Ultra Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case - Installation

Installation

Installation is much the same as any other case, but I'll point out a couple of the more notable features of this case and then we'll see how it looks when ye olde socket 754/AGP system is installed into the chassis.

The removable motherboard tray, with the board in place and ready to be inserted back into the case.

A single HDD mount. Simply flip the HDD over, bear in mind which side you want the power/IDE/SATA cables to protrude from, then line it up with the mount and screw it down utilising the four screws on the underside of the drive. Slide it back into the rack and off you go.

This is how the drive rails are attached to a 5.25" drive. In this case a DVDRW was used.

The drive then slides into it's bay, and the clips on both sides hold it firmly in place without the need for screws.

What I wanted to point out with this shot is the way that the PSU is supported. On a lot of the cases I have used in the past, the PSU has only been supported by a couple of tiny little brackets, which, although they do their job they could definitely be improved upon, especially when a heavy PSU is used. Ultra have done exactly that and have used two full aluminium beams which stem right across the length of the case to support the PSU.

The front of the case with the door open and the DVDRW installed. Beige isn't the best colour here, but I'm not too concerned about that since I figure that's what the door is mostly for; to hide it. ;-)

The rear of the case once everything has been installed. For anyone who's wondering what the aerial is for, it's for the wireless PCI card.

A clear view of the interior with everything installed. A good deal of space all around. Anybody who knows me will tell you that cables are absolutely not my main priority, and I think that's fairly obvious to see. As far as I'm concerned, as long as they're not going to get stuck in fans or impede airflow massively they are fine! It would look better if the cables were sleeved though.

And finally with the side panel on, and the side intake blowing cold air over the CPU area. This case definitely has modding potential, but unfortunately I'm not into that side of things and I don't have any coloured fans or lights of any kind here at the moment.

For those interested in knowing the operating temperatures (front 120mm blowing in, rear 120mm blowing out, side 80mm blowing in), they are as follows:

CPU (3000+ Newcastle) : Idle = 24c  Load = 36c

HDD (Seagate 40GB IDE 7200RPM) : Idle = 25c  Load = 25c

GPU (6600GT 128MB AGP) : Idle = 52c  Load = 76c