Construction

The Chenbro is made of the typical steel still used in many cases today. We would like to see more manufacturers make use of aluminum, but we realize that it comes with a price. Chenbro, however, has constructed the Xpider II in a way that would make us forget aluminum, if only for a while.

Sharp edges are the main concern of buyers who consider steel chassis. Sharp edges can lead to cut wires, or even cut hands. Chenbro has done a great job in folding over and dulling those edges to keep the problem to a minimum.




Click to enlarge.


As far as security features go, the Xpider II really only has one, and the way it is designed, it only needs one. Since there is no removable right panel, the only thing keeping strangers from fiddling with the insides of your case is the left panel. There is a key lock at the back of the case to secure the panel. No key, no access.

Since the releases for the front bezel are inside the case behind the left panel, that also cannot be removed.

Case Fans Expansion
Comments Locked

33 Comments

View All Comments

  • Staples - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    Very ugly design. It certainly will not be my next case.
  • kmmatney - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    Can't say that I've ever found a removable motherboard tray very useful. Just gives more parts to rattle and weakens the structure. You certainly don't need it to swap out components.
  • shuttleboi - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    Do Anandtech reviewers have a problem with aesthetics or something? Why do they keep reviewing these really butt-ugly cases? How about something (e.g. from Lian-Li or Coolermaster) that isn't completely repulsive?
  • Budman - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    " We test it with all the same PSU so that the noise comparisons are all the same.

    Kristopher "

    that may be good for mobo/cpu tests but you're reviewing a CASE,you just cant pick & chose the parts you like.

    The case should be reviewed as is just like anybody who's going to go buy it,not everybody's going to have a spare psu handy.

    And just like the other guy said it's a freaking Fortron 350 watter great psu.
    very bad ideal to swap out the psu,when you buy it will it come with that other psu? NO . so if you're going to review do it as it will come from the store.
  • Sonic587 - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    "Installation of all components took no more than 15 minutes and since the Chenbro threw in a 350W power supply, a few minutes were shaved off that total installation time. We did swap out that power supply with our own test bed unit, the OCZ 520W PowerStream, for our benchmarks."

    Excuse me if I missed something, and ignore this if I did, but they just "threw in" a 350W power supply? That's a Fortron FSP350-60PN. A very high quality PSU that could handle almost any system out there today. I think there should be some credit to Chenbro for choosing a quality component that is so often ignored.

    That said, I agree it is 110% fugly.

  • BUBKA - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    I heard it was optimized to play spiderman 2 and benches 3% faster
  • KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    We test it with all the same PSU so that the noise comparisons are all the same.

    Kristopher
  • Degrador - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    Yep, I'm with #1. Fugly.
  • Monkeydonutstick - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    Super Stupid
  • Budman - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link

    Why in the hell would you go to all the trouble of reviewing a case but then swap out the PSU???

    You should have tested it with the PSU it came with.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now