A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior of the Coolbay CX, simply remove the thumbscrews holding each panel in place. The interior is arranged in a simple manner, with the motherboard tray sitting on top of the HDD and PSU bays.


This tray allows for the installation of either a mATX or ITX motherboard, and NOX Xtreme added a few hooks for zip ties around the edge of where the board would be to help with cable management. You will find a 120mm exhaust fan in the rear, which is pretty standard fare.


On the bottom of the front is a 3.5" hard-drive cage with two individual trays onto which you may also install 2.5'' drives. A 200mm fan set to push large amounts of fresh air through the front cover out of metal mesh and across the entire system has been placed into the front. In the very top is the 5.25" drive bay. It may be removed if you have no need for it.


Take a closer look at the other elements below the motherboard tray and you will find a PSU bay and a swinging SSD cage, which makes fitting drives to its trays out of plastic a breeze. You may place two such drives into the cage.


You may install up to a 240 mm radiator here, and it can be rather thick. Installing such a liquid-cooling setup here will get in the way of your ODD drive bay, though, unless you opt for a 120mm unit instead.


All the cables inside the Coolbay CX are of the default variety and come with black sleeving. The card reader is plugged into a USB 2.0 header, but occupies both rows even though only one is required.