Ahanix MCE601 - Taking Care of the Heat
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On the top we have an air funnel. This helps bring cool air from outside the case straight into the case to the CPU cooler’s fan. This should greatly help cool the CPU; the air in the case will get hot, but the CPU is receiving cooler air.
Also on the top is an open slot area above the PCI and AGP slots. The video card will also pump some serious heat, and the slots should help circulate the air a little better.
On the outside back we find a lot of expansion slots. On most cases you will find two or three, but this case has seven, which comes in handy when you add all the little extras.
On the front we have the power and reset buttons, the LED display, and the optical bay. There is also a hidden bay for front audio, firewire and USB connections, as well as a place for a media card reader. The memory card reader was a requested feature that people wanted and Ahanix listened, something that is really admirable in manufacturers today.
There is nothing interesting on the left or right, but the bottom has some feet. The feet raise the unit about ¾" above the table. This should really help get air into the case.
The LED screen on the front of the case is interesting. It’s a good idea, and I like it, but there is one issue I have with it. The location of it is fine, but the way it connects to the motherboard really bothers me. From the display, a wire runs through the case and out the back. It ends up connecting to the parallel port.
Why does it connect to the parallel port? It is quite outdated, and some newer motherboards don’t even have a parallel port. What are those people going to do? Running the cable through your case and out the back is really tacky. It would have been ok if it was a USB port instead, but even better if it was an onboard USB header. That would eliminate the need for running the cable to the back of the case to a port that is vanishing quickly.
You also get a lid replacement for a DVD-ROM that fits in perfectly with the case. Putting it on is very simple. To remove the old one, just lift it up; you may have to give it a nice push to get it going, but will lift off easy. The new one you just stick on; getting it to line up flush with the case may take some work. I found it best to install the DVD-ROM first, then the lid.
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