Intro

The time comes to most PC enthusiasts to build your own rig. One thing I have learned here in PR is that looks and style are everything for a pimp rig. It sets you a class above the rest among your peers. Even if you have older components, how well your case looks can set you in a league that you never knew existed. How does one get to that level? Imagination, creativity, and some skill are some of the key ingredients.

What if you haven?t developed these hidden talents? But you still want a PC that can stand above the rest. Well you have 2 options, one is to have someone build one for you (as in MNPCTech) or you can buy a pre-modded (premod) case. A pre-modded case comes in many different levels. I will just be sticking with the case for now. Premod?s can come with pre cut windows, special fans, and paint. This is just the begining of the subject but there are a lot of options that can go into buying a premod to tailor to your image of a great looking system.

I have a case here that will hit almost every case modders palate. The Limited Edition X-Turbine Skull Case from Xoxide. What Xoxide has done here is take their popular X-Turbine case and made it better. The X-Turbine is a great case, with 6 fans and a lot of windows, what more could they do? They applied a theme to it, a skull theme to be exact. Pay attention boys and girls, let the modding begin.

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Package and Shipping

I received a phone call at work the day this case arrived. My wife had told me that I had another review item that had arrived and she didn?t want me to get mad because there was a hole in the box! "UPS strikes again!" I had thought. I had to take pictures of the box so I made sure she didn?t open it to check on the contents. When I did get home that evening I was very displeased to see a hole in the box, not just one but two of them. I even have a pic of what looks like someone stepping on or even kicking the box around!!! My fears were alleviated when I opened the box and found the case was double boxed! Score one for Xoxide, paying extra to protect the contents of their shipments is always a plus in my book.

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I then pulled the inner box out with not one scratch on it. The stickers on the corner of the box intrigued me to the contents of the box. I knew it was an X-turbine case but what could they do to apply a skull theme to it. On the side of the box there is an advertised 400w/P4 PSU, 6 fans, IEEE 1394 and USB v2.0. I want to point out that the box was misleading to me. But Xoxide stated in an email to me that they remove these generic PSUs and offer a better one for only 29.99.

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Upon opening the box the first thing you see is the nice skull grill on the blow hole. This was a nice first impression for me, a laser cut skull and crossbones grill with a polished chrome finish. I pulled out the case and then there was more eye candy. Another skull grill in the center of the window and a skull flame tribal on the window. Now if you have been in the modding scene you would have seen this design on some window cut outs. This takes a different approach as being a window appliqué¬ giving more room to see the insides.

(Editor's note: The design used on this window is an altered version originally used on the CrazyPC Lian-Li panels.)

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Case Exterior

After removing the plastic we can see the details that have gone into this case. The front of the case is a little on the plain side. There are 4 5? bays and 2 3? bays available. There is a fine mesh covering 2 80mm fans for the front intake. The top has an x-style window with a center 80mm fan for the blow hole. The right side has an 11? x 13? window with a center 80mm fan. The fan mounting is for aesthetics more than functionality, but it still brings in air. The back has the traditional 2 80mm exhaust fans with 7 PCI slots. Xoxide provides the IEEE 1394 expansion cord to supply the front ports. And last of course is the left side with Xoxide?s signature stamped panel. Never was fond of the stamped panel, but you can allways cut it out or cover it.

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Taking a closer look at the specs, I noticed many that this case provides. On Xoxide's website all they list a couple of specs but fall far short of listing them all. I did some digging and found more details. Just one more reason to have reviews.