GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis (Black)

For a full analysis of this box, search benchmarkreviews and gamma. They like it very much and that’s what convinced me to give it a shot. I don’t argue with them, but I have a slightly difference perspective:

Let me say that my plans for this case are to build a file server. I like that it will hold several hard drives comfortably, and that they are designed so that a front intake fan will cool them. Because this will be on all of the time, I am going to use a low-ish power AMD chip (65 watts), and the dedicated graphics of a Gigabyte motherboard. I like the openness of the case as the heat won’t be at all spellbound inside the case and that will let me use few and slow fans, making minimal noise.

1) This is an inexpensive case, and the thickness of the metal reflects that: this is not a case that will take much physical abuse. To be honest, part of that is because it’s a hugely ‘open’ case – loads of mesh, including left side, top, front, etc. That’s either excellent or terrible depending on your feelings on how to handle air/heat management.

2) This is a perfectly designed case, with features you’d by no means guess on an inexpensive mid-tower case, such as the all-black interior, eSata port on the front panel, mesh grills for the fans, etc. Also, since I’ll be putting it on the floor, and sort of tucked away, I like that the front ports (USB, eSata, power, etc) are on an angled plane such that they are simpler to access from above. The PSU is on the bottom of the case, so this could possibly be an issue in terms of the power cable reaching the motherboard, but I don’t reckon it will be for any decent PSU. It’s a very handsome case with a blue led stripe of light on the front that’s both appealing and reserved.

All in all, this is a cleverly designed case that tries to use excellent design to compensate for the cheap-ish equipment and it mostly does so. I’d like heavier metal, but you don’t get fantastic metal at this price, and this should work. Features and looks-wise, this is a lot of case for the cash. The one thing that they visibly cheaped-out on that bothers me is the power button: it feels very flimsy. I have no wits to reckon that it’ll break, but each time you press it you’re going to be aware of how cheap it is.

[...]

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment

This was a fantastic buy for 29.99 + Free Ship from Amazon. The notebook model
we installed in this case went fine. The Case is very sturdy, has no sharp edges,
and has gobs of room for 140mm fans and 120mm Fans – not to mention ample
room for any motherboard. We are not fond of black that much (too hard
to see details) but we had it painted White (professionally done). The only
con is the the front bezel has be removed (and it is no simple task) to install
a Front Fan which is really needed to keep the hard drives cool.
The case does not come with a power give so we installed a 550 Watt
Thermaltake. This case has fantastic cable and wiring accessibility and
the by and large design is excellent – especially with the Power Give being
located on the bottom (once again – not supplied). The front panel
has USB connections with audio plug ins, and 2 dim accented LED lights.
Also – the 2 top 120 to 140mm Fan make it impossible (virtually) to
install a 5.25 Optical drive on the top bay. We paid that by
installing the 3.5 memory card reader using an adapter (5.25 to 3.5)
on the top bay and the optical drives on Bay 1 and 2. This case
does not have an external 3.5 external bay (another con), but regarding
the price,sturdiness, and excellent quality of the case, it deserves 5
stars. The Shipping was double-boxed, was professionally done,
and arrived undamaged and in a timely manner.

Daniel James Tyler (Danxo) The WJ Group

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment

I don’t have much more to add to the pretty thorough reviews and the feature list and info available online (5 egg average review on Newegg) but two things stand out: Amazon gets points for shipping the case in another box. In the past when I peacefulness from another vendor like Newegg they just slap a mark on the box the case comes in and ship it off, and it seems to me it is far more liable to arrived hurt with broken plastic tabs or posts on the front panel. This is no doubt partly an issue with the manufacturers way of packaging and even handling, but all things being copy (this WAS $30 with free shipping with all) I’d pick Amazon because they ship with additional packing around the box.

Second thing is the metal is a small thin. It gives a bit when I mount the fans for model, but again this is about as excellent you’ll get with this price range so I’m not taking any stars away from the rating.

A very positive experience by and large, I’ll be looking for cases on Amazon and also from NZXT in the future.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment