A Closer Look

With the side panel removed the Core Fan assembly is immediately noticeable. It is comprised of a metal bracket that reaches from the top of the case to the bottom, as well as two fans with grills. Also noticeable are the tool-less features of the case, as well as the sideways-mounted HDD cage.


For the PCI slots Sunbeam has implemented the popular plastic latches to hold the PCI backplates in place. There is a tab on the clip that gets pushed in, allowing the user to swing the clip open. The expansion card is installed in the system, then the clip is snapped back into place. This should be enough to hold most cards, but for those with larger graphics cards or those that transport their systems often, screws can be added (although not included) to hold the cards in place. It would have been nice to see two extra thumbscrews included into the package for this purpose.


For all of the 5.25” and the FDD bays there are sliders that hold the drives in place. After the drive is installed and lined up with the front panel, the latch is slid forward to secure the drive, and the clip is pushed down to hold the latch in place.


The HDD cage is not removable without a screwdriver. There are four screws in difficult to reach places that need to be removed before the cage will slide out. Two screws connect the back of the cage to the motherboard tray, and there are two more screws located on the bottom of the case. However, with the inclusion of rails for tool-less HDD installation the HDD cage should not have to be removed for any reason other than installing a fan in the lower front location.


Toward the front of the HDD cage is a location for another 120mm case fan. Although it does not use the same honeycomb design as the rear grill, it still is a bit more open than traditional stamped grills.


Inside the case there are two small brackets to help support the power supply. I like the idea that an additional bracket was placed on the motherboard tray to help support heavy PSUs being used today, instead of just the one standard bracket below the PSU opening.


The Core Fan assembly can be removed from the case by taking out one screw near the top of the case and two more screws on the bottom of the case. The bracket has several holes to allow a few adjustments in the mounting positions for the fans, or by removing one of the fans and allowing a greater variety of positions for a single fan. With the Core Fan assembly removed the case is much more open.


The front bezel can be removed in typical fashion by pulling forward the bottom of the bezel. Upon removal, the vented front can be more easily seen, as well as the circuit board for the side I/O panel connections. Since this is a steel case, the external bays have a metal plate across most of them. The one thing I noticed here was that the upper 3.5” bay was opened, although this bay is blocked by the front door. If you want access to the 3.5” device without having to open the door each time, you will need to remove the lower plate and use that bay instead.