Pros: Well documented board. RAID array is outstanding and very stable. Six SATA cables with retainer clips supplied. The POST display is helpful in troubleshooting. Software supplied for tuning and for RAID management is excellent.

Cons: After third boot refused to POST, hanging at 00 on the readout. The documentation regarding the tertiary power is confusing. The board has a SATA power socket that is intended to supply a video card that does not have independent power. But they call it a "SATA-style connector" and aren't clear when it is required and when not. The location of the 8 pin auxilliary power socket is odd; difficult to route it without causing airflow problems. Also, while the switch, front-panel USB, and firewire headers are all located at the front, the audio headers are at the back of the board, which means routing wires around.

Overall Review: Consider also the DP55WG - the difference is 2 SATA ports fewer, no built in bluetooth, and less overclocking capacity. And, of course, $$$.

Pros: Large, quiet, and very effective at keeping my i5-750 cool. Under maximum load, there's about 50 C of thermal margin.

Cons: Installation instructions are a bit sketchy. In the old school, we avoided using big globs of thermal compound when seating a cooler. When I used that with this heatsink, the processor temps went sky high. Re-mounting it using the whole tube of supplied compound solved that problem.

Overall Review: I'd definitely buy it again.

Pros: I shopped the cases carefully before buying this one. I'm certainly impressed. There was a lot of attention to detail that went into engineering the case. Things are well-thought out in general. The wire management, in particular is helpful. The huge fans are set up to be powered from the PS rather than the MB and can be controlled from the front panel. The 3 1/2 inch drive bays are set up well, with the business end of the drives pointing to the right side for wire management. Drives go into the rack by attaching special screws to them and slipping in place. The retainers feel solid and not likely to break. The 2 1/2 inch rack holds two SSD's as well as providing retaining for the power supply and a space for excess power cables. Connectors are provided for HD audio as well as AC97.

Cons: REALLY tight to install components. As the motherboard tray does not come out, you're really stuck. Although there's a cutout in the tray for the heat sink retainer plate, my Intel DP55 series motherboard has the heat sink located a centimeter to the side of where the cutout is located. So, I had to remove the board in order to install the heat sink. The space for power cables underneath the motherboard side of the case is a little tight for the main power cable, though it does fit. The four USB ports on the front are good, but there's no panel firewire port.

Overall Review: Though designed for those who like bling, this is a solid case for lots of other purposes.

Pros: Good solid board. Like it's big brother, the DP55KG, it has solid documentation. Features like the boot to bios button are appreciated. The RAID array management is excellent and includes both firmware and software components. The optical audio in as well as out is a plus as well.

Cons: Power has to be supplied to three very different locations on the board. A SATA power lead is needed if the video card does not have its own power connector (or is it only if you are using a 20 pin ATX main power connector and such a video card?? Documentation is ambiguous.)