A Closer Look - Outside

The A20 looks completely different than the Zaria A10. The front consists of clean and straight lines. There is a large door, which covers all drive bays. Ikonik has chosen to color the top area black, while keeping the same silver lower area found on the silver variant of the chassis. The rear does not look out of the ordinary, but we will take a closer look at that in a little while.


One side of the Zaria A20 has a metal mesh window. Ikonik ships the enclosure with a clear window panel as well. Simply unscrew the metal mesh and place the panel in the appropriate location of the side panel. It is nice to see that Ikonik is catering to everyone with this option free of charge. Other manufacturers only offer such a panel at an extra charge or as replacement part. The other side panel also has a metal mesh in the upper area. It gives way to two 80 mm fans. This is certainly a unique area for any cooling unit.


The front of the case has a square, spring loaded aluminum plate on the lower right. This is actually a kick start button. Yes - you read right - "kick start", meaning that the system can be wired to start your PC by hitting the panel with your foot. Crazy - but in a very cool way! The upper area holds the external drive bays. The door is made of aluminum and feels incredibly sturdy. Instead of cheap plastic clips, it is held shut by two fairly strong magnets. The drive bay covers have a glossy paint job and the Zaria logo can be found below the single 3.5 inch drive bay.


The rear on the other hand, really looks ordinary, as all the traditional components are present in the usual areas. Starting on the bottom, there are seven expansion slots, next to which are two holes to route water cooling tubes through. The middle is occupied by a 120 mm fan while the top takes the power supply.


The external I/O can be found on the top of the Zaria A20. Ikonik has secured it with tape for transport, which left quite a bit of residue on the case upon removal. Ikonik will ship the cover as part of the contents box instead of securing in on the outside of the case, thus avoiding this problem for the retail version of the Zaria A20.

The I/O is covered by a rubber, semi-transparent piece. It is not secured in place but can be moved around, as it uses a magnet to hold to the chassis. So you may remove it completely or leave it in place if you do not plan to use the I/O at all. The array of connections is complete with the usual audio, USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA plugs. There is also a traditional power button on the Zaria A20. Both the power button and the kick start panel are wired to the single mainboard header. This means that you can always use either one to start up or shut down the PC.