Raidmax AEOLUS ATX Mid Tower Case ATX-818WB
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- Case Type: ATX Mid Tower; Color: Black; Material: Steel / Plastic; M/B Type: MATX, ATX; Supported max size upto 10 x 12 inch
- Drive Bays: 7; External Bay: 3x 5.25″; Internal Bay: 4x 3.5″; Expansion Slots: 7
- Cooling System: 1x 120mm Blue leaves Rear Fan; 2x 120mm Blue leaves Top Fans ; Side Windows: Yes; Front I/O Panel: 2x USB 2.0 ports; 1x eSATA port; 1x Mic; 1x Speaker; Power Supply: No
Raidmax AEOLUS ATX-818WB No Power Supply ATX Mid Tower Case (Black)
Raidmax Power Supply
Raidmax AEOLUS ATX Mid Tower Case ATX-818WB
List Price: $ 91.07
Price:
Great looks, lots of space, some drawbacks,
First off, the Aeolus is a great looking case. It has a very scifi/industrial feel to it that sets Raidmax’s towers apart from others in the price range. Flat black inside and out with electric blue PCI slot covers and fans that really pop. I wish some of that blue was carried over to the front of the case for the buttons or inside the “fins” you see hanging off the sides (you can always do it yourself with some paint- I am). The big center intake puts you in mind of a jet engine and the whole case looks like a space ship. The irregular shapes and fins present a lot of possibilities to a dedicated case-modder interested in adding lights, paint, or other effects. To be honest, this case begs for a few extra touches to set it off. The window is done very well, can hold a fan if desired, and is placed perfectly to show off the real guts of your machine (nobody needs to see boring HD cages and drives). Airflow looks to be effortless, as it should be, and having the top exhaust fans raised up in their own little housing was a great idea and frees up a lot of space inside. One complaint I have is about the clips that hold the fans to the top of the case; they work, but sometimes feel a little loose. I would much rather have screws here and will find a way to do that myself. Wire management pathways are adequate, not spectacular, and the tooless drive bay system is fine for most devices. Display panels, fan controlers, etc might need to use screws for a more solid mount. The modular HD cage is a great feature; take it out if you only have 1 or 2 drives, or you can stack it on top of the other if you need extra room behind the PSU. It is also a tooless drawer design and works great.
As good as everything looks, I still like to customize my stuff. While the aesthetics of the Aeolus lend very well to mods, the actual construction does not. The plastic front and top don’t just pop off, and access to all those nooks and crannies is tough from the inside. There is a lot of potential here, but it takes some work.
Overall, this is an excellent case for less than $100. It has most of the features system builders want and a very unique appearence that is fun to customize. I give it 4-stars instead of 5 due to the couple of quirks metioned above that I feel keep this from truely being a top-of-the-line product.
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|Well built case,
Fist off it took a little longer to ship then I would like but I guess that is expected because of the size of the package. It is a very nice case. It is hard to believe that the four case fans are as quiet as they are. My only complaint is that one of the legs that it stands on was broken. But I called the maker and they are shipping me a replacement part at no charge. They did not even ask me a single question about how long I had it or how it broke or nothing. It is a little bigger than I expected but I am new to gaming computers so this could be normal.
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|Raidmax AEOLUS Mid Tower,
Pros:
Beautiful design, roomy interior, excellent air flow for the main boards and drives, excellent clearance below the case allowing plenty of air flow for the PSU. Nice cleanable air filter for the PSU. Mine came with all the exhaust fans and one LED lit intake fan. Even with all the fans running, it is fairly quet and none of the fans have the whirring noise most cases seem to have. The case came with all the necessary hardware and more to make the switch-over a cinch and half a dozen straps to help clean up stray wiring.
Cons:
The removable drive bay didn’t work on my case the way they showed on the Raidmax Web page, perhaps a slightly different model. Also, the way the hard drives are mounted in the bay, you should use 90 degree angled connectors, or plan on squishing the wires a bit to close the side panel (be careful not to put too much torque on the hard drive boards).
NonCon:
The uppermost expansion slot (typically designated for the video card) is inhibited by a rivet, so pay attention to that, and remove the second expansion slot cover so that you don’t torque your card or motherboard. The double wide video cards may have a bit of a problem, so if you have one, you may want to remove that rivet. Don’t expect all the pretty fans that they show in the picture. Remember to check your air filter!! Side window is cute, although a little small to be practical for site viewing or show casing the internal fans and components. The side window is tinted, so If you want your parts to shine, you have to add supplemental internal lighting.
All in all, the pro’s outweigh the con’s by far! A really good buy!
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