful design however). So I went with this case.

I had moved everything from my huge Antec 900 case and am grateful to have slimmed down my rig. Now can I fit this gaming rig into the trunk of my wife's Fiat 500 which could hardly fit my peripherals and Dell 24" monitor.

LAN gaming party ready now. Very excited to try it out again in this format...

Cons: Rather cramped, cannot install long graphics card where the power connectors (PCI 6/8-pin) are on top due to blockage by the 5.25" drive mounting panel. Plastic handle seems to be very fragile and not good for holding up rig by itself. Default Apevia power supply a piece of junk to be replaced with a much higher quality power supply. Default blue fan (120mm) very noisy and should be replaced at some point. Cooling may be difficult and tight fit for any water cooled system (probably 120mm radiator I suspect)?

Other Thoughts: My rig is as follows:

-APEVIA X-QPACK-BL/420 Black/Blue Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer
Case 420W Power Supply
-GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
-AMD Phenom II X4 B93 - HDXB93WFK4DGI (business version of AMD Phenom
II X4 830 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
HDX830WFK4DGM - OEM)
-Thermaltake TR2 TR-600 600W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
-CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3
12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
-Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW080G310 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid
State Drive (SSD) - OEM
-ARCTIC Alpine 64 GT Rev. 2 CPU Cooler - AMD, Supports Multiple
Sockets, 80mm PWM Fan at 22dBA

Pros: pretty

Cons: poor power supply, poor documentation

Other Thoughts: Power supply went bad in 45 days. Seems to be an ongoing problem. Not worth the trouble to RMA for another bad power supply. Too bad you can't buy this case without a power supply. (Mine still ran lights and fans; but not mobo - made it tough to diagnose. )
Would be nice if documentation were better, describing pull out mobo tray rather than have to find myself. Longer wires for power/usb; easier to change thermometer from C to F. little stuff. The bad power supply is the deal-breaker.

Pros: It comes with a decent power supply for what i need, held together well on the outside, temperature seems to be reading for the most part accurate.

Cons: Flimsy. The screws go in, and they easily strip the case, and everything scratches very easily.

Other Thoughts: I knew upon buying that the fan had an led, but it's too bright for me. Definitely not for gaming. PSU held up fine (its not incredibly cheap, like some bundles.)

Pros: Nice looking case. Good fit and finish. Case and power supply fans run quiet. All standard size computer components fit.

Cons: I don't remember if the instructions for the case indicate that there is a switch on the temperature display to toggle between °C and °F. Default is °C. I sent an email to the factory and received a prompt reply about the switch. When I upgrade the DVD player I will make the switch.

The front panel wires are a little short and the motherboard must be at least half way in before they can be connected. Tight fit but I managed even with my big paws.

Other Thoughts: I put this together with an FX-4100 Zambezi cpu on a GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P with 8gb of G.Skill, and a GIGABYTE GV-N630-1GI GeForce GT 630 video card and Windows 8. I am using a wireless keyboard, mouse, and wi-fi strictly for television entertainment (37" LED). The video card had to be set to custom specs but it works flawlessly.

Pros: It fit my AMD Athlon X2 plus CPU fan very well along with my Radeon 6750. I used a Thermaltake power supply and it looks very exceptional in my home desktop.

Cons: plastic handle seems to be flimsy, included power supply seems to be sketchy.

Other Thoughts: You must get this for a good solid LAN gaming rig.

Pros: Good case overall. I've not had to do much work on the internals since it was built, so I can't speak much for that kind of wear and tear.. I've not really had any issues with it since I got it in 2008, what more can you ask?

Cons: Bit pricey, can feel a bit cheap for what you pay compared to some of its competitors.

Other Thoughts: Looks kinda flashy, which can be a pro or con depending on the person. Temp sensor is a neat idea, but ended up completely unused in the build I had.

Pros: Well it meets the space requirement to use this for LAN parties.

Cons: It has many other annoying quirks about it, but lets get to the point of why this is an awful case at the price point it is at. First off, the PSU is total trash because it died on the first day when I had everything up and running. Luckily, I had two spare power supplies, a 500watt Dynex and 600watt Thermaltake. Secondly, this thing likes to, turn off, and turn on unexpectedly. This is why I posted said power supplies as I thought it was a PSU issue at first, however both PSU run fine in other machines. My google fu found reviews that seem to indicate there is a problem with this case's power/restart button connectors, and others seem to point the finger that this is a grounding issue. Whatever it may be all I know is I will have to spend time to RMA this thing if I want this fixed. I think I will stay away from this brand from now on with future builds.

Other Thoughts: Asus F1A75-M-LE (BIOS 1501)
Socket FM1 2.9ghz A8 APU
XFX AMD Radeon 6670
Thermaltake 600watt PSU

Manufacturer Response:

If you are having problems with a short on the front panel, that can be fixed. There should be a small black wire ending in a metallic loop coming from the back of the front panel. You would need to ground the wire to the case body by screwing it in one of those holes. If you need to have a picture sent for clarification, you can contact service@apevia.com.

Also, you can do an RMA through us for the power supply to get an exchange on the PSU if you are still under our warranty period. You can contact Apevia's customer service at service@apevia.com or call at (909) 718-0789. We try to reply to all calls and e-mails as soon as we can.

Pros: Very good looking case. The inside is tight but very organized and well ventilated. It looks great siting on my bench. I am very happy with the look of this case. It is also very quiet. There is also amazing support from Apevia. When I called I didn't even get a phone system, they picked the phone right up. They where also very helpful in trying to make me happy, which I am.

Cons: Poor quality. This case was manufactured to be very cheap. However, the price does not reflect that. The price is about double what cases of much better quality go for. When I assembled this case the power button wires pulled right off the switch. I had to solder those back on which wasn’t a big deal but I can honestly say that in 20 years of computer experience I have never had that happen to a new case before. Second the LCD display had a bad sending unit for the CPU temperature. I called Apevia and they immediately sent me another one. However, the replacement had a bad HDD sending unit. I will more then likely make one working unit out of the two. Finally there is only one SATA power connector. This is completely stupid in my opinion. I had to use 3 adapters just to install my hard drives.

Other Thoughts: The only other thing I think I should mention is that there is absolutely no room for a large heat-sink. Its to bad because there is lots of room above the CPU and a big CPU cooler would look great though the window on this case. However, the inside supports as well as the pull out motherboard tray will not allow a cooler much bigger then the factory one. I may try to use a Zalman flower style cooler.

As a final note I am not trying to discourage anyone from buying this case. I am just telling you the way it is. Its honestly a great looking case and once assembled it works great. However, there are some downsides. Personally I think this case should be at a lower price point. It would make more since if it was around $49.99 rather then $89.99.

Pros: Nice and compact, can fit my 8800GT, wireless network card, cathode lights, and all other normal components (HDD, PSU, CPU, etc...) in just fine. Case "door" comes off very easy and exposes 3 sides making working on it fairly easy (as easy as you can get with a MicroATX case). I also love the temp monitors on the front of the case, though they are off by about 10 degrees (Celsius).

Cons: The only thing I don't like about this case is that the metal is pretty cheap. It's light and warped in places. A couple of the screws on the back over time don't really screw into the metal anymore.

Other Thoughts: I really like this case, I'm using it for gaming. If they used better quality metal for the shell it would be next to perfect in my opinion. It does get a little hot when I'm gaming and I like to take off the case "door" to keep it cool but I think the intake and exhaust fans I'm using are not very good. I am planning on upgrading both fans to better air flow ones and hopefully that'll fix the heat problem.