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Mid-Tower Mega Roundup

 by Joshua Buss on September 8, 2005 12:05 AM EST
48 Comments | Add A Comment
48 Comments
ThermalRock Eclipse (cont'd)

To secure 5¼”-sized drives, rails are once again used, but this time, they are simply kept in the accessories box when they are not in use.


Click to enlarge.

It's also nice that a couple of spares of the giant thumbscrews are included, and plenty of the hard drive thumbscrews as well.

Moving on, the rear of the Eclipse is relatively standard, but a couple of items are still worth mentioning.


Click to enlarge.

First, notice the support for the PSU, as this along with the crossbar will make this a fine case for LAN-ing or just normal transport. Also, you can just barely see one of the tool-less expansion card clips, but this is one area where the Eclipse could use a little work, so we're going to elaborate on them.

They are designed to simply flip out to allow for cards to be placed into position, but even when fully open, they're not quite far enough away to make inserting a new card completely easy.

When they are locked in place, they still do not hold a card as firmly as a normal screw would, but if one really wanted the extra security, a screw could still be used as well.

Once our test bed was installed, we took a couple more pictures of the various parts that light up, including the front insignia and power/HDD lights.

Since the blue is always on as long as the system is turned on, the red led that activates when there is HDD activity actually turns the embossed drive icon a purplish hue, which is a pretty neat effect. The even more significant light is a couple of blue LEDs, which light up the ring of plastic surrounding the CD storage.


ThermalRock Eclipse (cont’d) Antec P-180
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  • Quanticles - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    $200 for a case really isnt that bad when you're paying $400 for a GPU, $300 or more for a CPU, $200 on memory, etc etc etc. If you're building a budget system, then of course this would be a horrible buy. But if you're building a nice system, then you might want a nice case. I have a black v1000 w/ window and it looks great, and was great to work with. As far as noise, I have 4 120mm fans in here, but the system is nearly silent with the help of a cheap sunbeam rheobus.

  • OvErHeAtInG - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    Exactly. Check out the V1100 , it comes with sound-damping precautions. I'm a 3-year user of the PC60 (old kind before they changed it) and I still love it. Yes, a little loud, but hey. Drooling on the V1100.

  • flatblastard - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    ...to only include one fan with their best-looking case. Then the P-180 comes with 3 fans, more features/functionality and doesn't really cost that much more than the sonata. I guess the Sonata is the better value overall considering the included PSU but damn that P-180 doesn't look too shabby either. Dang ole decisions, decisions...man, i tell ya whut....man, dang ole Antec man.

  • swtethan - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    made the right choice buying one :-)

  • imaheadcase - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    Because half of those cases just screamed "Burn me in the nearest fire!". lol

    I mean seriously, why do case manufactors make these crap cases, I would rather have a plain beige case than something made with freakin lights all on the outside covered with cheap plastic peices. Not to mention looks like they had there 3 year olds draw out the designs on ourside.

    I don't care care if its the best case in the world inside, if its ass on the outside im not buying it. I can get the same thing in beige..hehe

    Some of those look ok though..except.

    1. Aspire: Oh please tell there designers to stop asking there 3 year old kids to do there work for them. This case screams crapplastic. it would prob melt if your coffee was to close..
    2. Dynapower: This one does not look half bad, the drive bays could use a all black cover or a matching grill cover.
    3. Sunbeam: Pretty cool looking case. Remove the lame blue circles though, all the stuff you can do when on the PC, who is going to glance at that anyways when most are on the floor or out of the way.
    4.coolmaster: What would make it cool is without the pillars of salt on the side...hehe Remove those it would look sweet.
    5. Both Antec cases: Looks good to me. Antec seems to make some nice cases in the budget area.
    6. ThermalRock: What in gods name is that red circle for? That ruined the front of case, without that red circle it would look good.
    7. Lian Li: Ohhhh Ahhhh! me likey alot.

  • Bonesdad - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    Gotta agree on the Coolermaster case...I got the Centurion 5 last year...glad I didn't wait. The older Centurion 5 is a really nice looking, well made case that looks like it was made for someone with a level of maturity over 16 years old. I can see using this case for many years to come...

  • manno - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    you're not kidding out of all those cases the only ones I would touch with a 10' foot pole were the Antech's, and the Lian Li. For the love of god stop putting side windows on your cases it's drinking beer with a straw tacky.

  • Tamale - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    a LOT of people still look for windows on the side - it's still a fad that's 'catching on' to most people.

  • Quanticles - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    I have a window so I can check my watercooling easier. Besides, they look cool.

  • ElFenix - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    no, they look dorktastic.
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