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AOpen HQ45 Computer Case


Date
: 02/1/01 – 09:17:00 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Manufactor: AOpen

Price: around $50

Thanks to MPL for supplying us with this HQ45 case!

Introduction

As you guys probably already know, a computer case must be considered as one of the most important parts of a computer. You just can’t do without one! In general, you can go three directions with these computer cases : desktop, mid-tower and full tower. A couple of weeks ago, we had a review of the AOpen HQ08 computer case, the HQ45′s big brother. During that review, we noticed that AOpen pays very much attention to the design of a computer case and they always come with the perfect final touch.

Why should we pay that much attention when buying a computer case? Well first of all, a case can last for years (compared to a CPU that’s already considered old after 2 weeks). Another reason is that you should think about what you’re going to mount inside the case (how many drives, how much cooling, …). And last, but to most people probably the main reason, is the (lack of) space to put the case onto their desk for example. Remember that full tower systems like the AOpen HQ08 computer case take up some serious vertical space!

After taking a look at AOpen’s HQ08 full tower case some time ago, we just had to do the same with the midi tower model : the HQ45 mid-tower.

Specifications

• Housing Material: Metal
• Housing Type: Mid-Tower
• Main Board Size: ATX/microATX
• Disk Drive Bays: 5.25′x3/0, 3.5′x2/1 (external/internal)
• Dimensions: 16.54′(D)x7.87′(W)x16.30′(H) / 420mm(D)x198mm(W)x414mm(H)
• Power Supply: 250W ATX, UL/CSA/CE/VDE/S/D/N /FI/FCC DoC Certified
• Ventilation: Air Vents with Optional 2nd DC fans
• FCC, CE & Novell: Ready
• Net Weight: 16.5 lbs. / 7.5 kg
• Gross Weight: 17.2 lbs. / 7.8 kg
• Volume: 2.16 Cu. ft.
• Certification: Novell certification with AOpen motherboards

• ATX/microATX Mid-tower housing
• High expansion capacity with 7 slots and 6 drive bays
• Bend-in edges ensure safe assembly and installation
• Smart slide-in back bracket with no screws needed
• Compact design saves space
• Complies with DoC, and CE regulations (with AOpen MBs)
• Equipped with 250W ATX high efficiency switching power supply
• Slide-in/out, Slide board for easy assembly
• Optional all-in-one carton has room for K/B, mouse, S/W and accessories
• Led cover provides 4 kinds of option colors

The Specs In Detail

What I really like about the HQ45 are the bend-in edges that should ensure safe assembly of the case and installation of the hardware into the case. If you believe bend-in edges are common on all new cases, I must say you’re definately wrong! I’ve had some Enlight cases some time ago, and after installing the motherboard and the FDD, I already had to put band-aids on both hands! :(

The HQ45 features three external 5.25′ bays and two/one external/internal 3.5′ bays. To most users, this should be more than enough to mount all your hardware like a cd-rom, cd-writer, FDD, HD, … . However, I do believe that there are quite a lot of people out there that will find three 5.25′ bays and three 3.5′ bays insufficient; certainly of you are a lucky owner of a Live! Drive, DVD-rom, ZIPdrive, …

When we take a look at the inside of the case, we can see that there’s room for three 3.5′ hard drives without a FDD or two 3.5′ hard drives with a FDD installed at the front bottom. If you’re using a FDD and you want to use more than two hard drives, you can always use a free 5.25′ bay to mount another hard drive.

The AOpen HQ45 comes with a 250W powersupply. 250W is certainly more than enough to supply the average user with enough power for his hardware. However, a 300W powersupply isn’t a luxury when you’re using a couple of hard drives, a cd-rom, a cd-writer, expansion cards, kick-ass cooling, … My experience with the HQ45 tells me that the 250W p/s has enough power to feed the maximum amount of hardware that fits into the HQ45! So, don’t worry about the powersupply too much. The p/s has quite a lot of molex connectors so you don’t have to worry about having power for your two hard drives and cd-rom drives.

Installation

Everyone knows that installing a case is just plain child’s play. You just have to take the case out of the cardboard box and unwrap the isolation that protects it against heavy shocks during transportation. Well, that’s about it! Now open up the case and begin to mount the hardware. Pretty easy huh!

NOTE : This pics are taken with an Asus CUSL2 installed instead of a CUV4X.

Testing

Well, maybe ‘testing’ isn’t the right title here, but since we’re trying to keep a certain structure in every review, I decided to keep it that way. Let’s say we will test the case by using it to build a whole new system and describing what happens.

Here’s the list of parts I used to build the testsystem :

- AOpen HQ45 Mid-Tower (duh!)

- Asus CUV4X Motherboard

- Intel P3-700MHz CPU

- 128MB PC133 RAM

- Creative Annihilator PRO

- SoundBlaster PCI128

- 2 NIC’s

- FDD

- Western Digital 45GB 7200RPM UDMA/100 IDE hard drive

- Western Digital 20GB 7200RPM UDMA/100 IDE hard drive

- AOpen 48x cd-rom

- HP 7200i cd-writer

The first thing you have to do when you begin to build your system, is opening the case… of course. This is actually pretty easy; you just use your screwdriver to take out the screws, slide the side panel all the way back and pull it out of the brackets of the case. Unlike the HQ08, this HQ45 has a top that cannot be removed from the case. What the heck… why would you want to remove the top of the HQ45 in the first place??

Inside the case, you will find a bag with all screws, binders and any other equipement you might need to install your motherboard, expansion cards, cd-roms, and other hardware into the case.

Now that the side panel has been removed, we can begin the installation of our hardware. I’d like to note that the HQ45 doesn’t have a removable tray like the HQ08 does, so you are forced to mount your motherboard and other hardware directly into the narrow case. After I installed the motherboard along with the CPU and the RAM, I fitted the FDD and both WD hard drives into the free 3.5′ bays. No problems so far. Then I slided the cd-rom drive and the cd-writer into the free 5.25′ bays. Thanks to AOpen’s drive rails, installing these drives is just too ease. Well, it can never get TOO easy, but you know what I mean, right?!

The only thing left for me to do is installing my GeForce and the other expansion cards. To finish our work, connecting the front LEDs & buttons to the motherboard and attaching the necessary cables like the floppy cable, IDE cable, ATX powerconnector, audio cable, … is of course a requirement :) Be careful when attaching these cables because once you have installed all the hardware, the space inside the is very limited!

Hey… and what about cooling this case?

There’s isn’t really much to tell about the HQ45′s cooling features, because there simply are none! Woooow… don’t shoot me (yet)! I know there’s a fan cage in the front bottom of the case that can hold a 80mm fan, but I do NOT consider that great case cooling! It will only suck fresh air into you case, but think about what happens with the (hot) air that’s already inside the case? The HQ45 hasn’t got a single place where overclockers can put (a) fan(s) to blow the air out of their case! That’s why I do NOT consider this as the best choise for a thoroughbred overclocker. One more advise : be sure to adjust the position of your cables to ensure the best possible airflow.

Good

- Outstanding AOpen Quality

- Price / Quality

- Bend-in edges

- Slide away side panel to open the case

- Nice looks!

Bad

- Space inside the case is very limited

- Lack of cooling features!

- 250w powersupply (hmm?? Is this really such a bad thing?)

Conclusion

With the HQ45, AOpen has probably the most wanted mid-tower case in the world.
It looks really great from the outside and even beter from the inside. If you want to buy a descent mid-tower case, I would certainly recommend you the AOpen HQ45! The lack of cooling features might be a drawback to some, but then again, it might not be to others. The AOpen HQ45 isn’t the perfect mid-tower case, but it sure comes in the neighbourhood of perfection! The decision is yours!