Author: Fido Posted on: 3/5/2003 Sponsor: MPCParts Discuss: In the forums

Introduction and Features It's time to completely rip apart another case! We recently got our paws on an Enermax CSX-3181L-BBS(F)+LC-B350ATX case, courtesy of our good friends at MPCParts. This case is currently selling in the $68-$70 dollar range putting is squarely in the middle of the budget market. It has been constructed using 0.7mm zinc thermal heat electroplated steel (SGCC), and comes with enough room for FIVE cooling fans (not including those mounted inside the power supply). We'll talk more about the location of these fan mounting points once we start tearing the case apart, but first lets cover the feature list as reported by the sponsor: Enermax CSX-3181L-BBS(F)+LC-B350ATX Features: 350-Watt Power Supply Blue neon light Intake side fan (included) translucent blue fan & gold fan guard More drive bays than other PC cases in the market - 4x5.25" + 2x3.5" open bays and 4x3.5" hidden bays for HDD. Fits ATX Pentium 4 M/B for best application Ventilation design: total number of cooling fans up to 5 (front panel, side cover, back, and window) Power supply is installed horizontally for space saving Entry-level server configuration applicable with 10 drive bays total. 100% folded edge to avoid physical injuries Expansion Slots up to 7 Air opening on front and side panels for the best heat dissipation. TYPE - ATX MIDI Tower Case THICKNESS - 0.7mm SGCC MAINBOARD ATX - Pentium 4 M/B (12"x9.6") POWER SUPPLY - PSII (ATX) 5.25" DRIVE BAYS - 4 3.5" DRIVE BAYS - 2 3.5" HIDDEN DRIVE BAYS - 4 Cooling Fans Front - 8cm or 12cm (intake) Side - 8cm (intake) Rear - 2 x 8cm (exhaust) Top - 8cm (exhaust) I/O Interface at front side USB2.0 ports (A/V) Dimensions (HxWxD) 427mm x 200mm x 486mm Inside Outside Upside Downside I'm not a very big fan of "flower-shaped" case windows, but on this case it does seem to add to the overall appearance of the case. The shell of the case is flat black SGCC steel, which should help alleviate fingerprints and smudge marks, while the front bezel is constructed entirely of plastic. I'm not sure why a gold plated fan guard was used on the side window intake fan - a silver guard would match the silver on the font bezel a little better but it does add some contrast.              Taking a closer look at the front of the case, there are a few features that really stand out. The lower area of the font of the case has a small plexi-glass insert where the power button, reset switch, and LCD temperature display are located. Along the vertical edges of the case are chrome tipped bubble filled rubber strips. These strips are illuminated by a set of LED's that change colors alternating from white, blue, purple, green, yellow, and red. We'll talk about these bubble strips in greater detail after we tear the case apart and power it up. Below the plexi-glass area on the front of the case, you'll find a flip-up door hiding a set of USB ports, a microphone input jack, and a headphone output jack. The flip-up door isn't the sturdiest door I've seen, but I have seen many other doors that have either broken off during my tests or simply failed to "flip" all the way open or closed. Moving farther down the front of the case, below the front mounted ports, you'll find a small black push-button. This is the button that is used to the turn the LED's which illuminate the bubble strips on and off.                           The motherboard side of the case doesn't really have much at all worth discussing. It's simply a thin piece of steel, with a small dent towards the rear, which can be used as a handle when you are attempting to remove the panel. There are no thumbscrews used on either side panel, so you'll need to have a screwdriver handy during assembly / maintenance. The access side of the case does a good job making up for the lack of excitement on the other side. For starters, the preinstalled window has been secured behind a flower-shaped hole pattern. At the center of this "flower", Enermax has installed a single 80mm clear blue fan with a gold-plated fan guard. A filter on the intake fan would have been nice, and in all fairness we should probably question the "movement" of air through this case. Several arguments can been made for, and against side-mounted intake fans. Some dogs say they disturb the natural flow of air from the front, to the back. While others claim that the more cool air you bring inside the case, the better - no matter where it comes from. For the purpose of this article, I'm simply going to state what this case has to offer, and then leave the argument open to a proper discussion elsewhere.                     Moving around to the rear of the case we are met with, well, nothing too out of the ordinary aside from the two well-placed 80mm exhaust fan ports. Fans to mount in the ports are not included with the case. The power supply is at the top, and is held in place using four standard screws. There are a few ventilation holes near the bottom; along with the standard seven deadly card slots (no thumb-screws have been used on the card slots). You won't be able to utilize the very bottom slot without some modifications, as a push-button switch has been installed here that is used to toggle in the included neon light between sound-sensitive and continuously-on modes. A removable ATX plate has been used, so if you have a motherboard that requires special ports, replacing this plate should be a simple task.               After removing four screws from the rear of the case, we're ready to remove the side panels from the case. Foremost stating the obvious, the upper front regions of the case are home to the four 5.25", and two 3.5" drive bays (both are exposed). Below the drive bays we find a vertical mounting rack (drives are mounted horizontally), which has the ability to hold four 3.5" hard drives. In front of the vertical drive rack you'll find a front intake fan mount that can be home to either a 80mm or 120mm fan. I would personally suggest a 120mm low RPM fan to reduce noise levels myself, but balancing the intake vs. exhaust airflow levels could be tricky if you go this route (TIP: Always use filters on your intake fans - budget for them during the planning stage). The LED / Power / Reset button leads, and the connections for the front mounted USB ports, mic input, and headphone output also originate from this location. The upper rear of the case is home to a 350-Watt power supply that ships with the case. Below the power supply are two 80mm exhaust fan ports. Fans to mount in these ports are not included with the case. There is plenty of room to install a motherboard in this case, but you'll have to do it the old-school way, as the case does not have a removable motherboard tray. The only obstacle you'll have is the pre-installed neon light that has been screwed to the bottom of the case. If it does hinder installation, simple remove the two screws from the bottom of the case and the light is easily removed.                           We mentioned briefly that the LED / Power / Reset button leads, and the connections for the front mounted USB ports, mic input, and headphone output originate from the lower front of the case, but there are a few other things that originate from this location. There are two Molex connectors that also originate from this location. One of these is used to power the LED's that illuminate the plastic bubble-strips on the front of the case, and the other is used to power the LED temperature display, also on the front of the case. The Molex connectors do have both a male and female plug, so you can chain them together or to other devices if you're running short on power-supply connectors.                           Input for the temperature LCD on the front panel is via a very thin thermal sensor. It's not long enough to reach to the back of the case, but it is long enough to reach the critical components of the case. If for some reason you really need to mount the thermal sensor towards the rear of the case, you could always splice the leads to make them longer. A thermistor works on the principle that electrical resistance of the sensor changes as temperature changes. In practice, the resistance of the thermistor is measured and then related to temperature through a calibration curve. Thermistors are usually produced from a silicon material whose electrical resistance changes with temperature. Thermistors are easier to use than resistance temperature detector (RTD) probes because of their large resistance change for a small temperature change (higher sensitivity). They are also inexpensive - only a few dollars each. However, they are nonlinear in their response, and are not very precise. Calibration curves can fluctuate as much as 5° - 10° C between thermistors. For comparison, a more expensive platinum RTD can be used to attain accuracies of 0.1° C, but can cost $100 or more [Source]        We still have a few more items in the front of the case to cover. Earlier we mentioned the fact that there is a mounting point for front intake fan. The hole is large enough to support the installation of a 12cm (120mm) fan, but there are also mounting holes for a smaller 8cm (80mm) fan. The pictures below explain this little better, and I have also removed the front bezel of the case so you can see how things are wired.                           This case comes with a PSII (ATX) power supply, and is included in the $68 dollar price tag on MPCParts website. It is made by a company called L & C, and carries a rating of 350-watts.        Capturing the bubble-strip lighting effects on camera turned out to be quite a difficult task. At first I simply tried to take a series of pictures, as they cycled through the various colors (the color cycling process is a gradual change - they do not instantly change between colors). Then I tried to take a series of pictures from the same location so I could make an animated GIF image out of them. The animated GIF idea didn't turn out as planned, but the static images do capture the overall appearance to some degree. Once again, the bubble-strips can be turned on or off using a tiny push-button switch located on the front of case.                     Interior case lighting is provided by a blue neon light mounted to the bottom of the case. It has two modes of operation, always on and sound-sensitive mode. Changing between one mode and the other is done by pressing a push-button toggle switch located on the rear of case mounted in the seventh card slot (image). When the light is in sound sensitive mode, it will flicker on an off in sync with the sounds it "hears". The sensitivity of it's "hearing" can be adjusted using a small pot (dial) located on the light strip itself. When the light is in always-on mode, it is always on regardless of the sounds "heard". When the interior light is on, not only will you see it shine through the case window but you will also see it shine through many of the ventilation holes found throughout the case. The top fan mount will glow, along with a series of small holes that have been cut along the top edge of the case. Very cool looking!                           There's one final item to show you, and then we'll summarize what we've learned about this case. The LCD readout for the temperature probe is powered by its own Molex connector. It cannot be turned on or off like the bubble-strips, so it is always on. The numbers on the display are large and easy to read, but the LCD is not backlight so with the lights off you won't be able to read the output. A nice blue back-light would make the display VERY cool, but having a built-in temperature display on a case that costs less than $70 bucks is nothing to bark at. NOTE: temperature is displayed in Fahrenheit only.        Summary The Enermax CSX-3181L-BBS(F)+LC-B350ATX retailing for a mere $68 dollars on MPCParts website has a lot to offer, even for a case that resides in the "budget" range. If you're a power user, there are plenty of cooling options available with fan mount locations in many critical areas (if you do decide to use them all you will end up with a pretty loud box). The included power supply, bubble-strip lights, neon light, temperature display, case window, and window-mounted fan add to the value considerably. A few features have been left out however, such as aluminum construction, removable motherboard tray, thumbscrews, and modular drive bays. In our opinion, it's a fair trade considering the end result. The Good The price 350-Watt power supply Interior sound activated light Front bubble-strip lights LCD temperature display Preinstalled side window Window mounted clear blue intake fan Gold fan guard on window fan Large front intake fan port Two rear exhaust ports Top exhaust port Front mounted USB ports Front mounted media ports Switches to control lights "Rounded" interior edges to prevent bleeding The Bad It's not aluminum Plastic front bezel Lack of included fans No handle to remove access side panel No modular drive bays No intake fan filters No removable motherboard tray No thumbscrews Interior light could get in the way Seventh card slot occupied

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Published on: 2004-02-01 (20506 reads)