This is my review of the Shinobi XL case, I was luckily one of the three winners to get one of these cases.
I was hoping to finish the build this weekend but had a setback, the EK bay res arrived and it was the dual loop and not a single loop that I wanted
I will carry on with the review below and update as the new parts arrive and get installed.
Packaging:
The case arrives fine from Germany with the box getting a little battered on the way, with all the foam packing the case was unharmed.
The case:
Once the case was out of the box I was impressed, front and top are soft rubber material which is soft to touch, the buttons have a solid feel to them.
The side panels are very sturdy and do not flex very easily.
Rear cable mounts:
You get a box with array of cable ties, screws and cables mounts.
Under the top lid were my rad will be going, the front and roof are removable but you need to use a little force which I was worried that I would break in two!
Front of case, the main fan has a mesh to help catch the dust:
The array of cabe to the front ports, no Firewire port.
Hard drive caddy:
These are a little flimsy.
USB 3
Top fan removed:
My Build:
I will be using a triple radiator mounted in the roof, the radiator will only fit with the water connections at the optical drive bay end rather than the rear of the case as the water connections interferes with the I/O plate and rear fan, I don't think you would get away with angled connections on the radiator.
Reservoir, in my old case I used a tubular reservoir, which in this case being slightly smaller was hard to fit in easily without doing some mods, which I did not want to do. So I though I would have a go with a bay res, as this has turned up incorrect I am going to go a different route and use my EK DCP 4.0 which I used in a older build and get the attached reservoir which should fit in bottom fine.
Fitting a dual rad in the bottom or front is possible but you will probably need to use a slim radiator and possibly loose the hard drive rack.
Thoughts so far:
Plus points:
External case finish.
Solid side panels
Plenty of cables holes and mount points at the side to tie up cables
PSU can be fitted any way and sits on rubber mounts.
Fan filters for PSU and front fan.
Downside:
Rear fan only 120mm, holes for 140mm fan.
Front and top covers are hard to remove.
Hard drive mounts a little flimsy.
Not having a option to split the hard drive rack in two.
I was hoping to finish the build this weekend but had a setback, the EK bay res arrived and it was the dual loop and not a single loop that I wanted
I will carry on with the review below and update as the new parts arrive and get installed.
Packaging:
The case arrives fine from Germany with the box getting a little battered on the way, with all the foam packing the case was unharmed.
The case:
Once the case was out of the box I was impressed, front and top are soft rubber material which is soft to touch, the buttons have a solid feel to them.
The side panels are very sturdy and do not flex very easily.
Rear cable mounts:
You get a box with array of cable ties, screws and cables mounts.
Under the top lid were my rad will be going, the front and roof are removable but you need to use a little force which I was worried that I would break in two!
Front of case, the main fan has a mesh to help catch the dust:
The array of cabe to the front ports, no Firewire port.
Hard drive caddy:
These are a little flimsy.
USB 3
Top fan removed:
My Build:
I will be using a triple radiator mounted in the roof, the radiator will only fit with the water connections at the optical drive bay end rather than the rear of the case as the water connections interferes with the I/O plate and rear fan, I don't think you would get away with angled connections on the radiator.
Reservoir, in my old case I used a tubular reservoir, which in this case being slightly smaller was hard to fit in easily without doing some mods, which I did not want to do. So I though I would have a go with a bay res, as this has turned up incorrect I am going to go a different route and use my EK DCP 4.0 which I used in a older build and get the attached reservoir which should fit in bottom fine.
Fitting a dual rad in the bottom or front is possible but you will probably need to use a slim radiator and possibly loose the hard drive rack.
Thoughts so far:
Plus points:
External case finish.
Solid side panels
Plenty of cables holes and mount points at the side to tie up cables
PSU can be fitted any way and sits on rubber mounts.
Fan filters for PSU and front fan.
Downside:
Rear fan only 120mm, holes for 140mm fan.
Front and top covers are hard to remove.
Hard drive mounts a little flimsy.
Not having a option to split the hard drive rack in two.
