Joined on 01/22/19
Gimme spaceeeee (just a little more for cables, lol)
Pros: - Elegant, modern and sleek design - adequate space for all parts (I wouldn’t put a 3.5” HDD though as I think it looks ugly and ruins the aesthetic; the panel or just two more fans look better imo). - Great build quality especially for the price! - Supports adequate-to-great airflow depending on your config.
Cons: As others have noted- cable management is a REAL challenge! Especially if you plan on using RGB, which usually means a splitter and a lot of finessing/improvising to get that panel to close. I always recommend mocking your layout with twist ties and then finalizing with zips. I ended up using both. Even with the very few modular cables I used for my PSU, it is absolutely tight in there. Veryyy slight bulge on the bottom that I’m really trying to not let trigger my OCD. A bigger cable management compartment would really solidify this as a true champion. You can see my cable layout in the photos. It took a lot of time and patience. There’s a lot going on back there.
Overall Review: Great ITX case if you’re good with cable management or plan on building a simpler system. Patience is key. My build has an RTX 2070, Ryzen 7 3700x and three RGB fans. Temps are normal and it looks great. It would be cool if they made another version with maybe some kind of cutout in the front of a design or a frosted window to show off the front RGB some more, but I think minimalism was the goal here. It’s a dope case. Just wish there was some more space in the cable management compartment.
Great Company Reputation, slight issue...not-so-great support.
Pros: - Quality (feels and looks solid and clean, packaging is nice). - Seasonic obviously has solid reviews of internals and overall a good reputation. - Simple and elegant look. - Thick, tight connectors. You really feel secure, because it takes some work plugging & unplugging the cables (minus the outlet cord, more on that in the cons).
Cons: - They sent what seemed like a good quality, standard power supply cord. Same as many. I happened to receive a defective one, which wouldn't properly/entirely plug in and was able to wiggle a bit, which caused some crackling. This verified there wasn't a solid connection. I tried with two other cords, which plugged in nice and snug-- no wiggle room, no crackling. PSU tested and has been running fine in my rig for a 3 weeks now just about. - When informing Seasonic about this, and asking that they send me a replacement cable (I should get what I paid for), they said they suggested I RMA it (even though I explained that it's clear it was just the cord.) or that I purchase one from Axxxxn. I know these things are cheap, I can buy one, but I bought their product and it's supposed to include a functioning cord. Now I gotta order one or wait until I make another trip to Micro Center. I just hope not many have equally faulty power cords.
Overall Review: - I would recommend them as a brand. I know even with a solid reputation, no company is 100% perfect. - ALWAYS test PSU before putting into your PC. Make sure all connectors and cables are properly seated (esp the main power cord). - Glad they have a 10 year warranty, lol. Just in case. - Unit has been running efficiently. - Hybrid mode button is kind of backwards. It's enabled by default. Which means your fan will not spin until it hits a certain temp. Pushing the button *IN* makes it run in "Normal" mode. This confused me and made me think I had a faulty unit at first, until I dug into the manual and saw the tiny part about this. I guess they intend for this to be as silent/efficient as possible, but when most of us have at least 3-5 other fans spinning constantly, having their high-end, quiet fan on isn't a big deal (except for the OCD types who complain about about having 35 fans at 100% and not having a silent machine). My build is somewhat small, and even under load I couldn't seem to get the PSU hot enough to start spinning in Hybrid mode. Maybe it's just because my PC has all these other fans/good airflow. I don't know.