Review: Rocketfish Full Tower Aluminum Case

[b4i7]

Seeing the popularity of the Rocketfish Full tower case around the forums, I decided to look into this one for my dad, because of heat issues with his stock case. So I took a venture over to my local Best Buy to check it out. After about 30 minutes of looking over this case and chatting with friends, I headed home with the case.

First thoughts:
Once home I broke open the Rocketfish box, and pulled out the case. My first thought was of how big this case really is. I really like the look of the brushed aluminum that’s anodized black. The first features I noticed about this case were its locking front door and its top USB/ audio panel that has a flip cover.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0329.jpg
Product Features and Details:
Straight from the Rocketfish site the features and details for the full tower case:
Product Features

• Durable, all-aluminum case for enhanced heat dissipation
• 14 drive bays include eight 3.5" (2 external, 6 internal for hard drive) and six 5.25" (external, for optical drive)
• 1 FireWire port and 2 USB 2.0 ports on front panel; 7 expansion slots
• Advanced triple-fan cooling system with three 120mm cooling fans (1 front ball bearing fan, 1 rear ball bearing fan and 1 side fan); washable front fan air filter
• Steel ball front door design for improved stability
• Compatible with M-ATX, ATX and E-ATX motherboards up to 12" x 13"
• Easy installation — no tools required



Product Details

• Product Height: 24.2"
• Product Width: 8.1"
• Product Weight: 18.6 lbs.
• Product Depth: 20.8"
• Case Type: ATX tower
• Power Supply: Not included
• Drive Bays: External: 6 (5.25"), 2 (3.5"); Internal: 6 (3.5")
• Expansion Slots: 7
• Cooling Fans: 3 (1 front, 1 rear, 1 side)

A Closer Look:
After opening the case I took a closer look at the details of this case. I will break it down into a list of the pros and cons.

Pros
• The case is made of aluminum, making it very light weight
• The front door holds itself shut using a bearing and spring, giving it a smooth open
• Locking front door to hinder access if you don’t have a key
• Top panel USB, Firewire, and Audio ports for easy access
• Comes with two cable clips installed,adding more ease to cable management
• Quick locks on the optical drive bays
• O-rings to silence the hard drives, and lightly holds the hard drives in place
• Side fan duct helps with cooling of video card as well as other expansion card
• Black annodized brushed aluminum exterior
• Very spacious
• Removable front door assembly, if you don’t like having a door
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0332.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0343.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0333.jpg

Cons
• Side panels are thin and somewhat flimsy
• Along the edge of the cut out for the power supply and I/O ports, it has a rough finish to it that detracts from overall looks
• Sharp edge along the inner edge of the side fan duct
• To be able to fully lock down the hard drives, the racks must be removed to add a third screw on each side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0347.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0356.jpg

Overall, this case is a beauty. It has tons of space, making hardware installation a breeze. Though the slight inperfections are in areas that wont be noticed, it shouldn’t be something overlooked in the factory assembly. Though, these errors can be quickly fixed with some light filing or sandpaper. I really like the ball detent mechanism that holds the door shut over a magnet, as you don’t have to give the door as much of a pull to open it.


Modability:
This case has great potential for modding. Its spacious interior is great for if you want to add watercooling and internal mods. It has plenty of space above for installing a radiator and along the side of the motherboard tray to mount a resevoir. In the way this case was used, it had plenty of room above for a Koolance EXOS externtal watercooling system to sit and not look awkward. A positive note on the thin side panels, it will make cutting a window much easier than having a thicker aluminum or steel side. Some suggested basic mods to this case would be casters to assist in the moving of the large case, and possibly some lighted fans to give it some glow, although the stock fans do a very good, and near silent, job.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/b4i7/review%20pics/Rocketfish%20fulltower/IMG_0355.jpg
Rating and Final Thoughts:
For $60 USD, you cant get a better case than this. Its overall finish is very appealing to the eye. Its cheap price, high quality, and modding flexibility make for a great case for anyone, whether you are using it for your first mod or tenth. Its clean style makes it also great unmodded.

Price:5/5
Exterior:4/5
Interior:4/5
Modability:5/5
Overall:4/5

[b4i7]

if you have any questions feel free to ask, and id also like some constructive criticism on how to make my reviews better

[haha49]

I work for futureshop wich is owned by bestbuy case costs 10 bucks on staff :banana: the 79 cables are 6-10 bucks tops:banana:

[chaksq]

Good review, I have this case as well. Great deal if you can find them as they are all on clearance. Don't know if you mentioned it, but because this was designed by Lian-Li it appears compatible with some Lian-Li parts for other cases, such as meshed drive bay covers and other parts that will match the case perfectly. I eventually plan on purchasing some of these parts for the case.

[b4i7]

indeed, it is very much based on lian li design, i just didnt want to bring my biased love of lian li into my review :up:

[Crimson Sky]

22.8" width??..Looks like about 8"...might want to recheck that ;)

[b4i7]

hah....yeah...that sounds a little off.... i pulled all that straight from their site....ill give it an edit

[o0paradox0o]

I purchased this case recently at my local bestbuy for about $48.00

I needed a case and I was on a budget of less then $50.00

And let me say for record..

This case is awesome!

It's got a good design... and has more then enough parts, screws, & supplies inside for 2 computer cases easily..

Some parts of the metal are a little thin (like the side case doors) and some of the edges are mildly sharp.. (Not sharp enough to cut you unless you try hard.)

But the over-all design of the case is very nice..

The side fan for the gpu is a nice addition..

The total of 3 120 mm fans inside the case (one top back, one front bottom, and side gpu) are whisper quiet..

The case has a nice door mechanism thats shuts via ball bearing on the top and bottom.. and has a side lock on the door as well..

The leds on the front are in the upper right hand side of the case.. There is an ultra bright blue for power and red for hd light... They can be seen easily when the case door is closed or open..

The power and reset buttons are inside the door.. and are of ok design.. Power button seems acceptable but the reset button is a little odd because there is no physical feedback when pressing it..

I purchased a OCZ StealthXStream 600 W Power Supply for my build.. I didn't actually realized the PS mount was in the bottom of this case till I got it home.. When I first built the system I mounted the PS with no issues in the existing holes.. However.. The PS fan was loud and chunky sounding..
I messaged OCZ and they got back to me.. I explained the fact it was mounted in the bottom of the case fan down.. and they told me because of it's location of mounting inside the case I had to flip the PS.. It struck me as odd but I did as they told me.. I unscrewed the PS and flipped it upside down.. left it sit inside the case unmounted and turned it back on.. The fan was whisper quiet! HAH! weird.. Soooo the one down side is I had to whip out the dremmel dril and create New holes for the power supply inversion. Was easy to do.. I just took a piece of paper.. layed it over the edge of the PS and punched holes in where the screw holes were.. Then I lined the paper up on the back of the case and marked the holes with a Sharpie marker.. then drilled them out.. case closed..

It's a very roomy case and made the install over-all very easy..

I am considering modding the case as well... Possibly purchasing a window kit.. and cutting out the side panel ;)

We shall see.. If anyone would like I can post pictures of the build soon..
I only recently just got it all together and am in the process of installing windows and all the drivers...

Highly recommended and a good case in a bind for a cheap price..

[chaksq]

I just got several Lian-Li upgrade parts for mine. Because this case was designed by Lian-Li for Best Buy's Rocketfish brand they fit perfect and bolt right up. Not to mention they blend in perfectly with the look of it. The parts I got are: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1350/cpa-44/Lian-Li_Black_Universal_CDDVDCDRW_Bezel_C-01B.html?tl=g43c241 and http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1347/cpa-39/Lian-Li_35_Black_LCD_Thermometer_C.html?tl=g43c241. Just thought I'd share that with the rest of you. I'd post a picture of them installed but my camera doesn't work.