MGE Viper: Another Xtreme Gamer Creation
by Purav Sanghani on December 18, 2004 5:14 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Enternal Design (cont'd)
At the top of the Viper, we immediately noticed two rails on either side of the case. They are placed there to be used as handles so one does not strain his or her back lugging the case from one place to another. Well, not so much really. The rails extend from front to back and seem strong enough to withstand a great amount of weight.
Click to enlarge.
At the front of the chassis, at the top, there is a pod-shaped module that houses the auxiliary connections as well as the power and reset buttons. A small, push-to-open door hides these from view, which keeps the look as clean as possible. The back portion of that pod is vented, which MGE says will help cool the system. However, when drives are installed in the top-most bays, air flow to that area will be minimized significantly. The auxiliary module does not make much sense to be as big as it is and, in our opinion, takes up too much space on the outside of the case.
Click to enlarge.
The side panels, especially the left side panel, are very exciting to look at. Though many will have mixed feelings on the art, we believe that the Viper logo window is a great added touch to the theme. Each side panel also features "Viper" printed towards the front of the panel, similar to the Sidewinder case.
Click to enlarge.
Looking at the backside of the Viper, we see the first signs of a well done paintjob. The entire backplane is painted red to match the color scheme of the Viper. We see mounts for two optional 80mm fans, which we will talk about later, a couple serial/parallel port cutouts, and a removable/replaceable motherboard backplate. MGE also includes a plastic "Static Wire Guard", which is meant to organize and protect the wiring from the system during mobility. We did not think that this was necessary, since wiring can still become tangled and be bent.
Click to enlarge.
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CrystalBay - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
I hate these snapin standoffs on My CM-ATCS201, give me brass stand offs anytime. Yeah the paintjobs not to bad also, The thermal and noise qualities are a welcome bonus as is the stock/w-out PSU price.Locut0s - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
rslayerr: When I think of a stylish case I think of something like this:http://scasp.webnow.biz/upload/a0000010/en_US/prd_...
http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showimage.htm...
etc...
I don't know why you asume that when I say that the case in this review is ugly that I think that a neon glowing case is cool, I definitely don't.
skunkbuster - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
that thing is damn FUGLY !rslayerr - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
hahahaha..you guys make me laugh....some of you are finding childish that style of case and that its only good for 12 years old...you wanna know something,what the hell do you think putting neon-glow,and all those shit does look like.??yup,thats it..12 years old...hahahaha
sry...but i prefer a nice looking case like that,stylish and different,than having a big all acrylic one with 100 neons-glow that flash with the music...yup..im still young at heart even if im 30...but i personnaly found that neon and all..not for me....geez,,its a computer,,not a disco...anyways..
MY 2 CENTS!
KristopherKubicki - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
dripgoss: I am definitely looking forward to the Dragon also. I caught a look at it at Computex from CaseTek and the LCD front panel looks outstanding (it has a pretty high resolution too, something like 200x200).Kristopher
dripgoss - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
Damn, u guys are harsh. My wife chose this case (30 years old, not 12) out of all the cases on the net for her system build. I thought the same thing too when she came home with it - "oh boy, wtf is this..." But she bought it on sale at San Jose MicroCenter for $50 and, unlike the reviews, hers came with a very solid 500W MGE PSU. The rails were very solid and are powering her 6800U, A64 3000+ @ 2500 (Tt SilentBoost HSF), VNF3-250, 1GB DDR500, 2xSATA 200GB system. I added a Vantec stealth 120mm as intake to the front, a CM 80mm on the side, and turned all the other 80mm fans as out-take and the case dropped 10°C over her old Antec Solution case. CPU is 29°C idle / 40°C load (OC'ed) and ambient temp using the included probe is always 25°C!! Replaced most accessible screws with thumscrews and it seems to be a decent buy if you can find it as low as she did...Basically, this case may not be for some, but it keeps the comp way cool, is really silent and the handles are a nice touch even if just to move around a few feet.
The acrylic applique window was a bit shoddy though and I hope they fix that in later models. Also, our box made reference to an "Overclockers kit" which didn't seem to be included in the box. And the case sides need to be finessed in order to get them to slide back on. Personally, I can't wait to check out the MGE/XGBox Dragon aluminum case when it's released. Other than these short-comings, the case ain't half bad under a desk and tucked away from your artsy fartsy, retro art-decco furnishings...
NesuD - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
Looks like potluck on what Power supply it really comes with to. Checked both the Newegg links and the ZZF link and none of them included the same power supply as was in the review. By the way I agree that the looks are just to far out there for me. I like most of the external features, the handles, temp display, front panel connectors on top. To bad the whole package reminds to much of a transformer toy when I look at it.klah - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
Oh, I forgot..."How about looking for quality cases which are more pleasingly designed? Instead of monsters I would like to see something that would fit nicely in a modern home"
I concur.
klah - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
"Wow, I'm at a loss for words. Who buy such a thing?"12-year olds.
diehlr - Saturday, December 18, 2004 - link
Why do reviewers keep picking these fugly cases to review? God damn that thing is hideous.