X-Dreamer Case - X-Dreamer Case

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Silver X-Dreamer Case

 

 

 

 

INSTALLATION

Putting the parts from my rig into this case was really only made a pain by the front bezel.  If it wasn't for that, to install the intake fans, I wouldn't have very much to complain about.

       

                                                                           

The wires for the PSU were very short, and that caused things to be pretty messy, as it necessitated using the shortest possible path to my hard drives, and to the tri LED fan in the window.  You can also see that there are "stealth" covers for your 5 1/2" optical drives.  These are a good idea, but not so good result with my system.  In order to use them, you need a tray loading drive, and must remove the bezel from it.  Now it just happens that both my drives don't fit these requirements.  The DVD drive is obviously a slot loading Pioneer, and my Sony burner must be completely disassembled to get the bezel off.  So while neither of my drives worked with this, it did work fine with an NEC CD-RW (after removing the bezel) that I borrowed.  So the rest of you might get more mileage out of these feature than I did.  Lastly, the window fan is an "exhaust".  The most benefit comes from having it turned the other way, as an "intake" to blow nice cool outside air at the HSF.  It lined up absolutely perfectly with my socket.

As mentioned earlier, the case came from XPCases with some extra toys for lighting it up.  While these must be purchased separately, I'd definetly recommend getting a CCFL, or at the very least some LED fans.  No point in having a window if it's too dark to see what you run inside of it!  The CCFL is the "sound activated" type, and has a PCI bracket that you can mount the controls to. 
 

        

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CONCLUSION

While this case isn't one I would choose to put my rig in, it does have a purpose in life as a budget pre-modded mid tower.  For those of you who are looking for something that doesn't take any effort to make look decent, while not paying for something like a Cooler Master, Lian Li, or Thermaltake, this might be a case for you to take a closer look at.  Here's a quick summary of the review:
 

Highs

• Looks pretty snazzy

• Very competitive price

• Front mounted I/O

• LCD temp monitor

• 350W PSU Included

Lows

• Front air intakes are somewhat restrictive on airflow

• Stealth drive covers need a bit more thought

• Front Bezel can be difficult

That pretty much sums it up there for you.  There are better cases out there, but there certainly are worse ones as well.  If nothing else, the X-Dreamer isn't boring.  We here at OCAddiction would like to thank XP Cases for providing this case, as well as the Cold Cathode and LED Fans for review.  I'd like to thank YOU for reading this review, and please check out our forums to discuss what you thought of it!

 

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