Value Case Roundup: A Look at the Affordable
by Purav Sanghani on February 1, 2005 12:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Linkworld 3131G
A quick search for Linkworld Electronic Co. on Google will show an extremely long list of products from which to choose that both look like they are high end, yet carry the price of a budget PC case. Linkworld looks to be one of many case re-branders in the industry, which means that they take a reference OEM design and modify the external look to give it their own flavor.
External Design
Like the 268WSP, Linkworld's 3131G gives the impression from its external look that it is far from cheap. The front bezel is a combination of a beige and gray plastic molding, which keeps the look simple, but not cheap as we would expect from a product of this price.
The top half of the bezel consists of four 5-1/4" and two 3-1/2" drive bay covers. They are all secured in place unlike those we have seen in some higher priced chassis, which can be punched out easily.
Continuing downwards, we see the power and reset buttons in a similar vertical arrangement as the 268WSP, but the power and HDD activity LEDs are on either side of the button arrangement to give it a symmetrical look. Each button is easy to press, the power button being the larger one, and the reset button does not require anything less than an average-sized finger.
At the bottom of the case, we see a fold-down door that hides the auxiliary ports. The door itself seems a bit flimsy at the snap-in points. The auxiliary connections consist of just two USB ports. We felt the door to be unnecessary for this reason and the manufacturer could have pulled it off if they could implement the USB ports seemingly on the bezel.
The left and right side panels are completely identical. Neither features a mounted fan, but they do have arrays of holes for ventilation at the top and bottom of each panel. This should help in passive cooling of the entire case. To remove the panels, we again need to remove two screws at the back. Unlike the 268WSP, though, the panels have indentations to allow a better grip on each panel in order to slide them off.
Internal Design
The 3131G has a total of four 5-1/4" and eight 3-1/2" drive bays. With the extra HDD bays, we can even use this case as a small server. One thing we noticed with the bays was that while the 5-1/2" bays had platforms to support the drives, the 3-1/2" bays did not. We have to hold the drive straight to mount it properly, which can sometimes be a hassle when installing multiple drives. Each set of drive bays has slots cut out on the sides for more flexibility in mounting drives (they can slide back and forth).
We were very interested in the motherboard tray for a couple of reasons. First, there are raised stand-offs punched into the steel tray at the most common points of a motherboard. Besides that, though, the manufacturer has implemented removable plastic stand-offs to allow installation of a variety of motherboards. Linkworld has also included plastic insulators for the raised stand-offs, which will not be used to keep from shorting circuits on the motherboard. How's that for preventative technology!
Again, with the 3131G, the expansion slot covers need to be punched out to use them. Right above the slots are a few cutouts for additional serial and parallel ports from a motherboard that features them.
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DAPUNISHER - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...Has side and top fans included and goes for $31. Also has room for 1 intake and 2 exhaust and good conservative styling.
DaveA - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
oh and the athenatech a602 goes for $48.50 on newegg. i recommend it over any of the cases reviewed here.DaveA - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
how come you didnt include the athenatech a602? you recommended it in your recent budget guide. it has 120mm fan slots in the front and rear of the case, a 92mm cpu duct on the side of the case which can take a 92mm fan. it has 2 usb 2.0 ports on the front along with microphone and speaker ports. its almost completely tooless as well. has a removable hard drive cage and no sharp edges.Spacecomber - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
I don't think that I can see making use of any but a couple of these cases reviewed, even for an inexpensive system. I mean there's inexpensive and then there's cheap, and most of these cases exude cheapness. For instance, I can't believe that a few drilled out holes in sheet metal can provide a proper fan vent; it looks more like what you would use for straining your spaghetti noodles.I guess that I'm also not of the school that screwless is better. I mean operating a screwdriver is pretty simple; often more so than trying to figure out how all the various clips and latches are suppose to work. I usually end up feeling like a system that uses screws, instead of these various clips, is really assembled and not just hung together.
So far, I haven't found a case and power supply (bought seperately or together) that is as good as and less expensive than the Antec 1650, which is my choice for entry level and basic systems. $55 for a case that includes 120mm fan, Antec SL-350 power supply, and side CPU air guide.
Antec just needs to start upgrading their power supplies to more models with 24 pin main power cables and 6 pin PCI-E video card connectors, but I'm talking about their cases and power supplies aimed at higher end systems, now.
Anyway, that's just my 2 cents worth. I always enjoy looking at any review that tries to focus on practical hardware such as this review does.
Space
sdfg - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Actually, the Chenming case looks very similar to the Antec Lanboy, only steel and sans power supply.LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
The power supplies of these review units are horrible, and do not in any way represent good additional value, IMO. Every enthusiast forum I know of rates RaidMax and Powmax PSU's as utter crap. I noticed that at least one of them only delivered 12 amps on the 12v rail, not even close to what Barton core Athlon XP systems need for reasonable stability. I'm not sure I even trust the ratings on the stickers though, as cheap power supplies tend to list overly optimistic specs.For not much more than this, you can buy an Antec SX630II or SX635II case that may not be flashy, but is built more solidly, won't cut you, and has an Antec power supply. If you're serious about making a good system though, buy your power supply separately from the case. With cases, you really do get what you pay for, and the Chenming was the only case I saw in this review that I didn't think was crap.
MrEMan - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
What is it these days with all the cases being mini/mid/full size towers? Unless you put the tower under the desk, it takes up more desktop real estate than putting the monitor on top of a desktop case (which also raises the monitor to eye level, which is preferred, unless the user has bi-focals).I don't want a tower and I don't want an XPC.
I want a standard desktop case with multiple bay options which can hold either a 19" monitor or a flat panel (neither of which an XPC will do apart from a balancing act).
Besides, since heat rises, vertical orientated expansion slots are better than the heat accumulating horizontal orientated slots in all tower cases.
avijay - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Good review. Its sad to note though for cases with a PSU, the PSU doesn't get much coverage despite requests everytime a case review is published. No indication of the reliability of the PSU that comes along with the case. Usually everyone who goes looking for a case would like to buy one with a PSU if available and it would be good to know the pros and cons of PSUs and also how they perform. Everyone knows a good PSU is as important for a stable system as any of the components. I'd really like to see how these PSUs (and for that matter some of the other well known PSUs) perform when put to the test.Possible to do a PSU roundup? If PSUs cant be covered in case reviews, please cover them separately.
Dranzerk - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
I would rather buy one of these than all the stupid expensive voltron looking "gamer" cases on the market. I saw a case that looked like someone puked up crayons they ate all over it..it was $90! lolNice article.
eetnoyer - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Still waiting on the "affordable" memory review.