XPCases.com X-Superalien Case Review - More about the internals
(Page 3 of 4 )
Removable Motherboard Tray:
Most larger server-type cases these days have some type of motherboard tray. The better ones slide out the back of the case. The X-Superalien's motherboard tray however, hooks onto 6 holes and is secured by two regular screws. It comes on and off when looking from the left side of the case. It's easiest to see the "hooks" from the right though.
At first I had trouble removing the motherboard tray. I ended up using the flat end of a screwdriver to pry these clips (seen above) loose. That helped a lot and the tray slipped off easily. Overall, the tray feels very flimsy, and I'm not quite sure how confident I feel installing expensive hardware on it. Looks like I'm going to have to anyways so why fret about it now? More about the tray later.
Thermal Sensors, Fan Bus, and Other Connectors:
The X-Superalien case features a dual channel fan bus, two thermal sensors with front panel LCD display, two USB2.0 ports, one Firewire port, and two audio ports. Here's a close-up of the thermal sensors, audio, Firewire, and USB connections:
There are two of these "INPUT 12V DC" connectors to power each fan bay channel. While one channel is already hooked up to power both front intake fans, the other channel can be connected to whichever fans you prefer by means of an "OUTPUT 0.3A 4 FAN MAX 1.2A" connector.
And lastly, you also have your common speaker, HD LED, power LED, power switch, and reset switch connectors.
Power Supply:
Alas, it's time to introduce the 500 watt see-through aluminum cast power supply which comes included with the XPCases.com X-Superalien case. Made by Turbo Case (the same company which actually builds the X-Superalien chasis), the X-Superalien features an Aspire ATX-AS500W PSU. These things can be found retail for about $70 a pop! I guess when a PSU like this is bundled with the X-Superalien case, the case no longer seems so expensive.
This is definitely the prettiest PSU I've ever seen. The "fire resistant" see-through cover is attached very securely and everything else is constructed of aluminum to really give the PSU a solid look. Here's a top down look at the PSU, through the clear cover:
A fine work of art, I'd say! Note the multi-colored components (some of which are UV reactive) as well as the dual 8cm blue LED UV reactive fans. These fans are also speed/noise controlled by a little knob at the back of the PSU (same as the ones seen on the front bezel). Lets look at the cabling.
The ATX, P4, and AUX connectors all come down on separate lines while there are two sets of 3x 4pin-molex/floppy lines. Also definitely worth mentioning is that all the connectors as well as the ATX sleeving are UV reactive.
Installation
Installation for me took no less than half an hour, which is pretty good I think. For most of us, putting a PC together is really self explanatory, and if you don't understand how to do something, you find out how to on your own. XPCases has included however, an instruction sheet for those of you who may need or want it. It details how to install 5.25" drives, 3.5" drives, motherboard, and the front intake fans. Again, chances are installation is a pretty simple concept for all of you, but I'll just go over the basics anyway and point out a few details about the X-Superalien along the way.
Power Supply Install:
While PSUs have to be installed from the left window side in the X-Superalien case, there is enough room to work with so it isn't such a difficult job. The included 500w PSU when positioned correctly, is secured down by four screws from the back. The PSU itself then rests on two beams (circled in red in the second picture) which run along the upper portion of the case.
Motherboard Mounting:
While installing the PSU was quick and painless, the motherboard was a different story. Seeing as the X-Superalien features a removable motherboard tray, I decided to use the feature to its fullest extent. I pulled out the tray, twisted in the correct motherboard mounts, laid my IS7 onto these brass mounts, and began to secure the mobo down. I then looked at the setup I was left with, and realized the only logical thing to do was to put the motherboard tray back into place and finish installing the rest of my components. But wait, what the heck was the point of removing the motherboard tray in the first place? I could have just screwed down the mobo from inside the case without any difficulty whatsoever. Looking back at the CoolerMaster case I was previously using, I realized that the X-Superalien removable motherboard tray was totally useless. A useful mobo tray actually allows you slide the whole thing out with PCI and AGP cards still installed. With X-Superalien's tray however, the only way to remove the motherboard tray is after you've taken out all your PCI/AGP cards and pulled any connections to the motherboard, at which point the motherboard itself is "removable."
Not only is the X-Superalien's motherboard tray useless, its actually easier to install the motherboard with the tray still in the case beacause there isn't much room to work with. If you look at the second picture above, there's barely any space between the motherboard and the internal 3.5" drive cage. It thus becomes quite a task to twist and turn a mobo tray into its correct position, then "hook" it on to the case itself, THEN have to screw an additional two screws to keep it secure. Although the dimensions of this case prove it's pretty large, looking at how little room there is to install a simple motherboard really has to make you begin to think: where'd all the extra space go?
Drive Mounting:
Although motherboard installation wasn't exactly my favorite aspect of the X-Superalien, drive mounting was a lot faster and worked flawlessly. Our components today will be two Western Digital hard drives and a 52X CD burner.
Using four screws, I secured two rails onto the CD drive. It then slides into place, and installation is finished!
I decided to install both hard drives into the internal 3.5" drive bays. A took me a few seconds to figure out that the hard drive trays actually screw onto the drive from the bottom. This is the first time I've seen such a design, so it was certainly a pleasant surprise.
The benefit of having your hard drives running perpendicular to the rest of your case is easier cabling, and MUCH easier access to those small jumpers if you ever need to switch between master and slave modes.
Thermal Sensor Placement:
The last aspect of fitting a PC in the X-Superalien case is the two thermal sensors that hookup to a LCD display on the front of the case. While one sensor is labeled CPU and the other labeled HD, I wanted the HD sensor to read the temperature of my FIC Radeon 9600 Pro. I simply used electrical tape to tape it down to the back of the card opposite the core.
Finding the best place to measure CPU temps wasn't exactly as easy as the graphics card. Reading around on the net, some people suggested placing it inside the socket beneath the CPU, and making sure that none of the CPU pins actually come into contact with the sensor wire. Others suggested that since the sensor is so thin, why not just place it in-between the CPU and heatsink along with the thermal paste. Well in my honest opinion, neither of these ideas are practical at all, at least with the thermal sensors that come with the X-Superalien.
Placing the sensor in between the CPU and heatsink seemed like it would severely interfere with heat transfer, so that was definitely not an option. Placing the sensor in the CPU socket beneath the actual CPU sounded like a good idea at first, but upon closer inspection of the thermal sensor, the wires were simply just too thick to weave around the CPU pins and not do any damage to either the CPU or the sensor. My last resort which I ended up doing was to simply taping the sensor to the base of the heatsink.
Next: Finished Case >>
More Computer Cases Articles
More By KaoMAN
/ 27 
