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Page 1
<B>Intro</B>:
Cases have to be one of the easier things to review. Consider this; When you buy a case now, what do you think is the most important quality? If you answered looks, then you, like the majority of DIY computer makers, are concerned with the outside appearance of a box that holds the components that you are planning to use. Think about how that sounds, a computer case's function is to hold parts together. Why do we care about looks? Simple, because we can and <a href="http://www.xoxide.com">Xoxide</a> steps up to the plate again to get you to spend your money on this X-Turbine case.
<B>Box</B>:
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Yeah, the always popular filler box section. As you can see, Xoxide has come a long way since they first started. They have their own branded boxes and stuff... The case was packed tightly enough so that it wouldn't get damaged during shipping.
<B>The Case (Exterior)</B>:
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</center>
And here we get to why you are reading the review, the looks. The Turbine actually comes in two colors. Pictured above is the silver color, but the case comes in black. I was talking to one of my co-workers at work and he said that he ordered the black case, but when another co-worker tried to order one, it was sold out! Black is a very nice color. Luckily, silver is also nice, and it matches my LCD monitor.
The case itself looks well designed and spared no detail left unturned. From the rivets in the windows to the thumbscrews in the back, this is one nice looking case.
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This case has two sides with windows on it, the top and the side. Both of the windows have a fan in the center to draw attention to (and to make some better airflow, after all, heat rises). Like I said, the rivets and the window to case matchings are nearly perfect, there are no sharp corners or jagged edges.
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The back side of the case has two fans as well. They don't call this the Turbine for nothing. One thing that did get my attention was how much noise the case would make, but I'll get into that later. The one thing that I already didn't like about the case was the wire that is snaking out of the back of the case. It is the front mounted firewire cable, but they really didn't need to do it like that. One thing you will notice is that the case is branded Xoxide style with their logo embedded (raised) in the side of the case.
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These two shots show the front bottom of the case, and the exterior USB/Firewire ports on the front side. The front fans have a grating on them that gives a great effect when the computer is one. The two front fans are LED fans (standard). The buttons on the case do not feel cheap as many other cases do. Alas, there is still the red/green HDD and power LEDs (I left them unplugged).
<B>Intro</B>:
Cases have to be one of the easier things to review. Consider this; When you buy a case now, what do you think is the most important quality? If you answered looks, then you, like the majority of DIY computer makers, are concerned with the outside appearance of a box that holds the components that you are planning to use. Think about how that sounds, a computer case's function is to hold parts together. Why do we care about looks? Simple, because we can and <a href="http://www.xoxide.com">Xoxide</a> steps up to the plate again to get you to spend your money on this X-Turbine case.
<B>Box</B>:
<center>
</center>Yeah, the always popular filler box section. As you can see, Xoxide has come a long way since they first started. They have their own branded boxes and stuff... The case was packed tightly enough so that it wouldn't get damaged during shipping.
<B>The Case (Exterior)</B>:
<center>
</center>And here we get to why you are reading the review, the looks. The Turbine actually comes in two colors. Pictured above is the silver color, but the case comes in black. I was talking to one of my co-workers at work and he said that he ordered the black case, but when another co-worker tried to order one, it was sold out! Black is a very nice color. Luckily, silver is also nice, and it matches my LCD monitor.
The case itself looks well designed and spared no detail left unturned. From the rivets in the windows to the thumbscrews in the back, this is one nice looking case.
<center>
</center>This case has two sides with windows on it, the top and the side. Both of the windows have a fan in the center to draw attention to (and to make some better airflow, after all, heat rises). Like I said, the rivets and the window to case matchings are nearly perfect, there are no sharp corners or jagged edges.
<center>
</center>The back side of the case has two fans as well. They don't call this the Turbine for nothing. One thing that did get my attention was how much noise the case would make, but I'll get into that later. The one thing that I already didn't like about the case was the wire that is snaking out of the back of the case. It is the front mounted firewire cable, but they really didn't need to do it like that. One thing you will notice is that the case is branded Xoxide style with their logo embedded (raised) in the side of the case.
<center>
</center>These two shots show the front bottom of the case, and the exterior USB/Firewire ports on the front side. The front fans have a grating on them that gives a great effect when the computer is one. The two front fans are LED fans (standard). The buttons on the case do not feel cheap as many other cases do. Alas, there is still the red/green HDD and power LEDs (I left them unplugged).
Page 2
<B>The Case (Interior)</B>:
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</center>
Let's start with the internal fans. As you can see, there are six total. The locations are the back, the front, the top and the one in the center of the side window (not shown in these pics). It would have been nice if the top and window fans were LED fans standard, but they are not. I guess you can't have everything.
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</center>
The standard PSU is a 400 Watt iCute power supply (by standard, I mean what it was sent with, it actually is extra in the cost). It isn't the worst power supply in the world, but it is not an Antec or Enlight. Regardless, it works fine for me using my 2.4C P4 system. Speaking of iCute, this case is actually one of theirs that is modified (<a href="http://www.casepower.com.tw/eng/html/index_product/0301.htm">Here</a>
, but that's what Xoxide does, modify cases.
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</center>
The case has a total of 4 optical drive bays and a total of 5 hard drive only bays + 2 floppy/hard drive bays for a total of 7 hard drive bays! I don't know how you even use all these bays, the most I've seen used recently was 2 hard drives and 4 optical drives (for some reason...) If you're doing advanced RAID or you need a bunch of storage space, this case won't be a problem.
<B>The final product</B>:
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</center>
The case came out absolutely great. I fitted it with a blue and a UV cathode as well as my basic hardware setup of my 2.4C P4 with some Corsair Ram and a Gigabyte motherboard and a Leadtek graphics card (all reviewed here actually). Now, when I turned it on, I was afraid to here a loud rush of air, but to my surprise, it wasn't bad at all. Don't get me wrong, it won't win any silent PC awards, but it is tolerable. I would say it is slightly louder than a generic case.
<B>Conclusion</B>:
<a href="http://www.xoxide.com/xoxideturbine.html">For a mere $80, you can pick up this case.</a> You will have to furnish other things like the PSU, but at this price, I think it is worth it. Go to any computer store and see the more expensive cases they have and then make your decision. I don't think you'll be sad going with this one. My hats off to Xoxide once again for their great work.
I'd like to thank Jeff over at <a href="http://www.xoxide.com">Xoxide</a> for sending this case for review. And be sure to look for more stuff coming soon. And! Be sure to hit up the <a href="/forums/">forums</a>.
<B>The Case (Interior)</B>:
<center>
</center>Let's start with the internal fans. As you can see, there are six total. The locations are the back, the front, the top and the one in the center of the side window (not shown in these pics). It would have been nice if the top and window fans were LED fans standard, but they are not. I guess you can't have everything.
<center>
</center>The standard PSU is a 400 Watt iCute power supply (by standard, I mean what it was sent with, it actually is extra in the cost). It isn't the worst power supply in the world, but it is not an Antec or Enlight. Regardless, it works fine for me using my 2.4C P4 system. Speaking of iCute, this case is actually one of theirs that is modified (<a href="http://www.casepower.com.tw/eng/html/index_product/0301.htm">Here</a>
, but that's what Xoxide does, modify cases.<center>
</center>The case has a total of 4 optical drive bays and a total of 5 hard drive only bays + 2 floppy/hard drive bays for a total of 7 hard drive bays! I don't know how you even use all these bays, the most I've seen used recently was 2 hard drives and 4 optical drives (for some reason...) If you're doing advanced RAID or you need a bunch of storage space, this case won't be a problem.
<B>The final product</B>:
<center>
</center>The case came out absolutely great. I fitted it with a blue and a UV cathode as well as my basic hardware setup of my 2.4C P4 with some Corsair Ram and a Gigabyte motherboard and a Leadtek graphics card (all reviewed here actually). Now, when I turned it on, I was afraid to here a loud rush of air, but to my surprise, it wasn't bad at all. Don't get me wrong, it won't win any silent PC awards, but it is tolerable. I would say it is slightly louder than a generic case.
<B>Conclusion</B>:
<a href="http://www.xoxide.com/xoxideturbine.html">For a mere $80, you can pick up this case.</a> You will have to furnish other things like the PSU, but at this price, I think it is worth it. Go to any computer store and see the more expensive cases they have and then make your decision. I don't think you'll be sad going with this one. My hats off to Xoxide once again for their great work.
I'd like to thank Jeff over at <a href="http://www.xoxide.com">Xoxide</a> for sending this case for review. And be sure to look for more stuff coming soon. And! Be sure to hit up the <a href="/forums/">forums</a>.