Intro

Every great once in a while, something great manages to land in your lap. For me, it was when I was asked by BigAkita if I wanted to do a review on a new computer chassis from Aspire. Hey, why not? Aspire is one of those companies that has managed to make a name for itself in the computing world, mainly by providing quality gear aimed at the PC gamer market. This was bound to be a great experience for me and for the folks here at PimpRig.

As I always do once I hear about getting a new product to review is to hit the keys and see what I can find out there in the internet. First stop, of course, was to the Aspire web site to check out the specs of the rig. Here’s what I found out.

Package

I’ve been pretty lucky so far in that all the items I’ve reviewed have arrived in fantastic shape. I will admit that when I seen the nasty hole punched into the top of this cardboard box, I was extremely worried to the point I almost forgot to take shots of the box before opening it. Luckily, I have been spared by the delivery gods again as it was only superficial and didn’t damage the computer chassis in any way.

The case itself is shipped in a durable cardboard box with two pieces of Styrofoam to protect the top and bottom of the case. The damage done to the box, however, was to an unprotected part of the computer chassis. All in all, the packing could be dubbed the “industry standard” including the free roaming “Bag-O-Screws” that accompanies every new rig.

Again, I find myself disappointed that the manufacture has failed to include some basic, simple instructions for the first-time computer builder. The market for self-built computers is growing bigger and bigger, day by day, and many of these new builders don’t really have a total understanding on how a computer is actually put together unless they’ve managed to tear up a few pre-built retail computers before. Their only saving grace today was a small sheet they included describing the pin assignments for the USB, audio, and 1394 cable.

Specs

Model No.: ATXB8KLW-AL
Case Material: Metal (Note: I’m going to assume this means “steel”).
Color: Silver/Silver
Main Board: Standard ATX / Baby AT / Micro ATX
Window: Yes
Drive Space: 4x5.25" / 2x3.5" / 5x3.5" (hidden)
Motherboard Size: up to 11" x 12"
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Panel: Switch Power / Reset
Front Access Ports: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x Firewire Cooling Fan Space
Up to 4 x case fans:
2 x 80mm fan - front (optional)
1 x 80mm UV blue LED fan - top (included)
1 x 80mm UV blue LED fan - rear (included)
Front Thermometer: 1 x LCD Temperature Display
Front Controller: 1 x Fan Speed Controller (controls up to 5 fans)
Led Display: Power / HDD
Shipping Weight: 17 lbs (w/o power supply)
Dimensions: 19" x 7.75" x 16.85"

Aspire also explains in their product web site that this case was specifically designed upon Intel’s Chassis’s Air Guide Design Guide. Normally, I would never refute a company for its research, but I personally believe this design to be flawed from the very beginning. I’ll explain why in my review.