Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/342



Quick Look

A-Top Translucent X2 588

The Good


http://www.a-top.com

+ Translucent bezel
+
Slide out motherboard tray
+ Side panels
+ Inexpensive

The Bad

- Questionable construction quality
- Loud
- Power supply located above CPU

Apple's iMac took the industry by storm and quickly became one of the best sellers on the market. The secret? Top performance? No. Ease of use? Partially. But the real secret may be that translucent blue case that just seems to make consumers go nuts. Apple recognized this fact and their new G3 machines are also featured in a translucent case, while a variety of colors have been added to the iMac line up.

The iMac's success has inspired translucent cases for all kind of products, from the latest MP3 players, to USB hubs, to the most natural of all - PC cases. In the PC world, we've pretty much always had plain off white computers. A few have ventured into the black case market, but these are fairly rare as well. A-Top's entry is their Translucent X2 588, available in blue, purple, or turquoise.

But for most AnandTech readers, it's more than just looks that make a good case. How is the cooling? The construction? How loud is it?

Specifications

Form Factor ATX Mid Tower
Drive Bays

Three external 5.25"
One external 3.5"

Two internal 3.5"

Cooling Power supply exhaust fan
80mm intake fan at front of case
Other Features Side panel access
Slide out motherboard tray
Dimensions
(HWD)

15.75" x 8.25" x 16.625 "

Power Supply

Tough Power ATC-250TU
250W




Click to enlarge

Design

The spec sheet for A-Top's 588 looks pretty good for a fairly small mid tower case. Each of the three side panels can be removed by two standard screws and have a thick layer of paint on them. The motherboard tray is similarly set free by the removal of three screws and a tug on a small handle. The removable motherboard tray allows for the installation of the motherboard and all expansion cards outside of the case where there is more room to work. This is an especially good thing in this case since the power supply is positioned directly above the ATX specified CPU location. Of course, that also means that a quick CPU upgrade requires the removal of either the power supply or the entire motherboard tray.

Once your in the case, the construction quality quickly becomes apparent. 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.


Click to enlarge

Drive installation is fairly typical. For 5.25" drives, that means slide it in from the front and secure it with screws. For 3.5" drives, it is possible to remove the drive cage and install your drives outside the case. Unfortunately, it is held in by a screw from the 5.25" bays above that is extremely difficult to take out without small hands and a small screwdriver. Of course, if there are drives there, it is impossible to remove without the removal of the drives.

The bezel features an integrated floppy drive slot that should be compatible with most 3.5" floppy drives on the market today. Potential problems may arise with older drives and it is, of course, useless for something like a Zip drive, tape backup, or most other non-floppy devices. The eject button for the floppy drive is unfortunately not spring loaded so it constantly feels loose.


Click to enlarge

Cooling options are fairly minimal. By default, the case only ships with the exhaust fan in the power supply to serve as the only form of cooling. A plastic fan holder at the bottom front of the case is available for the attachment of an additional cooling fan. Our review sample did not include this fan and was tested as such.

That power supply is from the relatively unknown Tough Power and provides 250W of power. It is fully ATX 2.01 compliant and provides 800mA on the +5Vsb line to adequately power wake on LAN/keyboard/mouse/etc. options that many motherboards have. A physical power switch is located on the back of the power supply for when ATX soft power refuses to shut the system off.



The Test

For full details on how we tested, please read AnandTech's case testing methodology.

As mentioned earlier, the A-Top 588 does not include a secondary case fan from the factory and it was tested in this configuration.

CPU temperature rose to a considerably higher level that the Palo Alto ATCX, approximately 10F hotter. The temperature actually started at approximately the same resting level, but quickly rose as the CPU was used more and more.

The ambient case temperature rose to a level comparable to that of the Palo Alto ATCX without an additional fan and was considerably hotter than any of the ATCX's other configurations. We see essentially the same effect with the HDD temperatures.

The same observations are observed in the average temperatures over 3 hours. The CPU temperature is quite a bit hotter than the ATCX without a fan, while case temp is slightly higher and HDD temp slightly lower.



Noise

Subjectively, the A-Top 588 is fairly loud, especially considering it only contains one fan, that of the power supply. This was confirmed by our sound pressure meter, which registered 65dB from the front or back. Fortunately, no rattles were observed so the only noise will be from the system and CPU fans and the hard drive.

Conclusion

Quick Look

A-Top Translucent X2 588

The Good


http://www.a-top.com

+ Translucent bezel
+
Slide out motherboard tray
+ Side panels
+ Inexpensive

The Bad

- Questionable construction quality
- Loud
- Power supply located above CPU

A-Top has set out to capitalize on the translucent craze caused by the introduction of the iMac. Unfortunately, they applied the treatment to a mediocre case is worse than what we've come to expect from the likes of InWin, Enlight and the other big name case makers.

If you must have a translucent case, add the A-Top to your list as it is one of the few available. But if you also value the quality, noise, or cooling of your case, the A-Top quickly becomes a less appealing option.

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