A Closer Look - Outside

The anidees AI7 will not win any awards based on its design. It looks simple and clean, with two angled edges on the left and right of its front giving it a bit more bulk. Understated, which is good, it will attract a wide range of user.


The front reveals nothing out of the ordinary. There is a large metal-mesh air vent behind which you will find four 120mm fans. Looking at the rear, it becomes apparent that the interior is split vertically, which has the board go on one side while PSU and hard drives go on the other.


Both side panels are clean and straight, with the windowed panel on the left sporting the anidees logo, while the right lacks such branding, but offers the PSU's aforementioned air vent.


Behind the large metal-mesh cover is a honeycomb-shaped plastic grill to give the whole area a bit more stability. Look closely and you can see the fan with its clear frame and blades. Above that are the 5.25" drive bay and power and reset buttons, here on either side. anidees essentially kept everything symmetrical, down to the arrangement of USB ports. Instead of placing two USB 2.0 on one and a USB 3.0 on the other side of the audio I/O, anidees made sure to split things up evenly.


The seven expansion slots in the rear can be found next to the fully sized PSU bay, which has been turned by 90 degrees. By placing it next to the board instead of above or below it, anidees manages the AI7's cube design. Above that is a 120mm exhaust fan with another opening for a 92mm unit to the left. Look closely and you will see a switch for a fan controller in the top-left corner.

Even though there are top cut-outs that may be removed to allow for liquid-cooling tubes to be routed through the rear, anidees does not include rubber rings for these, which is rather odd.


At the top, the AI7 sports a metal-mesh cover you may remove to reveal two mounting possibilities for 120mm or 140mm fans, or a 280mm radiator. However, doing so will get in the way of the optical drive bay, and you will also have to remove the hard-drive trays as soon as you install anything there. The locking mechanism holding the top cover in place is also quite simple - made of plastic, it feels a bit fragile.