Caporegime
OcUK product homepage - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=ca-048-dt&groupid=2362&catid=2295
here is a quick look at the dimastech easy v3 testbench.
why should you buy a test bench?
mainly this comes down to convenience if you are a prolific hardware tester/bencher. using a test bench such as the easy v3 enables rapid swapping of parts not easily done with a computer case, you also have the convenience of not being restricted in anyway with expansion card length and cpu cooler height or if you use a ln2 pot to cool your cpu.
packaging.
The Easy V3 arrived in a large cardboard box with the most annoying packing foam ever, it is the nasty stuff that screeches and really gets into your ear drums, hate it.
The main body of the test bench is pre-assembled, good thing really as there are no instructions supplied with this.
Accessories.
This is all that comes within the box,
• Pot of assorted screws.
• Four rubber feet.
• Two anti-vandal switches with two braided cables.
• A flexible arm with a 120mm fan mount.
• A plate with four holes 17mm holes for water cooling.
The screws supplied are of a sufficient amount and assortment for my uses.
The braided cables and switches are of a very nice quality.
There are five terminals on the rear of the switches labelled as,
NO, NC, C, +, -
As there are no instructions supplied with this test bench a person with no knowledge of what they mean may not get the switches to work correctly first time, the ± are obviously for the ring LED around each switch and wont pose a problem for anyone.
The bench.
That is how it comes assembled out of the box, the drive cages and PSU mount are already fitted.
There are plenty of captive nuts fitted in the base for you to be able to re-position the cages and PSU mount.
Both sides can fit triple 120mm radiator or a dual 140mm, there are elongated slots for differing 120mm spacing.
3.5" drives are secured with rubber grommets to reduce vibration.
Unfortunately no way of fitting a 2.5" drive is supplied, so if you don't have an adapter plate then you need to get one or use a bungie mod or velcro.
No fan is supplied for the flexi arm mount.
Would have been nice if a plate that held a closed loop water cooler in this sort of position was included, it can not be mounted in the test benches normal radiator mount position as the tubes on these closed loop water coolers are too short.
This is where an optional I/O Panel can be bought and mounted.
This shows how the switch LED illuminate.
Final thoughts.
Lets start by describing what it is, a few bent bits of metal with some holes cut into it which is all it is at the end of the day. The fact that more is not included is a shame, it should include the I/O panel, a 120mm fan, a way to fit a 2.5" drive and a way to fit a closed loop water cooler in the box.
There are no instructions on how to wire up the switches and how to assemble the last few bits. Dimastech could look at adding instructions to the finished product, or at least have a pdf online to download.
So to sum up, if you need a test bench and want a safe way of having your expensive gear mounted (I use to use a shoe box with the drives just lying around and often worried about them if they got nudged and possibly fell of the desk) then you could do worse. The design is good, but maybe adding a new feature like being able to fit a closed loop radiator to the frame would be a big benefit.
