Intro

Voyeurmods is a well known computer modding store that sells a wide variety of modded cases, modding equipment, cooling supplies, and computer accessories. They stay current with the latest modding trends and tout themselves as the world's leader in pre-modded air and watercooled build-to-order cases. The case I am reviewing is a new, revised version of their venerable VEXX line of cases; the VEXX Silent Edition.

The VEXX Silent Edition started out life as a Raidmax Astro-268 "gaming" case that Voyeurmods further modded and tweaked into one of their own VEXX cases. Whether or not you are a fan of pre-mods, the fact that pre-modded rigs are in great demand cannot be denied. When Dell decided to jump on the bandwagon, I knew that modding had gone mainstream. Voyeurmods' VEXX Silent Edition case is a little higher quality and has a few nice touches that set it apart from most other midsize premodded cases.

The Package

When the box was delivered I noticed immediately that there was a nasty hole punched in the center of the side and thought "Crap, there goes a window or side panel". The case was wrapped in plastic and protected by 2 Styrofoam forms on the front and rear, but the box had no side protection. I pulled the case out and saw that it had been struck on the door side, not the window; and whatever caused the hole in the box hit with enough pressure to split the plastic covering the case. Kind of like if you put a piece of Saran Wrap on a cement floor and popped it with a ball peen hammer. However, when I took the plastic wrap off and inspected for damage, all I could find was a smudge on the paint where it was hit, that buffed right out with my t-shirt. That's a testament to the durability of the metal and paint used on this case. More on that later.

The Contents

Fears alleviated, I continued to inspect the VEXX Silent Edition (which I'll now refer to as the SE). The window was amply protected with a huge slab of masking tape that peeled off easily leaving no marks or residue on either the paint or window. Once I peeled that off, I saw there was another hunk of tape on the inside of the window. This also peeled off easily. No worries about scratches on this window.

There were three things that pleasantly surprised me when I took the door off: First, Voyeurmods sleeved all the fan wires and motherboard connectors in blue mesh. Second, there were Akasa Pax.Mate acoustic absorption pads on the bottom, top, and right hand door of the case. Third, Voyeurmods used only aluminum fans. I'll touch on each of these items during the review. There wasn't too much else included with the case, a couple of PCI slot covers, a power cord, the bag-o-screws with the motherboard standoffs, and a package of thumbscrews. Note that Voyeurmods had taped the wires down for shipping, in the pic I had already removed the tape. One item that was noticeably absent was any documentation or instructions. Granted, none of us may need them, but I've seen n00bs who couldn't build a square with Legos much less ask them to put a rig together.

Let's take a tour of the outside of the case before we delve any deeper inside.