Assembly

Installing the mainboard is no hard feat. Just place the board on the supplied spacers and screw it down. As you can see, the Prolimatech Super Mega fits well and there is plenty of space around it. Cable management is a bit of a pain as there are only two openings, so you have to get creative about how to go about it within the SpineRex.


Installing the ODD is quite easy as well. Simply place the rails on the drive, slide it into the bay until it snaps into place and flip the bars shut. The bars hold in place with the use of magnets. This is an excellent way to install the drives, as you really do not have to reach in anywhere, do not need to remove the entire front or break out any metal covers.


Installing the hard drive is just as easy and follows a similar principle. Just place the rails on the drives and slide it into place until it snaps down. Sure this system is not Enermax exclusive and the company had no part in its development, but it simply works.


Placing the power supply in its bay does require a screwdriver as you need to apply traditional screws to hold it in place. There is plenty of space for long units, so even if you go with one of the high end models from Enermax, it will fit.


As you can see, once everything is installed, the cables are still clearly visible. Considering the fact that I have just used the bare essentials to assemble the system, having eight hard drives or multiple optical drives will most likely result in a messy interior.


The next problem I came across was with the CPU cooler. It collides with the side fan and upon closer inspection Enermax advertises a maximum height of 146.9 mm for the CPU cooler. Having such a restriction with a chassis of this size and price is a fairly big no go. Such a restriction also made me take a closer look at the maximum length of graphics cards. With the hard drive bays in the way, Enermax mentions 310.74 mm (yes, .74 mm - try to measure that with a ruler), but they do not take into account the cables and connectors needed for the hard drive, so my guess would be less than 300 mm is the maximum at this point.

Finished Looks

Once the system is up and running, the system does make a good impression on the outside. The three LED fans are quite strong and sadly - especially the side one, not the quietest. You want to keep them running at the minimum to keep things at an acceptable level.


Due to the different LEDs, you may choose how to light the case and the exterior. With a choice of blue or red and three different fans, along with the fact that the LED VEGAS units can be animated, should make the case a looker at the next LAN Party.


Here is another quick shot of the front fans. You can buy these in retail as well, so anyone having used and seen the LED VEGAS fans in real life knows that the large number of LEDs allows for some spiffy effects.