Luke122
09-12-2007, 10:23 AM
Good afternoon to everyone!
I’m in a great mood today, as we all are when new hardware arrives! Today Santa (err… Darryl the DHL guy) brought me a couple of boxes from Memory Express, and I couldn’t be happier!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0001.jpg
I opened the boxes to find all the hardware for my new Exchange 2007/Server 2003 box had arrived, despite a warning the motherboard was a special order and would require a few extra days.
After unpacking everything, I thought that I’d write a bit of a “review” on the Atlas case.
The case retails for $179.95 (Canadian) with a 550w TruePower psu included. Pretty good deal if you ask me. I previously had an Antec P180B case, and the quality/solidity of the build was great, so I expected big things from Antec on this one.
Removing the Atlas case from the box, I immediately was impressed by the quality of the packing. Antec protects their products well from the “throwers” at the shipping companies. Wrapped in a plastic/foam sheet, and then padded well on all sides.. no damage at all from shipping.
One thing that surprised me was the size of the tower.. it’s really SMALL for a server case actually. In fact, I'm a bit worried that the board I have wont fit in it (aka wild-ass guess).
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0006-1.jpg
In fact, based on the front audio/usb/firewire ports, I have to wonder if this is a server case at all!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0007-1.jpg
I must say though, that looking at it again, it’s got some good server qualities for sure. There are 4 – 3.5” hdd bays up front, each with rubber grommets to mount the hdd, and cut down on vibration through the case. The bays are all removable also through the front of the case by releasing 3 clips to swing away the face, and 2 thumbscrews to remove the drive cover. There are also mounts for a couple of fans right in front of the drives to keep them all nice and cool.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0010-1.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0008.jpg
There’s also 4 – 5.25” bays to accommodate optical drives, tape drives, or whatever else you fancy up there. Coffee holders and cigarette lighters are completely optional, and a matter of personal preference.
The front panel connecters are way too long in my opinion though, meaning unnecessary clutter in the case. Thankfully I have a big bag of zip ties here to work with. :)
Antec also included enough rails to fill all the optical bays, and enough hardware to mount at least 3 motherboards... Kudos to them for supplying MORE than enough hardware. You can’t put a price on customer satisfaction.
Ok, I’ll be mounting all the hardware in the case soon, and I’ll give an update once it’s done.
I’m in a great mood today, as we all are when new hardware arrives! Today Santa (err… Darryl the DHL guy) brought me a couple of boxes from Memory Express, and I couldn’t be happier!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0001.jpg
I opened the boxes to find all the hardware for my new Exchange 2007/Server 2003 box had arrived, despite a warning the motherboard was a special order and would require a few extra days.
After unpacking everything, I thought that I’d write a bit of a “review” on the Atlas case.
The case retails for $179.95 (Canadian) with a 550w TruePower psu included. Pretty good deal if you ask me. I previously had an Antec P180B case, and the quality/solidity of the build was great, so I expected big things from Antec on this one.
Removing the Atlas case from the box, I immediately was impressed by the quality of the packing. Antec protects their products well from the “throwers” at the shipping companies. Wrapped in a plastic/foam sheet, and then padded well on all sides.. no damage at all from shipping.
One thing that surprised me was the size of the tower.. it’s really SMALL for a server case actually. In fact, I'm a bit worried that the board I have wont fit in it (aka wild-ass guess).
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0006-1.jpg
In fact, based on the front audio/usb/firewire ports, I have to wonder if this is a server case at all!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0007-1.jpg
I must say though, that looking at it again, it’s got some good server qualities for sure. There are 4 – 3.5” hdd bays up front, each with rubber grommets to mount the hdd, and cut down on vibration through the case. The bays are all removable also through the front of the case by releasing 3 clips to swing away the face, and 2 thumbscrews to remove the drive cover. There are also mounts for a couple of fans right in front of the drives to keep them all nice and cool.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0010-1.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0008.jpg
There’s also 4 – 5.25” bays to accommodate optical drives, tape drives, or whatever else you fancy up there. Coffee holders and cigarette lighters are completely optional, and a matter of personal preference.
The front panel connecters are way too long in my opinion though, meaning unnecessary clutter in the case. Thankfully I have a big bag of zip ties here to work with. :)
Antec also included enough rails to fill all the optical bays, and enough hardware to mount at least 3 motherboards... Kudos to them for supplying MORE than enough hardware. You can’t put a price on customer satisfaction.
Ok, I’ll be mounting all the hardware in the case soon, and I’ll give an update once it’s done.