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AOpen A600


Date
: 08/1/03 – 12:53:27 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: AOpen
Price: $115

Introduction

When Steven and I attended CeBIT this past March, AOpen was showing of a truckload of new and upcoming cases. At that moment, I was pretty impressed as AOpen was clearly moving away from the boring but solid "beige" cases and heading towards cool looking cases that would make a nice fit in a modern living room. One of those "new" design cases is the AOpen A600. Not only is it made entirely out of aluminum, it looks very stylish and is fitted with a lot of interesting goodies. As usual, OverclockersOnline.Com had the chance to check it out first hand and give you the entire coverage of this new attention grabber … I present to you, the AOpen A600.

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

-
Housing Material:
Aluminum
-
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 2/6 (external/internal)
-
Dimensions:
19.4"(D) x 7.87"(W) x 18.6"(H) / 495mm(D)x200mm(W)x476mm(H)
-
Power Supply:
400/350/300W ATX 12V high efficiency,
-
Front USB & Audio:
2 * USB / Head phone / Mic. In / 6pin or 4pin 1394 (Optional)
-
Ventilation:
12cm LED 2nd fan x 1(installed), 8cm 2nd fan x 1 (option)
-
FCC and CE:
Ready
-
Net Weight:
15.28 lbs. / 6.93 kg
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Gross Weight:
20.13 lbs. / 9.13 kg
-
Volume:
2.86 cu. ft.

The A600 is AOpen's latest midi tower and is made completely out of aluminum, making it very light to carry around. AOpen likes to call it a super midi tower because it has features some full towers can only dream of, and hence the "super" ;). The case features a total of six external 5.25" drive bays, two external 3.5" bays ideal for housing a floppy or zip drive, and six internal 3.5" drive bays to accomodate a nice array of storage room.

Although it has a lot of expasion room, it does not translate into a huge case that takes up half your bunker … With case dimensions of 19.4"x7.87"x18.6" it is pretty standard if you ask me. Underneath all of this aluminum, you'll find four rotatable feet to help stabilize the case … and when I write stabilize, I really mean
stabilize
!! These feet are of the same kind you'll find on those large server cases, so there is no chance in the world this case will be tipped over unless it is struck by an out of control Caterpillar or something alike ;).

The front bezel is made out of a combination of black and grey plastic, giving the A600 a designer look. The bottom part has several horizontal fins with a secret door built into it … when opening it you'll find two USB2.0 compatible ports, a IEEE1394 FireWire port and of course audio connectors! Very nice @ LAN parties, meaning no more crawling behind your computer!
Next to the external 3.5" bays, you'll find the power and reset button. The powerbutton has a nice glowing "ring" around it which fades from one color to another every few seconds … very neat :D. The reset button, which I wouldn't mind being a tad larger, is also surrounded by a glowing ring, but this one only shines "orange" and acts as hdd activity led … Very stylish and original … I love it!

Having covered the front of the case, let's take a closer look at the side panels. Both panels are easily removed thanks to the thumb screws and the left panel itself has a blowhole preinstalled … well, not really a blowhole :) … more of a blowtunnel! The general idea is that you install the included plastic tube onto this hole, and then adjust its length so it hovers right above the CPU fan when the side panel is installed. Once that is done the CPU fan will be sucking cold air directly from outside the case, ensuring good cooling. I tested this of course, and it really works!! Gave me a temperature difference of nearly 4 degrees Celsius!

The back of this case has some special features as well. If you look closely, you'll notice two switches which control two fans … yes, AOpen has preinstalled a rheobus! One of the switches is hooked up to the preinstalled 120mm fan with three leds whereas the other one is still available. You can connect any 3-pin fan to it and you're off. I like this rheobus thing a lot, as it allows you to have a silent system but still crank up the juice when needed (at LAN parties, during the hot summer, etc).

Looking on the inside, you'll notice that AOpen also decided to use thumb screws for the add-on cards. No more tools required to install a card ;). The backcovers that keep dust out when no cards are installed have a nice clip to them so they snap into place and stay there. The only downside I could find on the inside, is the lack of a removable motherboard tray …

Note that you'll also get a bag of CD-ROM screws, HDD screws and a third bag with mixed stuff for motherboard installation and other crap. A nice touch is the included "AOpen Rag" which is there to maintain the case and remove fingerprints and dust from the A600.

Page 3 : Testing

Testing

I was in need of a new computer case as I wanted a new rig and I love switching cases every now and then … so when the A600 showed up at my doorstep I immediatelly knew it would get a good home ;). Here's a list of the hardware I put into it:

- ABIT IC7-G
- Intel P4 1.8A @ 2.9GHz (default voltage)
- 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 DDR
- CD-ROM, CD-RW, Video, Hard Drive, … you know the drill ;)

As I already mentioned, the A600 comes without a removable motherboard tray, which makes it a tad harder to install a motherboard into it. After some handywork, I got the motherboard in and once that was done everything else was a piece of cake. Everything fit nicely and there are no sharp edges to be found, so no injuries when installing a new rig … Everything went superb and without any problems …

I noticed that you no longer need to connect the power led to the motherboard … AOpen has connected it immediatelly to the PSU so there is no need to look for the cable ;) as there is no cable :D.

Once everything was put together I powered up the machine and, as expected, it all worked right away. I noticed that this system was very silent (as the switches of the rheobus were set to "low") while still putting down excellent temperatures on the chart …

The PSU that AOpen included in my review sample was a 350W model, but you can also get it with a 300W or 400W PSU if needed. According to my expierence, AOpen uses high quality PSU's and their 350W model will do just fine for 90% of the users out there … only real hardware junkies with loads and loads of hardware may want to get the 400W model. The PSU is ofcourse P4 ready, supporting the ATX12V standard.

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

AOpen has managed to amaze me with the A600, which is one fantastic computer case! It looks awesome thanks to its shiny black aluminum material and the contrasting grey/black front bezel. Add to that the load of features like the front USB2.0 and IEEE1394 FireWire ports, the front audio connectors, the blow-tunnel, and the preinstalled 12cm LED-fan controlled by a preinstalled rheobus that this case comes with. The only downside I can think of, is the lack of a removable motherboard tray which would have made it a tad easier to install a motherboard … Let's also not forget about the high quality power supply and the cool looking power and reset buttons with the glowing rings, and last but not least, the expensive looking dust rag with AOpen branded on it ;). My conclusion? AOpen has delivered an excellent, light-weight case with all the features you can ask for. Its multitude of strong points just seem to make the very few bad points fade away. Therefore, the AOpen A600 takes home the official Overclockers Online POWER Award.

Good

- Material
- Quality
- Extra's
- Price

Bad

- No removable motherboard tray
- Perhaps install a larger reset button?