Aspire X-Cruiser - Inside the Case
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Let's crack this beast open and take look inside, shall we? Immediately upon opening the case I found the baggy that was making all the noise, as well as the other accessories shown below.
So as you can see, you get a duct that connects to the fan to the window to vent in fresh air for your CPU, two Aspire fan grilles (which you saw installed already), 4 plastic feet for the bottom of the case, two 80mm blue UV LED fans, a bag of screws, stand-offs, and washers, and finally a small PC speaker for the blips and bleeps you might here upon booting your machine.
The piece of the duct shown below was already connected to the window, and the other part was floating around inside the case with the baggy of screws. In the accessory shot above, the two pieces are connected and the part in the center of that picture is the screen shown in the second shot below.
The little ridges seen around the outside of the tube allow the two pieces of the duct to be adjusted so that it can accommodate whatever size of HSF that resides on your CPU.
Though there is a fan filter here, there was no fan included for this location. I chose a nice 80mm Vantec Stealth to keep things quiet. Also below the fan port there is a nicely cut vent in the window to add a bit more fresh air. The window, the vent, and the two fans (window and chimney) are all quite good looking. The window is especially nice, as it utilizes nice rounded rivets and is mounted flush with the panel, which looks very clean.
You can also see the rear fan grille in the picture below. There are holes for an 80, 90, or 120 mm fan to be installed, which is a simple but thoughtful feature. What I don't like is the style of grille. These ventilation holes might look sufficient, but they are actually somewhat restrictive when it comes to airflow. I would suggest using a hole saw to remove much of the fan grille, then replacing it with a wire screw-on fan grille. The two 80mm fan grilles in the front of the case are also this somewhat-restrictive design. Also, you'll see is a small vent to help with the airflow to the lower left.
I have to say, Aspire may or may not have come up with the idea for an adjustable size fan port, but it was genius of them to implement it. It seems so fundamentally simple, but it makes life easier. I love things that do that without changing much in the process.
The X-Cruiser also features a removable mobo tray. Now again, I greatly appreciate the fact that this makes installing the motherboard itself way easier to do. However, in all honesty, these trays are much more useful when they slide out the back with all the PCI/AGP card slots connected. It's really a small gripe, but I felt the need to put it out there nonetheless.
Next: Behind the Case Front >>
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