AMS CoolTechnica Case - First Impressions page 2

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AMS CoolTechnica Case

 

Manufacturer: AMS Electronics Provided by: CoolTechnica Price: $135.00 Product: AMS gTower All Aluminum Mid-Tower Case Written by: SPeeD Date: October 2002

 

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First Impressions
WOW was my first impression. This case is absolutely stunning in person and pics really cannot even do it justice. The case has a beautiful "coated" aluminum from the outside with a very thick piece of 1/3" Clear Acrylic Bezel with Brushed Aluminum Insert. Stunning!

The next thing that truly impressed me was the weight of this case. It is by FAR the very lightest case I have EVER worked with. I could almost pick it up with one finger it's so light, and after lugging around steel cases for the past few years, this is certainly a welcome nicety.

Overview
Lets start off by covering the actual features of the case so you can get a nice feel for it.

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High-Intensity BLUE 
and Orange Hard Disk Indicator
- Polished, scratch resistance coating
cover

- All Folded Edges

- 1/3" Clear Acrylic Bezel with Brush Aluminum

Insert

- 120mm Ball-Bearing Exhaust Fan w/ Grill and

80mm Intake Fan

- Internal break away wiring for easy installation

- Supports ATX and Extended Motherboards up to

12" x 13" in size

- Removable 4-bay 3.5" Internal Drive Cage

- Polished Metal Mechanical Power & Reset

Switches

- Front-mounted Dual USB, 1394, Microphone &

Headphone Jacks

- Large, high-quality thumb-screws for easy

access

Dimensions:

17.2"(H) x 8.6"(W) x 19.0"(D)

Drive Bays:

Open 5.25" x 4, open 3.5" x 3, hidden 3.5" x 4

Power Supply: None
PSU Plate: single and dual fan psu

PCI Slot: 7 slots

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This case comes with about as many bells and whistles as a builder could want. Great cooling, excellent peripheral support, plenty of room, what more can you really ask for. Yes, it may command a hefty price compared to many steel cases out there, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and with this case, your getting a lot.

Lets take a look at the inside of the case.

Notice the 120mm exhaust fan that sites right about where your CPU will be. This is really nice for pulling the hot air off of your CPU and getting it OUTSIDE the case. You really want to create a nice vacuum effect with cool air coming in and hot air going out. This 120mm in the back is helping quite a bit, and the inside grill is a nice touch. Here are a couple of shots from the back.

Another thing you really want in a case is one with plenty of room to install your components. Again, the AMS gTower delivers. For being a mid-tower, it has quite a bit of room inside, and the addition of a removable HD tray helps quite a bit during installation. And depending what you are actually running in the case, you may just want to pull it out all together to give yourself a little extra room as well as keep clearance down for airflow purposes. As a rule of thumb, I don't have ANYTHING in my case that doesn't absolutely need to be there. With the exception of the occasional Cold Cathode :). Lets look at some inside shots with no components.

The first pic above is a shot right after pulling off the side panel. You'll notice the box of parts taped securely to the bottom and plastic bubble wrap securing the cables. Another shot showing the stock 80mm fan. Nothing spectacular but it pulls some cool air in and has a plastic grill. Lastly you'll see the removable HD tray which lets you hold up to 4 HD's and is easily removable with tooless screws. The 80mm fan also being in front of the drives goes a LONG way in keeping them cool, especially if your running 2 or more 7,200rpm drives as these suckers can get pretty hot.

Next: Installation page 3 >>
 

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