Intro

There is no way that you could deny that Xoxide aggressively pursues the computer enthusiast market. They regularly roll out new products marketed towards computer users who are seeking performance, looks, or a combination of the two. This is especially true with their computer cases. The Xoxide case I'm looking at here is one of their newer offerings; the X-Viper.

The X-Viper case is actually an iCute 0314TL-BS case with a right side door sporting a Xoxide logo. Other than the logo, this case is completely iCute (I mean that platonically). Re-branding computer parts is normal in the industry and Xoxide is one of the few distributor's for this case as of this article date. Let's take a look at it.

The X-Viper arrived in a large box that was properly abused by UPS. There was a styrofoam sleeve on the front and back of the case and it was covered in a plastic bag. The inside of the case was stuffed with paper which I'm pretty sure was put there to apply pressure from the inside to the window during shipping. The window was well protected with plastic covering the inside and outside. Included with the case was a rear panel plate, the feet, a bag-o-screws with some zip ties, a USB pin guide, and a double sided instruction sheet.

The Case

When I pulled the case out of the packaging, the first thing to grab my attention was the chrome bezel around the front intake fan. It looks like a speaker...as a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that is what the bezel was originally intended to be. The bezel is made of chrome painted plastic and the grill mesh is exactly what is included with speakers. The bay covers are supposed to be silver, but look more gray than silver. The X-Viper offers up 4 external 5.25 bays and two external 3.5 bays. On the bottom right side of the case is a plastic punch-out for front USB ports.

The right side door has the before mention Xoxide logo imprinted on it, it actually looks pretty cool. Something that is kind of unusual is the placement of some additional USB ports and a Firewire port. They are located on the top right front of the case and include swing out dust covers so you don't get Dorito crumbs in them when you aren't using them. The covers are kind of flimsy and I imagine they wouldn't last very long if constantly used. The placement of the ports would be convenient for folks who keep their PC on the floor next to their desk.

The window is done in an upside down "L" shape to make room for two 80mm LED fans that blow directly onto the motherboard and graphics card. The window is nice and big and is held in place with 14 plastic rivets. The effect looks OK until you look up close and see that the rivets are not completely pushed in. The window still feels pretty secure, but having them slightly raised would drive me crazy. Although there is no molding around the fan holes or the window, the metal is smooth with no burrs that could open up a finger.

I was very impressed with how well the window was cut, the corners are perfectly rounded and the edge is smooth as silk. All of the fans are branded as iCute fans, but I have no more information on CFM, RPM, or dB. I emailed both iCute and Xoxide for this info, but received no response from iCute. Xoxide did respond with this; "I'm sorry but I do not have specs on the fans that come with the cases." Hmm, a merchant who sells a product they don't have specs on? I saved the email if anybody from Xoxide would like to know more. I can say that when powered up the fans are quiet and push a fair amount of air. The back side of the case is pretty standard with one 80mm non-LED fan for exhaust.