A Closer Look - Outside

The chassis makes a good first impression with the contrasts between neon green and black well placed. While the top part may not be for everyone, it does make sense too as the viper is the mascot of the entire product series.


Looking at the front of the chassis, this aspect and the choice of the top panel become obvious. It really looks like a snake. From the back the chassis does seem to bear a few surprises. With the biggest being the fact that this chassis has ten expansion slots, which is something you usually only see in HPTX enclosures.


The main side of the Venom Toxic has a large mesh window, which allows you to install one large 180 - 230 mm fan or four 120 mm units. We have seen this exact mesh in shape and features on a few other cases already, so this is nothing unique to this chassis. Above that are three small mesh windows, which only really serve the overall design of the case. Turning things around, there is a really cool looking Viper printed on the completely solid side panel.


That same viper logo can be found on the front in form of an emblem as well. The mesh part allows for fresh air to enter the chassis in the front. Above that are the six expansion slots. Akasa has included a single 5.25" to 3.5" adapter frame, so that you can easily install one of the company's 3.5" card readers for example.


In the rear the PSU bay is located on the very bottom of the chassis. It is lined with foam to reduce the chance of vibrations. Above that are the ten mainboard expansion slots. While only an HPTX case would have this number of slots, the Venom Toxic does not offer enough space for such a motherboard. This pretty much defeats the purpose of the number of slots, as you will only need eight even when installing four dual-height graphics cards. Most mainboard vendors no longer include extra brackets, as all the connectivity can be found in the backplate of the board itself.


Quite some functionality has been placed in the top panel. You will find two large knobs which allow you to control three fans each. On top of that there are three USB 2.0 an eSATA connector and a single USB 3.0 next to the pair of traditional audio plugs. It would have been good to see a pair of USB 3.0, as most modern mainboards come with a 20-pin internal connector nowadays, which is intended for a pair of these. Behind that is a compartment with an anti-slip rubber pad, which is great idea, but let us be honest: do you really think something could slip out of that fairly deep tray? Nonetheless - it looks pretty cool. A large circular mesh in the rear covers the top 230 mm air vent and fan.