MGE Viper: Another Xtreme Gamer Creation
by Purav Sanghani on December 18, 2004 5:14 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Words
Who is the Viper marketed towards? In our opinion, MGE is targeting those consumers who want a wild look to their computer case, but do not want to spend hundreds of dollars in modifications. The Viper has a simple design, yet has the potential to outperform some of the more expensive cases on the market.Our thermal benchmarks showed that the Viper can compete with any high end case when the cooling system is utilized to the fullest. It comes with two 80mm fans, but adding more fans as well as upgrading the front intake to a 120mm fan can greatly increase performance, bringing ambient temperatures down as much as 5 degrees and certain core component temperatures down a few degrees themselves.
While adding fans may be good for keeping temperatures stable, noise levels will definitely increase if high quality fans are not used. The Viper produced about 46dB on average with just two 80mm fans. Adding a few more would most likely increase noise levels past the 50dB mark and possibly closer to 60dB if the right fans are not chosen.
As far as the looks go, everyone will have a difference in opinion. Either we will like the look or not. What really matters is what we really need and how much we are willing to spend on it. There is no doubt that there are other products out there that have features such as tool-less drive bays and expansion slots as well as removable motherboard trays and even a sleeker looking bezel. Adding a power supply may not be enough to bring a modified case to users' homes. Most of us just want a case that has been carefully planned in the design phase. We want a case that will tend to our needs as daily users and not have unnecessary modifications to distract us from our daily work.
With MGE's 450W Vigor power supply, the Viper has a price of about $90 at this time. For about $30-$40 less, we can get our hands on the Sidewinder, which has the same features with more fans, and as users in the field of IT, we could not choose this case over a simpler looking model.
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k2bordr03 - Tuesday, March 1, 2005 - link
i must say that your reasoning for discarding this case as it being ugly is based on personal preferences. if you dont like it soooo much why did you bother looking, bought this case and i love it. get compliments like crazy at lan parties and you dont have to like it, but someone else might. you guys are too critical, you probably all own kias.Hunter Viking - Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - link
I just got mine. I think the case looks cool. All the beige cases or even the new beige,,, black, been looking at them for years. I wanted something a little different then all the same ol same ol. And I am pushing 40 so take that:)Thanks Anandtech for reviewing something a little different. I can't stand having everything look plain all of the time. Case is stong enough for my SLI setup and quiet enough to be ignored when I am across the room. The lighting is not too bright without being obnoxious. I even added a UV light to brighten up the plastic.
The only problem I have, other then the tooless case, is now I have to open the case and clean the dust bunnnies out more often.
And the blue is more subdued then the red.
albinodragon - Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - link
Personally I had just bought the blue version of the MGE Viper case and it hasn't arrived yet, but I am excited to upgrade my old PC using it!Regs - Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - link
I usually don't pay attention to cases such as these. However this one I couldnt help but to laugh at the design. Looks like a power ranger got shrink rapped around the casing.unclebud - Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - link
"Why is it most modder cases look like a 14 year old metal head design them?Diversity should not mean between a cobra and dragon. All these cases look like album covers from the 1980s."
laughing really hard...
Gatak - Monday, December 20, 2004 - link
Zak, these cases do sell. Lots of people like this kind of thing. No need to be rude. Better to write and say you would rather like something like the Hush cases to be reviewed. =)Zak - Monday, December 20, 2004 - link
Why do you people keep reviewing ugly, BUTT UGLY and useless cases??? This is a waste of time and not worth reading. Stick to reviewing the guts: mobos,cards, etc and leave this for someone else. You're obviosuly not getting it right.Zak
bigpow - Sunday, December 19, 2004 - link
This will match well with a Pontiac Aztec...Woohoo!
crimsonson - Sunday, December 19, 2004 - link
I have to agree,Why is it most modder cases look like a 14 year old metal head design them?
Diversity should not mean betweena cobra and dragon. All these cases look like album covers from the 1980s.
Gatak - Sunday, December 19, 2004 - link
This is what I want! :) http://www.hushtechnologies.net/start.html