Intro

Acrylic cases have become pretty popular lately. The main reason seems to be that you can show off your internal components without having to open the case. Another being the fact that you can just add some cold cathodes and you’re pretty much done with the modding. Of course most people would prefer to build their own but not everybody has the talent or tools required to do so. For the rest of us the answer is simple... you buy an acrylic case.

There are two main flavors of acrylic cases, assembled or unassembled. As of recently some more options have been added to the mix. Acrylic cases are now UV reactive should you want to add a little more spice to your case. There are a few colors available such as red, green and blue. The case I’ll be reviewing is an unassembled blue UV reactive acrylic case from Extreme Alterations.

Specifications

• Mid-Tower Case
• Standard ATX 12" x 9.6"
• Drive Bays: 11 Total (6 Exposed, 5 Hidden)
• Cooling Fans: (5) 80mm Fan Mounts
• Material: Cast Acrylic
• Dimensions: 445mm (H) x 220mm (W) x 475mm (D), 17.5" (H) x 8.6" (W) x 18.7" (D)

The Package

When I received the case, it was pretty beat up. I think the real culprits are FED-Ex on this one. Their service in my area is awful. Nothing was damaged though. The external packaging, although adequate, could have been a little bit sturdier. All the components were wrapped and protected by Styrofoam.

Contents

After unwrapping, I counted and everything was there. Besides the 8 acrylic panels for the case, there was a small box with all the assembly parts.

• Cotton gloves
• I/O bracket
• Power and reset buttons with leds
• Case speaker
• Acrylic case feet.
• Drive and fan screws
• Acrylic drive bay covers.
• Instruction Manual

All I can say is wow there are a lot of screws. Included is everything you need in order to get this case up and running.

Assembly

Assembly was relatively easy. My one complaint was the instruction manual. It is in black and white and that doesn’t help when you’re dealing with clear acrylic pieces. Once I did decipher what each part was and how they went together, I got the case assembled in about a half hour.

I won’t go into too much detail, but the case is mainly assembled in two parts. The first part is the top and bottom panels that get attached to the two panels that support the drives.

The second part is attaching the two side panels and the front and back panel.

I should make a note here that you should install your drives before you attach both side panels. I didn’t really follow the correct order because I wanted to time a full case assembly without installing all the components. I installed the components after the case was assembled.