Assembly

Installing the board is done by traditional means: place it on the included spacers and secure it with the supplied screws. As you can see, there is enough space for large CPU coolers and long graphics cards - even without removing a hard drive cage.


Another big difference between the DarkForce and the anidées chassis are the trays used. While the latter utilizes metal trays, Gelid has chosen to use more elaborate, plastic ones. Both of these work well and I really do not see an issue with the version employed in the DarkForce. On the contrary, the black cover in front nicely hides the drives from view. You may install both 2.5 or 3.5 inch drives in these, with the larger kind resting on rubber rings as an anti-vibration method.


Once installed, simply slide them into the slot of your choice until they snap into place. You may also secure these with an additional screw - something system builders would most likely be interested in. Thanks to the front cover, the drives are completely hidden from view.


To install an optical drive, you will have to pull off the entire front first, which in turn allows you to remove the drive bay cover of your choice. A cool little touch is the additional fan mounting spot in this area. As long as you leave the three metal covers in place, you may use it to place a 120 mm unit here as well. Once the bay is free, simply slide the drive in and lock it down using the plastic locks. I strongly suggest you use an additional screw to limit any vibrations created by the drive in this area, as it still has a bit of play otherwise.


Installing the PSU is done without the use of any screws if you decide that the Velcro strip is sufficient for your needs. I also used the supplied screws in the review


Once everything is installed, the anidées AI6 makes a very clean impression, as all the cables are hidden nicely behind the mainboard tray. I strongly suggest using angled connectors, as there is too little space - possibly due to the use of the hard drive trays, which will put quite the strain on the already fragile SATA connectors when closing the side panel.

Finished Looks

Once everything is in place, the chassis makes a good impression. Thanks to the large window, you can easily see the entire mainboard and the installed components. All connectors are easily reachable in the rear as well.


The HDD bay works just as one would expect. This type of docking station has been implemented by various different case manufacturers and is one of the best ways to offer such a feature.