Value Case Roundup: A Look at the Affordable

AsiaPro 8654BL

Like Linkworld Electronics Co., AsiaPro also takes reference cases and gives it that AsiaPro touch.

External Design

The bezel of the 8654BL is what will attract spectators. On either side of the bezel, there are two clear tubes that extend from top to bottom. Each looks like it has thousands of tiny bubbles in it, but they are really fibers that emit light when the system is turned on. It cycles through various colors and gives the bezel a flashy, yet not overdone look.

The rest of the bezel is silver in color. There are four 5-1/4"; drive bays, the top one taken by an included optical drive bezel, which has the phrase "Digital Multimedia Computer System"; printed in black on it. There are also two 3-1/2"; drive bays under those.

At the bottom, we see the power and reset buttons with the power and HDD activity LEDs between the buttons in the same vertical placement as the 268WSP. This whole scene is framed by a molded inset border.

Under the buttons and LEDs, we see a fold-up door that hides the auxiliary ports. This time, the door easily swivels up and inside the case to avoid accidental breakage unlike the 268WSP and 3131G. The ports, though, are limited to dual USB ports with optional punch out openings for audio and FireWire as on the 268WSP.

The side panels feature a pressed-in globe logo as well as ventilation holes at the front corners. To remove these, we need to remove two screws and pull the panels back.

Internal Design

The internal structure, like the 268WSP, is made of 0.7mm steel, which proves to be slightly stronger than the steel used in the 3131G, but the quality of this steel was not as high as that used in the 268WSP. We will see later, however, that the steel still may not be as strong as it should be to hold certain parts of our test bed.

We begin at the front where we see the four 5-1/4" drive bays. Each has a platform on which to rest the drives as well as two sets of four holes and two sets of long cut-outs to help mount drives.

The lower bays are of the 3-1/2" type and are plentiful at 6 for HDD and 2 more at the top for floppy drives.

The motherboard tray, like the 3131G, features raised stand-offs at the main motherboard contact points as well as many other holes to install standard stand-offs for a wider range of boards. AsiaPro also includes insulators similar to those that come with the 3131G for those raised stand-offs that will not be used.

The expansion slots also feature something interesting. The bottom four slot covers have holes for ventilation and the option to mount an 80mm fan there. We'll talk more about cooling a bit later.

As we move up to the back plate of the motherboard, we notice some bending of the steel in that area. It seems as though the included power supply is much too heavy for this steel to hold up. We are afraid that our bigger and heavier OCZ PowerStream may certainly take the bent steel to another level.