The Rosewill R218-P mid-tower steel case is ideal for computer builders who’d rather spend their money on the contents than on the case! The mid-tower R218-P offers bays for four 5.25” external, one 3.5” external, and four 3.5” internal drives, and keeps it all cool with an 120 mm rear fan, side air vents, and air guide to direct the air where it’s most needed.
You’ll get seven full-size expansion slots, and a tray that supports Micro ATX and ATX motherboards. The front panel features two USB 2.0 ports, and audio jacks. Whether you’re building from scratch or looking to relocate your existing system, the Rosewill R218-P is a great value!
Great Expandability with 9 Drive BaysThe Rosewill R218-P-BK features four external 5.25" drive bays, and five 3.5” drive bays (1 external and 4 internal) for superior expandability.
Efficient VentilationThe Rosewill R218-P-BK features one 120mm rear fan, side air duct and video card vent for efficient ventilation and effective system cooling.
Convenient Front I/O PanelThe Rosewill R218-P-BK features a convenient front I/O panel for easy access to two USB 2.0 ports and two audio ports.
Pros: Great value. Good supply of screws. Front panel and chassis fan wires are of excellent length and can reach just about anywhere logical in the case your plugs are. (Big plus!) I personally liked the raised metal bumps on the motherboard mounting panel (my first time encountering these), which reduced the number of bolts I needed to install the motherboard. Airflow seems good. This computer is running about 8-10C cooler than when I had it in my old case (whose airflow consisted of removing the side panel, <cough>). Chassis fan is reasonably quiet.
Cons: Somewhat soft shell material, but typical of this price range. My main gripes (which I might stress are actually gentle ones) are of design layout: I had to remove the chassis fan in order to install the I/O shield. Also buyer be aware, the PCI-slot shields are not screw-in plates, but are metal brackets with a couple of welded joints holding them in place. They are cheap, but so is the cost of this case. The expansion cards themselves are held in by a screw-in plate, which you must unscrew in order to install your PCI boards and then screw back in to secure them. Rosewill provided me with one extra PCI-slot shield of the common type.
Overall Review: All-in-all, for the amount I paid for it, this is a sweet little case. I don't have kids or anything so I'm not worried about the case taking a severe beating. Get something thicker if that is a concern. And as long as you don't mind the lack of snap-in features and are willing to take a few extra minutes to install components into this box (I didn't mind really), it's a good buy. Oh and in case you wondered, the Power LED is blue and the HDD LED is amber. Both are soft lights and shouldn't prove distracting. Tell you the truth, despite my little criticisms, I was impressed with the quality of this case for the price. I work as a tech and believe me, I have seen much worse. It may be too early to say yet, but I think I would buy Rosewill again someday.