Thursday, September 11th 2014
Sharkoon Announces VG4 Series Entry-level Case
Sharkoon expands its range of inexpensive cases and introduces a new series for beginners. The VG4 series was especially designed for the visual demands of gamers and stands out due to its versatile features at an attractive price. The ATX case offers Standard, Value or Window versions. The latter has an acrylic side window and is available in four different interior finishes (black, green, blue, red) with matching LED fans. In the black version, the fans are blue illuminated.
The cases are compatible with mini-ATX, micro-ATX as well as ATX and each have a weight of around 3.5 kg. The dimensions are 445 x 200 x 430 (L x W x H). On the front of the Value and Window versions there are two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and two Audio connection options. The Standard version is equipped with four USB 2.0 and two Audio connection options.
Thanks to the provided side panels, tower coolers with a height of up to 16 cm can be installed. Graphics cards with a maximum length of up to 31 cm, after removing the SSD hard drive cage up to 38.5 cm, can also be mounted. A total of up to seven expansion cards can be installed. The maximum length for power supplies is 25 cm; a suitable dust filter is pre-installed on the bottom. All cases in the series offer an installation opening for a CPU cooler, two openings for optional water cooling as well as a comfortable cable management system.
A 120 mm fan and provided dust filter are pre-installed in the front of all versions. In order to further strengthen the air flow inside the case, two additional 120 mm fans can be optionally mounted on the side panel of the Value and Standard version. In the rear panel of the Value version is a 120 mm fan pre-installed, it is optional in the Standard version. The Window version is equipped with two LED fans, a fan in both the front and rear panel.
The collective series offer three 5.25" drive bays for optical drives (two or which are equipped with quick fasteners). Internally, three 3.5" hard drives can be installed using the quick fasteners. In the second mounting frame can three 2.5" HDDs/SDDs be installed, in the bottom of the cases there is space for an additional 2.5" HDD/SDD.
The Sharkoon VG4 series in the versions Standard (VG4-S), Value (VG4-V) or Window (VG4-W) for the suggested retail price starting from 24.99 euros from authorized retailers.
For more information, visit the product page.
The cases are compatible with mini-ATX, micro-ATX as well as ATX and each have a weight of around 3.5 kg. The dimensions are 445 x 200 x 430 (L x W x H). On the front of the Value and Window versions there are two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and two Audio connection options. The Standard version is equipped with four USB 2.0 and two Audio connection options.
A 120 mm fan and provided dust filter are pre-installed in the front of all versions. In order to further strengthen the air flow inside the case, two additional 120 mm fans can be optionally mounted on the side panel of the Value and Standard version. In the rear panel of the Value version is a 120 mm fan pre-installed, it is optional in the Standard version. The Window version is equipped with two LED fans, a fan in both the front and rear panel.
The collective series offer three 5.25" drive bays for optical drives (two or which are equipped with quick fasteners). Internally, three 3.5" hard drives can be installed using the quick fasteners. In the second mounting frame can three 2.5" HDDs/SDDs be installed, in the bottom of the cases there is space for an additional 2.5" HDD/SDD.
The Sharkoon VG4 series in the versions Standard (VG4-S), Value (VG4-V) or Window (VG4-W) for the suggested retail price starting from 24.99 euros from authorized retailers.
For more information, visit the product page.
4 Comments on Sharkoon Announces VG4 Series Entry-level Case
In that case , Mine is a level 50 Warrior Class ATX midtower supreme.. ;) Seriously tho, it seems okay, but not my cup o tea.
About the case, not to much to say.
I always like to start with the positive, but after carefully unboxing it, I noticed mine had a slight dent in the top of the case, likely from the plastic strapping. I was able to push and work it out, but first impressions... Apart from that, the case looks fantastic, the paint on the outside and inside of every surface is well done in black, and the interior tray is nicely finished in blue with matching colored tool-less drive tray locks, and the overall build is very solid. As this was an upgrade for a living room Media PC, I had an older M-ATX motherboard and it was super easy to drop in. ATX boards may be a tight fit, and will make cable management at the bottom harder. Cable management was easy with lots of tie down points, except note there's no holes at the top of the motherboard tray! This means I had to route the 8 pin Molex connector up to the top right of my motherboard through the gap in the video card PCB between the PCI slot and the HDMI/DVI plate. Not ideal. The motherboard tray does have a large cutout for aftermarket CPU cooling solutions, which I really liked.
My build had 3 optical drives, 2 HDDs and an SSD. This is where I ran into the biggest issue- the front intake fan is almost completely useless. There are three front cutouts per tray, two edge 5mm x 20mm and one centered 20mm x 46mm. I put my HDDs in the top and bottom spots to leave the middle free for airflow, however the middle position has the centered hole blocked by the intake fan spindle backing. This leaves two tiny holes as the only cooling coming through. If you had three HDDs it would be blocked completely. Furthermore the other side of the HDD tray lacks the ventilation holes, so the air exits around the front or rear of the tray. I assume they built it this way for rigidity and support, though this will leave hot spots on the left side of your HDDs. Worst thing, the front of the tray is one piece to save cost, the stamped metal leaves no space for blown air to go anywhere. I took it apart to see if I drill or snip out additional air vents, but it's extremely difficult. You could adjust the fan mount position up or down, but the plastic spacers may no longer stay where they are moving down, and the whole I/O panel blocks the top position.
+++ Pros +++
Solid interior construction, looks very polished
3x 5.25" Optical bays, 3x 3.5" HDD bays, 3x 2.5" SSD bays +1 mounting spot case bottom
2 LED 120mm fans, 1 front, 1 rear
Supports ATX boards, CPU coolers up to 150mm high
Air filters covering bottom and front intake.
Tool-less bay locks: optical x2, HDDx3
Motherboard tray cutout for CPU cooling solutions, cable management
Goodie bag has matched screws for everything you need to install
- - - Cons - - -
Flimsy case top panel which is easily dented.
Front intake is 85% blocked by case, and will be completely blocked if installing 3 HDDs.
Bottom filter comes off too easily, very difficult and requires two hands to re-install.
Rubber grommets and cutouts missing from motherboard tray top for good cable management
Case front very hard to take off. Needle nose pliers (from the rear panel side first) worked for me.
Case front air filter difficult to clean and replace, with 6 easily lost plastic spacers to reinstall
I'm very happy with the case overall. The build is solid and looks great, and overall I'm very happy with the upgrade. I wish the top panel could have been stiffer though, and the strapping guy at the factory a little less aggressive. The LED fans look great through the front and window, but would have been perfect if the front fan was actually useful. I would have gladly paid an extra 5 to 10 dollars to have better front air vents and a easy to clean filter system, though I suppose the higher end models they offer have that feature.
This is a good case, and would be excellent with better cooling. If you have more than one HDD though, you either may want to consider another option, or be very skilled with a dremel!