Installation

This content was originally featured on Amdmb.com and has been converted to PC Perspective’s website. Some color changes and flaws may appear.

By installation here I mean the installation of the hardware into the case. With the use of a sliding pull-out backing, motherboard installation was incredibly easy. You can pull out the tray, and take it to a more comfortable place to attach the board, in this testing bed, the Asus K7M Rev 1.04 motherboard. With all the cards placed in their respective slots before sliding the tray back into position, the usually most difficult of installation was completed.

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There is plenty of room on the inside of this case for you to work on your cables. Keeping the cables in tie wraps or rubber bands is the best way to go, keeping the inside of the PC neat and organized. On the bottom, in front of the fan, is a nice place to rest any tupperware you may be using for water cooling your system. There was not a single sharp edge anywhere on this case. Even the backplates where the cards go in have metal punchouts that leave smooth, rounded edges. Not a cut or scrape on this installation.

Taking the face plates off the 5.25″ bays was simple enough and sliding the CD ROMs and CD Burners was a sinch. Number slots on the side rails allow you to easily match up each side so that the device is flush with the front of the case. With 5 bays, you have plenty of room to work with here. In the test bed we had the following: 50x CD-ROM, 6x4x24x CD-R, Internal ZIP on mounting rack, IStorm air conditioner; with still an extra bay for DVD or whatever else we chose to throw in. Hard drive installation went just as smooth, with room for 5 internal 3.5″ devices. We installed only two drives into the case, but attached individual hard driver coolers from 3DCOOL to them.

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As a server case, InWin expects you to have a lot of devices so a powerful power supply was included, the AGI HP-300SN, 300-watt power supply. The power supply provides ample amounts of power connectors and didn’t require me to use a single power splitter, with all the devices in. This power supply is approved by AMD for use on Athlon systems, and on the K7M, we saw no difficulties from the power supply; even the voltage-eating Athlon processor was appeased by it.

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While the case itself does not come with any additional fans besides the power supply, for around $15 you can pick a 3″ ball-bearing case fan to use. There are three spots that hold these cases, and I recommend you use them all; otherwise it is just wasted space, in my opinion. A spot above the power supply, on next the processor and one in the front of the case to draw air in can be used to keep the server case cool.

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