A Closer Look - Outside

The anidees AI7m 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 a single 200mm fan. Looking at the rear, it becomes apparent that the interior layout is stacked so that the board is installed horizontally within the AI7m.


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


Behind the large metal mesh cover is a honeycomb-shaped plastic grill to give the whole area a bit more stability. If you look closely, you can see the fan with its clear frame and blades. Above that is the single 5.25" drive bay, with the power and reset buttons on either side. anidees essentically kept everything symmetrical, down to the arrangement of the A17m's 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 bottom half of the rear contains the PSU bay, rotated 90 degrees and with 2 sets of mounting holes. Next to it is a 120mm, all-black exhaust fan. In the top half are another such fan and five motherboard expansion slots, which is one more than the standard 4 usually offered by mATX enclosures. If you look closely, you will find a little switch in the top-left corner. This is a fan-speed switch for the internal hub.


At the top, the AI7m sports a metal-mesh cover, which may be removed to reveal two mounting possibilities for 120mm or 140mm fans, or a 280mm radiator setup. However, you will block off the optical drive bay as soon as you install anything in the most forward spot. The locking mechanism holding the top cover in place is also quite simple, made of plastic and feeling a bit fragile.