I recently begin the search for a new case to house my DVD ripping machine in. I wasn’t looking for flashy windows, LED fans or cathodes – I was searching for an simple looking case with a touch of industrial look.

I ended my search with the Ahanix Master. I purchased the case at Axion Technologies for the small sum of $31.95 plus shipping. All that was left was the painful wait for the UPS girl to deliver it.


The Packaging

I have dreams of girls knocking on my door with computer equipment. This was no dream, however, my case had arrived. It was shipped in the original box, labeled Ahanix all over it. I was expecting a shipping method that would be a little more “UPS resistant” but the box was in A1 shape. Upon opening the box I found the usual styrofoam end caps with the case suspended between them. The case was wrapped in plastic; the usual standard fare. They did provide a little more protection by filling the space on each side of the box with scrap cardboard, therefore providing an extra layer of protection between the box and the side of the case. It worked well – the case was undamaged. The contents of the box were simply the shipping materials and the case.


The Case

Below are the manufacture provided specifications:

Case Type................................Mid Tower
M/B Type...................................10"(width) x 11.5"(height)
PSU Type..................................Standard ATX (sold separately)
Front Ports................................2 x USB
Front Fan(s)..............................1 x 80mm (sold separately, included fanguard)
Rear Fan(s)..............................1 x 80mm (included)
External 5.25" Bay...................4
External 3.5" Bay.....................2
Internal 3.5" Bay......................2
Expansion Slots......................7
Width.........................................7.25"
Height.......................................16.37"(with feet), 16.25(without feet)
Depth........................................19.12"
Weight.......................................Net: 12lbs, Gross: 14.2lbs



Outside

Starting from the front you can see there is one clearly visible 5 1/4 inch bay at the top.




The other three are hidden behind the silver grill, along with the two 3 1/2 inch bays. Directly above the visible 5 1/4 inch bay sits the power button, reset button and the LEDs to show hard drive and power status. On the lower right side of the bezel there are 2 USB ports. These are on the side of the bezel facing the right, they are not visible from the front of the case. The front bezel and grill piece are made of plastic.

On the left side panel you will see a blank canvas just waiting for your mod. There is a small vented area in the lower left corner of this side panel and an indention thatÂ’s intended to aid in removal of the panel. The other side is the same except for the lack of vent area. These pieces are made of steel and sport a painted black finish. The finish is smooth and glossy and I could find no paint defects in my case.

From the back you can see a location to mount your ATX power supply, as well as a place to mount an 80 mm fan (included). ThereÂ’s also the PCI slots (7 in total of the snap-out variety) and the I/O plate. One of the things I was disappointed with was the included I/O panel. They hardly ever fit the motherboard you intend to use and Ahanix didnÂ’t make it so easy to remove. It's necessary to cut 6 tabs before you can remove the piece. I didnÂ’t intend on needing a set of metal snips but once I found them it didnÂ’t take much to remove the panel. I considered this mid-install stress relief.


Inside


Two Phillips head screws holds on each side panel. After removing the left side panel you are greeted to a lot of empty space for your hardware. Also inside the case you will find your typical bag of screws, standoffs and 3 PCI blanks. This is also where I located the snap-in CD bezel for the “stealth” look. I could find no sharp edges on the inside of this PC, no need to put band-aids on standby.

The motherboard mounts on a removable tray. The tray easily parts with the case at the removal of two screws. These are accessed from the back of the tray after removing the right side panel. The motherboard tray is clearly marked and drilled with the necessary mounts for ATX and micro-ATX motherboard. Directly above the motherboard tray there is a ledge that will aid in supporting your power supply. This ledge, along with the ledge on the back of the case, provides for stable mounting.

There are two locations to mount your fans. The 80 mm mount in the back is already filled with your standard fare black fan. This fan gets power via a 4 pin molex pass-through plug. The front mount is screwless and also will hold an 80 mm fan. After you press a release tab the plastic cage slides right out. This will allow you to snap your fan inside the cage before sliding it back into place. Also of note is the included PC speaker that is mounted directly behind this fan mount. Its was a slight annoyance while sliding the cage in and out but they did leave room, just not much.

At the front of the case you can clearly see the four 5 1/4 inch bays (external) and three 3 1/2 inch bays (two external, one internal). No fancy tool-less design here, mounting your drives will require you to use a screwdriver. One thing I have always appreciated is a fan mount in the hard drive bays – I would have like to seen one here but alas there was none. In addition to all the above goodness you can see the wire bundle coming from the bezel that will connect your power and reset buttons as well as your activity LEDs and USB ports. Half way up the wire bundle you will find the wires looped through a ferrite ring. The ends are clearly marked with their intended functions.


Disassembly

I found the front bezel easy to remove. There were 6 circular tabs holding the bezel on. If you pinch these together and tug on the front bezel you will find it removes effortlessly. You can further disassemble the bezel by removing the silver plastic grill. The grill/door is held on the left side by 3 pins. Two of them are opposing in direction (one pointing up, the other poing down) and the pins are mounted on a plastic tab that acts like a tension spring to hold the door on. A little pressure on these and the door was off.

The panel where the buttons and LEDs are mounted can also be further disassembled. There are two screws on the back of the bezel, removing these will allow you to take the front of the panel off. The buttons and LEDs are mounted in the front of the panel. The LEDs are glued in and the buttons are held in by clips. The USB ports can also be removed if you wish, they are held in with 2 Phillips head screws.

This will leave you with a disassembled case and a good view of the front of the case sans bezel. This would be a good time to take the snips (which you already have out due to the damned I/O panel) and remove some of the restrictive metal grill for the front mounted fan.


Installation & Testing

I will be installing the internals of my HP 532w in this case. This machine was given to me and IÂ’ve never liked the looks of the wee HP case. The parts are as follows:


micro-ATX motherboard (not sure of brand)
micro-ATX power supply (not sure of brand)
1.7 GHz Intel Celeron with ThermalTake heatsink/fan
128 MB PC2100
80 GB Western Digital SE hard drive
Samsung 16X DVD-ROM drive


Installation completed without a hitch. The mounting holes for the motherboard lined up perfectly with the motherboard and the motherboard tray slid back into place like a dream. The power supply fit was also excellent as was the drives. The connectors for the front panel controls were marked correctly and also connected as they should. I incurred no problem while installing the above equipment. A tickle of the power switch and the machine booted into Windows XP, apparently it was happy with its new home.

The switches have a nice, solid feel to them and the LED were bright and viewable from all angles. The front grill/door closed and latched securely and will not open unless intended.

I found the case to be very quiet. The included fan and the additional fan I added (generic white LED) werenÂ’t audible over the rest of the room. Due to the lack of sensors on the motherboard I was using, I was unable to get temperature readings, not that this will be a problem with my low-tech Celeron.


Conclusion

This case would definitely be on my A list. I really like the styling, I canÂ’t quite classify it as industrial or retro, I believe it has hints of both. Installation was a breeze. I would like to have seen a fan in the hard drive bay but at this price I still believe you get a little more than you paid for. This is a great case for the price.


The Good

Great styling (subjective)
Ease of installation
Removable motherboard tray
Lots of room and free drive bays


The Bad

No hard drive cage fan
Cheesy snap-out PCI blanks
I/O plate removal is a pain

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Nice review Aaron...covered all the bases. Good job

You have a UPS girl? I got some ugly dude delivering my stuff. Anyway, nice write up on a nice case.

Yeah shes early 30s but not bad looking - I guess anything beats a UPS guy though. Thanks for the compliments, I would have liked to use more pictures but the 4 per post limit kinda cramps graphic usage to the very minumum.

After the pictures were taken I painted the case (didnt use my pics for the review) - follow the below link to see the results. Thanx again.

http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....933#post207933

Good writeup. One of the first things I would do is open up the bottom of that silver grill to increase air into the case.

Excellent review, Mr Kelly

Good review I have that same case I use it pretty much as a server and storage my ups/fedex person abused it though the door hinge is broken I wish they had made it out of metal .