Installation
Unfortunately, the Intel Intel D975XBX2 Motherboard which I usually use as a testbed isn’t going to fit in this case. It’s standard ATX, and this case only takes Micro ATX motherboards. So, I am going to use a repaired Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L motherboard, and I will be using the bundled In Win power supply. The rest of the components will be similar.
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The IP-S400CQ2-0 Power supply’s short cables and relatively few connectors were a blessing in disguise for this case. In spite of having no way to hide the cables behind the motherboard tray, it wasn’t actually all that untidy, as there simply weren’t all that many extra cables that needed hiding. Those that didn’t get used could simply be bundled up with the main ATX connector. The screwless mounts on the DVD drive actually worked quite well. The drive doesn’t wiggle too much, and didn’t rattle when it was being used to install the OS.
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This was about as good as I could do at keeping the headers and SATA cables out of the way. Hiding them behind the motherboard tray would have been nice, but at least these cables don’t interfere with airflow that badly. The front bezel is very easy to remove. Simply slide that green handle in the above right picture toward you, and the bottom of the bezel comes out. It can then be swung upwards until it un-latches from the top and off it comes.
Just a quick note, though, about those twist ties. I don’t normally encourage using them in computers; if the small piece of wire inside them touches the motherboard, it can fry it. They are only being used here as this PC will come out once this review is done, and a new Core i3 build will go in, where zip ties will be used
The Z583 uses a blue power LED with a yellow HDD Activity LED. Personally, I quite like that combination but others will have their own preferences.
Normally, this is where the test results would go. Unfortunately, however, this motherboard’s temperature readouts were unreliable, with Speedfan reporting unrealistically low temperatures – sometimes slightly lower than the ambient room temperature. That said however, the cooling appears to have been decent. The exhaust air never felt warm, and neither did any part of the case, even under load – something that can’t be said of many Micro-ATX cases when a computer with a Pentium D processor is installed. It also managed to achieve this without the use of high powered fans. The bundled rear fan was quiet, even though the GA-G41M-ES2L doesn’t support temperature controlling the case fan.
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