Question 1

How is the cooling and fan noise level in this case with stock fans?  I've bought this case but I'm still in the middle of buying things to fill it with.  I'm wondering if it'd be worth it to spend extra money on  4x120mm fans or a new 200mm fan.

Accepted Answer

I have had this case for about 6 months. I used it in a server build, seeing as it was one of the only affordable quality eatx cases. I have it running with all stock fans installed and it does a great job keeping the system cool. It is not too noisy either. I am running dual AMD opteron 6 core CPUs on a supermicro mb.  It is a lot quieter than my watercooled gaming rig. Hope this helps.

JS

Question 2

The description lists 4 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 Ports are there 4 USB 2.0 or 2?

Accepted Answer

I just checked out the tower for ya. I am actually on the computer I built with this tower right now. There are 4 USB ports on the top front of the case. 2 of them are USB 2.0 and 2 of them are USB 3.0. The USB 3.0 ones are blue to make them stand out. I can't use them with the motherboard I got. I can only use the 2 USB 2.0 ports. So, that's something to think about when choosing your motherboard. I have USB 3.0 directly on the motherboard (back of computer) though, so at least I have some :)

Question 3

in the specs, it states "Please make sure your motherboard is equipped with on-board USB 3.0 socket before purchasing.", but im planning on getting a motherboard (ASUS M5A97 LE) that many reviews claim doesnt have usb 3.0. do i need it to function, or is it just if i want to use the ports on the case? (sorry if this is a stupid question, im new to building PCs)

Accepted Answer

The case will still function normally if your motherboard does not have a USB 3.0 internal header, as you guessed only the USB 3.0 ports on the case will not function. If down the road you decide you want the ports to work you can always buy a USB 3.0 to PCI adapter that has an internal USB 3.0 header.

Question 4

does the case support 2 vides cards?

Accepted Answer

It will support as many video cards as your motherboard is capable of holding.  The case does a great job of bringing fresh air in directly through the side and right on top of the cards so cooling is not an issue.  I have a  the large side fan pulling air into the case, a single 120 radiator mounted in the rear exhaust fan position to cool the CPU, and one fan mounted in the top positions to exhaust heat.  The supplied fans are nearly silent and my two air cooled GTX 260 218's in SLI have no problems fitting in or staying below 70C when running at full tilt. I highly recommend this case if you are looking to build anything up to an EATX motherboard into a smaller than full tower chassi.   This is my third home built computer and I would use this case again to do any project.
Good luck on your build!

Question 5

Will a GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-4GD GeForce GTX 770 fit in this case?

Accepted Answer

Hmm...

I have an MSI Twin Frozr GTX680 in this case. It's a large card itself and to be honest it JUST fits width wise. Length it's fine. If you switched out the 230mm side fan for a couple 120mm to go on the bottom of the side screen, I'm sure the 770 would fit. The problem I'm foreseeing is the 770's width. My card is 5.8 inches wide, and that's excluding the extra width gained from plugging in the power. The 770 is 5.1 inches not including plugging in the power. Like I said mine barely fits due to the 230mm fan, if I put two smaller ones on the bottom of the screen, since you can fit four, any card would fit fine.

Hope I helped.

Question 6

Does this use molex plugs for all fans except the exhaust fan? I see it has a  3 or 4 pin.

Accepted Answer

I just put together a cpu and this cases fans all used molex and the part that went into the mother board was very tiny 3 pin and maybe 4 pin for the main fan I enjoy the case has plenty of fan hook ups I couldn't even use them all on my asrock extreme 920 2.0 mobo

Question 7

Has anyone installed a 280mm radiator in this case? The video say's it is compatable with one but the picture looks like it would be very tight.

Accepted Answer

It should be able to in the top area where it extrudes from the top of the case as there are mounting brackets for a 280mm rad OR two 140mm fans.  You just would need to be careful of where you are putting the reservoir and the pump as well as how well you run the tubing, though i think you should be able to make it work depend on how much you know about liquid cooling.

Question 8

does this case support a geforce 760? and will it support the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes and Yes! it supports up to EATX, the largest boards on the market and it will swallow all the full size video cards.  I am not certain of any height restrictions for the CPU coolers so I would look closely at that if you're not going with a liquid cooling option for the CPU.  Any of the current 1X120 or 2X120 radiator liquid cooling systems fit in easily. The 3X120 radiators are a little more of a challenge and you need to consider pipe routing very carefully.  Good Luck!

Question 9

I was wondering would the MSI 970 gaming motherboard work with this case. Since it has two usb 3.0 front and two usb 2.0 front. Will that work with the MSI 970 motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Any Motherboard will work with this case, however if you're asking if you can use both 2.0 and 3.0 USB ports then the answer is; Yes, but as long as the motherboard has a port to plug the USB 3.0 power into. There's two plugs from the front-top of the inner case, well more, but 2 plugs that involve the USBs. One plug is a 2x4 pin for the USB 2.0. that will plug into the USB port on the mobo. Then there's a 2x8 pin for the USB 3.0 port on the motherboard. The 970 has both ports for both plugs so you will be able to use both the 2.0s and both the 3.0's on the front of the case.

Hope this helps.

Question 10

Is the MSI Z97 PC Mate LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard compatible with this case? Specifically does it mount nicely? Thanks.

Accepted Answer

I looked up that motherboard.  That is a standard Atx motherboard, so it should fit just fine.
This is a suprisingly large, wide, and roomy case, with plenty of airflow.  It comes with multiple mounting brackets for different boards, including micro / mini atx, normal atx, and the even larger extended atx.  Mine has a rather massive heatsink on the cpu, a huge graphics card, and it still has more than enough room.

Questions & Answers