Installation of components

First step to installation is to pull the motherboard tray out of the assembled case and mount the motherboard. The XL-ATX tray in this case allows plenty of room to mount a full height CPU cooler with the tray outside the case which is typically a problem with removable motherboard trays of most cases. The video card was also installed and secured before installing the motherboard tray back inside the case. This made for a quick and easy install of the machine's main components. Once the components have all been secured, the assembled unit can then be installed into the case from the rear panel. The tray is held in place with four standard case screws. One point to notice, the motherboard tray has been designed so that the back of the motherboard's CPU socket can be accessed from the rear without removing it from the case, but the EVGA Classified motherboard used in this review did not quite line up as intended. However the cooler's back plate was still able to be installed through the opening.


The 5.25 bay devices mount just as they do in a standard case with the exception that you can remove the entire five bay mount from the case to make it very easy to mount optical drives, fan controllers, and other 5.25 inch devices. The 5.25 inch bays are held into the case with six included button style Allen head onyx screws and nuts. Mountain Mods sells filler panels for the extra unused bays but they are not included in the purchase of the case but can be purchased at the time of ordering the case.


The 3.5 inch hard disks mount to Mountain Mod's unique mounting brackets that allow you to mount up to three drives per bracket set to any 120 mm fan, radiator or opening. Because this case uses 140 mm fan and radiator spacing the manufacturer has also included a simple pair of adapter plates. One plate gets mounted to the 3.5 inch brackets while the other mounts between the fan or radiator and the first plate to allow for countersinking of the screw heads so you get a nice, flush mount. These brackets and adapters look very good and match the rest of the components nicely. One thing to note here is that you may need to purchase some additional screws for mounting the adapter plates as the manufacturer did not include any extra screws for this.


The included adapter plates can be used for many other things. The (UN)Designs Z2 bracket mounts up nicely to the adapter plates to make for a great way to attach a reservoir or water pump. Also, the 3.5 inch hard disk brackets can be used for 2.5 inch drives, once on each bracket which is nice now that Solid State Drives are becoming more frequently used in everyone's computers.