A-Top AT900 Mid Tower ATX

Design

The Atop AT900 looks like almost any other mid tower ATX case. At 21" tall, it is bigger than most cases classified as "mid towers," but it's definitely not a full tower. The front bezel is cleanly laid out, with the power button to the right of the 3.5" bays. The reset button, HD activity LED, and the power LED are located just below those same drive bays. Both buttons are large and easy to press.

The bottom of the bezel features a number of holes that act as an air vent. Our evaluation sample featured an exhaust fan mounted in the side panel, with a metal fan guard to prevent any lost fingers. Although it is typically not available directly from Atop with this fan, it's simple enough to cut your own hole and mount a fan in that position.

Two thumb screws secure the left side panel, which is all that you'll need to remove for full access to the AT900. Two standard screws are used to attach the right panel, which fortunately does not need to be removed under most circumstances. The front bezel can be removed simply by tugging on it. The top panel is not removable.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Expansion

The additional size of the AT900 is put towards additional expansion space. That means 8 drive bays stacked right on top of each other. Of those 8, 4 are 5.25" external bays, 2 internal 3.5" bays, and 2 external 3.5" bays. The 4 external 5.25" bays puts the AT900 slightly ahead of most other mid towers.

A unique screwless drive rail system is used to install all drives in the AT900. Small tabs on the rails are inserted into the screw holes on each drive. Then simply slide the assembly into the case from the front until the rails click into place, indicating that they are secure. There's nothing to actually secure the rails to a drive beyond the pressure given from the case frame itself. Even hard drives are mounted in the same manner, except they slide into the bay from the inside of the case. Rails are used on both sides of 5.25" devices, while one side of 3.5" devices are secured to the frame by screws rather than rails.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

The metal inside the case all has a "chrome" finish that makes everything very shiny. Most edges are rounded off, but there are a few sharp ones, so be careful. The sheet metal is fairly thin and can easily be bent.