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AOpen H600A Super Tower


Date
: 04/7/02 – 03:38:19 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: AOpen
Price: $65 (300W model)

Introduction

AOpen is a well known manufacturer of motherboards and cd-rom/cd-rewriter units, but besides those two popular products, AOpen also builds high quality computer cases. Since not everyone out there can afford a $300 aluminium case (and that's without a power supply included), these steel cases offer a great solution for the less fortunate. It is a well-known fact that the computer case is one of the most important parts of the entire box: you don't want to cut your fingers when working in the case, you want to be able to expand your setup without having to buy a new case, … If chosen correctly, your case can serve you for several years, so it is really important to look at all options. The HQ45A is one of the most popular AOpen midi tower cases around (here is our modding guide for it), but with the H600A on the streets, that will change soon! This midi tower offers a truckload of features, combined with the quality AOpen puts in all their products. Let's see what the H600A has to offer and find out if it is worthy of your hard-earned money.

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

- ATX/microATX/Full AT Super Middle Housing
- High expansion capacity -7 slots and 9 drive bays
- Bend-in edges ensure safe assembly and installation
- Smart slide-in back bracket with no screws needed
- Compact design saves space
- Equipped with 400/350/300W ATX 12V high efficiency switching power supply
- P4 ready
- Complies with FCC Class B, DoC,and CE
- Slide-in/out, Slide board for easy assembly
- Support 5 x 2nd 8mm fan.
- Side open for top cover
- Good thermal & EMI solution
- Housing Material: Metal
- Housing Type: Super Middle-tower
- Main Board Size: ATX/microATX/Full AT/flexATX, 12"(305mm) x 9.6"(244mm) ATX M.B.
- Disk Drive Bays: 5.25" x 4/0, 3.5" x 2/1 (external/internal), 3.5" HDD cage x 2 (option)
- Dimensions: 18.1"(D) x 7.87"(W) x 18.0"(H) / 460mm(D)x200mm(W)x457mm(H)
- Power Supply: 400/350/300W ATX 12V (ball bearing fan) high efficiency, UL/CSA/CE/VDE/S/D/N/FI/FCC/DoC certified
- Front USB & Audio: 2 USB / Ear phone / Mic. In / 6pin or 4pin 1394 (Optional)
- Ventilation: 8cm Optional DC fan x 5 (1 installed, 4 option)
- FCC, CE and Novell: Ready
- Net Weight: 20.0 lbs. / 9.1 kg
- Gross Weight: 21.5 lbs. / 9.8 kg
- Volume: 2.5 cu. ft.

As you can see, the H600A has a lot to offer! First of all, the case is available in three versions: one with a 300W power supply, one with a 350W power supply and the last one with a 400W power supply to fulfill the biggest needs! The one I am reviewing today is equipped with the AOpen 300W power supply, and it performs well to say the least! As you will see later on in the review, I installed a very power-hungry setup into the H600A, and not once did the power supply leave me in the cold!! I don't need to add that the power supply is P4 ready, do I?

AOpen is targetting the power users with the H600A and that shows in the expandability of the case: four external 5.25" bays, two external 3.5" bays, one internal 3.5" bay and to finish, there is a rack mounted at the front bottom that will hold another two 3.5" hard drives. Note that the bottom rack will
not
block the motherboard in any way. Can't complain about that can you?

The bracket that holds the two external and one internal 3.5" bays is fitted with an easy to remove design: remove one screw and flip the metal switch and voila … the bay is out :). The bottom hard drive rack can be removed as well, by unscrewing the two screws that hold it in place. Of course the 5.25" bays are not removable, but AOpen includes several drive rails that you have to attach to your cd-rom units. That way you can easily slide them in and out of the case.

An important feature of the H600A is that it comes without sharp edges. Everything in nicely rounded so sticking your prescious fingers in the case won't end in a bloodbath ;p.

Now that I informed you of the main features of the inside of the case, it is time to take a look at the external part. The case cover is divided in three parts: two side panels and a top panel. All three of them can be removed independantly from each other, making the case easy to use. Each panel is held in place with two thumbscrews, so there are no tools required to open up your box! Each side panel also comes with predrilled holes to expell hot air coming from the datastorage devices.

The front panel looks a bit "technical" if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, I do like it because it is different from what I am used to see on AOpen cases. First of all, there is a hatch that hides two USB ports (FireWire ports are possible with an optional connector), a line out to connect your headphones and a line-in to connect your microphone. The panel is easily removed with a hidden handle: just pull it and off goes the cover :). Nice!

The case has two LED's, one for power, one for hard drive activity. The LED's are installed vertically and are very narrow, which makes it look very slick. Inbetween both LED's is the power button and on the lower left of that one is the reset button. Both buttons are easy to use (so you won't need pliers or something else to reset your rig).

The plastic covers that are used to cover up the 3.5" and 5.25" bays look "cool" as well, although I'm sure some people will dislike them … Each cover comes with a "retention clip" on the right side. In order to remove the covers, you just have to push these and off comes the cover. Note that you will probably need a flathead screwdriver to push the clips because they are pretty hard to push and I can guarantee that you
will
hurt yourself if you try it with your bare hands (I know I did ;)).

So, what about cooling? What has the H600A to offer? AOpen did a good job when they designed the H600A: the case can hold a total of 5 case fans, ensuring you that your expensive hardware won't run hot. From the factory, the case comes with one fan pre-installed at the back of the case behind the processor. There is room for another 80mm for a total of two 80mm fans behind the processor. AOpen has installed a nice molding where the second (optional) fan can be installed to make sure the first fan can do it's job properly (otherwise the fan would not work the way you want it to!).

No fans in the back …

One fan installed …

Two fans installed …

Besides the two fans in the back, you can install three more fans in the front of the case. The first and most important fan frontal fan is housed between the bottom hard drive rack and the 3.5" drive bay. Just like all the other fans, this one must measure 80mm in order to fit in the predesignated space (unless you decide to hack the case with your dremel tool). It's good to see that the grille has large holes in it, which increases the airflow that can be produced by the fan. If you only settle for the best of the best, I suggest you take out your dremel tool once more and cut out the grille entirely.

For hardcore overclockers or people who want as much airflow as humanly possible, AOpen reserved two spots on the side of the case in which 80mm fans can be installed as well. Both fans will be sucking air in through the holes in the sidepanels I discussed earlier, after which the cold air will flow over your hard drives and then leave the case at the other end, again through the holes in the sidepanels. Personally, I don't think you will need to install fans in those places because IDE hard drives, which are used by most computer enthousiasts who would go for a case like the H600A, just don't get that hot. If you are using 10.000+ RPM SCSI hard drives, the situation changes and these fans will do an excellent job in cooling down those sweeties! For the watercooling peepz out there: why not install your radiator in front of these fans?

Page 3 : Testing

Testing

There is no better way to test a case than to use it to build a new rig. Since I was looking for a good case to install my new setup, I decided to give the AOpen H600A a go and see how it would stack up. The system will be used 24/7 as my personal workhorse, so I need a good, high-quality case that won't leave me standing in the cold. The power supply had to be 100% able to hold up with my needs, as it was going to be faced with a pretty big load! Let's see what hardware will be housed into the H600A …

- Motherboard: Tyan Tiger MP S2460 supporting two AMD Athlon MP CPU's
- CPU's: two AMD Athlon MP 1800+
- Heatsink: two ThermalRight AX-7 heatsinks with 80mm Sanyo Deki fans mounted on top
- Memory: two sticks of Crucial 256MB DDR PC2100
- Hard Drive: IBM 34GB DeskStar 7200RPM + Western Digital 45GB 7200RPM
- Video Card: ABIT Siluro GeForce 3 Ti 200 AGP (primary) + Creative GeForce 2 MX200 PCI (secondary)
- Sound Card: Creative Soundblaster Live! Platinum with LiveDrive!
- CD-ROM: Toshiba 8x DVD-ROM + Plextor 24/10/40 CD-REWRITER
- LAN: Accton 100mbit NIC

As you can see, the system I was putting toghether was a power hungry one and consisted of quite a bit hardware that all needed to find a spot in the case. Everything fitted fine and in no time, the entire system was installed. In order to keep it neat, I used Vantec's rounded IDE cables kindly supplied by Coolerguys.
Now it was time to power up my brand new duallie! After the usual bleep from the PC speaker, the boot screen showed up and everything seemed to be OK. One hour later I had my system configured the way I wanted it to be, with Windows XP Professional controlling the box. To my amazement, AOpen's 300W power supply was up to this task and was able to supply the system with all the power needed. A quick look at Motherboard Monitor showed that the powerlines were
not
bouncing and everything was perfectly in order. To be absolutely certain my new rig was stable, I ran Prime95 (my favorite stability tester) along with the RC5 client for 48+ hours. Conclusion: the dual powerbeast is rockstable :D.

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

The AOpen H600A has proven to be an excellent solution for a very good price! For only $65, you are getting yourself a sweet computer housing equipped with a high quality 300W power supply. What more can you ask for? Besides that the case comes with several interesting features like independant removable side/top panels, a removable front bezel, drive rails, frontal USB and audio ports, an additional hard drive rack and sufficient cooling options. The H600A is 100% P4 ready as well and comes with thumb screws. So aren't there any bad remarks? Of course there are: it's a shame that the case only comes with one 80mm fan pre-installed, especially since an additional frontal fan would decrease the case temperature by a good deal! Another remark I have to add: the drive bay covers are hard to remove without a screwdriver. In the end, I feel confident to recommend this case to anyone who is looking for a great midi-tower (or super-tower as AOpen likes to call the H600A range).