A Closer Look - Inside

To access the interior, you will have to remove two screws on the rear and two on each panel. Just how the C3 manages to be as compact as it is while holding a full mATX motherboard and a PSU becomes apparent once done as there are no traditional internal or external drive bays. There is a large opening in the motherboard tray, so you will have readily available access the cooler's backplate. You can't route or hide cables within the chassis, though, which is due to its size. So you will really need to pre-wire everything as best as possible while putting your system together to avoid a big mess once done.


You will have to remove the HDD tray on the side during assembly. You may install a 2.5 or 3.5" drive into the tray. There are also two sets of mounting holes for 80 mm fans, each, if you rather go for additional cooling instead. There is another mounting possibility in the front, but it only works with a 3.5" drive. It would have been nice to see another 2.5" mounting possibility there, though, as such would only require appropriate mounting holes.


You are left with nothing but the enclosure itself once both of those trays have been removed - ready to be filled with hardware.


But let's take a closer look inside before we do so. In the rear is the aforementioned PSU bay on the bottom. The power supply will rest on four rubber dots, which will curtail any vibrations it may otherwise pass on to the frame. Above the bay are the four expansion slots, each protected by its own reusable covers. In the very top is a white-bladed 120 mm exhaust fan. It is of the generic variety, but comes with a nicely sleeved black cable.


The third mounting possibility for a 2.5" hard drive is on the floor, all the way in the front. Use this spot and you will potentially limit the maximum length of the power supply, though such would only be an issue with extremely powerful PSUs.


All the cable within the Cooltek C3 are sleeved black and of the standard variety, so should easily be able to connect them to a modern motherboard.