A simple case of airflow in this respectable effort from Gigabyte, but which colour do you want?
If you looked back a few years ago, Gigabyte is one company you wouldn’t
think could have become a major player in the PC enclosure market. The first
case they released, the Gigabyte 3D Aurora
sported good quality, plenty of features and a good design that people seemed
to like. Since the release of that case we’ve seen Gigabyte really expand its
case line-up with a number of new models.
The iSolo 210 is just one of the many cases offered by Gigabyte and
comes available in three colours: silver, grey and black. While there are a
number of colours available, the front of the case, which houses the five
5.25in and two 3.5in bays remains black on all of them. This on a whole works
pretty well thanks to black devices being fairly common these days. If you had
the whole case in grey, you would have trouble getting grey ROM drives to suit
the front, meaning it would look out of place.
Towards the bottom of the case we have a big power button located in the
middle, which glows blue when turned on. We also have two USB 2.0 ports, a
single FireWire port and a Line-in and Out jack on the front of the case. The
left panel has a mesh-like window on the side: you can still see into the case,
but not like you could with a standard window.
Pulling the lightweight aluminium side panel off, you find yourself
staring at a pretty standard layout. The power supply goes in its normal
position up the top whilst the motherboard sits at the bottom. The bottom right
has a removable cage which can hold three hard drives, and above that we have
another cage that can carry two more 3.5in devices. Up higher we have five
5.25in bays with everything at this point being tool-less.
As far as screws go, the only time you will need to use them and a screw
driver is when you install the motherboard and power supply. Apart from this,
everything else can be installed using the rail system or the clips for your
graphics card, sound card and other devices that you plug into your
motherboard.
Airflow is provided with the help of two 12cm fans: one is located at
the bottom of the case, which draws air straight across the bottom hard drive
cage, and the other is located next to the I/O motherboard slot, which helps
draw air out of the case. With the power supply sitting in the standard
position up the top, it helps push any hot air out the back of the case. While
there aren’t a huge amount of fans, the decision to use larger 12cm ones in
well-thought-out places means that the airflow on a whole is very good.
Gigabyte says that upgradeability, aesthetics and security rank among
the top criteria for this generation of DIY users, and while the Gigabyte's
stated emphasis on security is something a lot of people might not agree with,
there is no doubt that the other two are very important. Gigabyte has managed
to cover both very well: there’s a bit of shape to the case and the blue glow
is a very nice touch as well. While some people no doubt would prefer something
with a bit more going on in the looks department, if you’re looking for an
elegant midi-tower that’s going to cover the needs of most users, the iSolo 210
could be the case of choice. Now you just need to decide which colour you want.