A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the chassis, simply remove the two thumb screws of each side panel. The windowed one was turned around to give you a look at how the metal mesh has been secured. There are a total of twelve screws holding it place. This is well above average! The overall interior layout is a bit ordinary, but Ikonik has added a few small things here and there.


Turning the case around, we can see, that this area holds a few surprises. There is a black aluminum cover over the SIM unit. The two fans are white and feature seperate power lines for the fan and the blue LEDs. They are routed to the SIM unit after joining together in a single pair.


You may also remove the front with a swift pull under which you will find a dust guard for the front fan. If you have not noticed yet, the case has Ikonik branding everywhere, which may be a bit too much for some. The small PCB in the buttom right is for the kick start button. The power and HDD LED can be found here as well.


Moving our focus inside the case, starting at the front, there is the hard drive cage. It can hold five drives and can be pulled out after removing three thumb screws. While the concept of a 45 degree turned hard drive cage is nothing new, as it allows for larger graphic cards, the system used to install the drives is new and unique. The array of hard drives are cooled by a black 140 mm fan up front. It is also connected to the SIM unit.


The external drive bays - four 5.25" and a single 3.5" - all have a screw-less lock each. This system has also been designed by Ikonik and features their branding on every single lock. Simply push the black button to lock or slide the slider toward the back to unlock each drive.


Even the rear does hold some surprises when viewed from the inside. While the expansion slots are covered by traditional covers, they are held in place by a very sturdy metal lock. This one is actually quite hard to release and you will have to apply considerable force to do so. The overall design of such a system may not be new, but the use of steel is.


Continiuing upward, the rear fan - a 120 mm one - is also white and, just like the smaller side units, features LEDs with their own power source. This cooler is also connected to the SIM unit. Ikonik has also taken the time to route the wiring to the front of the case in a very clean manner. The power supply bay has two ledges, which are lined with thin foam pads. These should stop any vibration from passing to or from the PSU.


Let's take a quick look at the two 80 mm fans from the inside. They are very thin and should not interfere with large power supplies. The last area for a fan is on the bottom of the case. It also sports a dust guard, which is certainly needed at this location. Having gone through such great lengths to include four fans, route them nicely to the SIM and connect everything, I am a bit surprised that Ikonik did not place a fan here as well.


I have mentioned the SIM quite often in this review. SIM stands for System Intelligent Management. It consists of two parts, one is this PCB, which can easily be uncovered by unscrewing the aluminum plate. The second is the included software application.


The SIM requires direct power from the PSU in form of a Molex connector. Besides that cable is the usual array of mainboard connectors for both the I/O and power & LEDs. There is no reset button on the Zaria A20, which many will surely miss. Holding down the power button for four seconds in case your PC freezes is certainly no suitable substitute.