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Taking off the windowed side panel allows us to get a good look at the innards of the SPEC-ALPHA.
It is worth noting the lack of external 5.25in bays – this means there is plenty of open space to work with in the chassis. While the whole case measures 518mm x 220mm x 474mm (L x W x H), without the front and top panels the actual chassis itself is quite compact, too.
Starting at the front of the case, one great feature of the SPEC-ALPHA is the inclusion of 2x 120mm LED fans. These are connected to the fan controller out-of-the-box so you do not even have to worry about setting them up.
The fans themselves have red LEDs integrated into the four corners – this matches the white-and-red colour scheme very nicely, and allows you to see more of the internal components when the windowed panel is on.
There are no fans included in the top of the case – though it can support up to 2x 120mm fans – but at the rear of the case another 120mm unit comes pre-installed. This is not connected to the fan controller by default, but it is an easy job to get it hooked up.
The SPEC-ALPHA features plenty of cable management cut-outs, too, along the bottom and sides of the motherboard tray. Later in the review we assess the practicality of building in this case, so hopefully these cut-outs will help.
The bottom of the case also includes a large dust filter, although it is not mounted using a rails-and-sliders system – which makes it harder to remove. Still, any filtering is better than no filtering, particularly if you want to mount your power supply fan-side down.
Cleverly positioned below the two front intake fans is a 3-bay drive cage. I say this is clever as it simply means air will blow over the cage, rather than through it – with the latter obviously restricting airflow, which is not ideal.
The drive cage itself features an entirely tool-free installation method – simply slide in your drive and it will lock into place. Also noteworthy is that the top of the drive cage features two smaller caddies for 2.5in drives.
Lastly, we take a look behind the motherboard tray.
Here, it is good to see a large cut-out behind the CPU socket. This allows easy access to your CPU cooler's backplate, meaning you can swap out the cooler without removing the motherboard should you wish.
The image on the right also shows two horizontal 2.5in drive mounts positioned to the left of the motherboard tray.
Fugly
nice housing
£80 for this?
Poor cable management, weak cooling options, angular with red accents (ie the standard “gamer” aesthetic, a marmite design to say the least) .
For ~£15 less you can have the NZXT Source 340, which offers a simpler, cleaner look with far better cable routing. If you want a Corsair equivalent, the carbide 270R comes in at the same price as the nzxt option, with similar cable management, a similar look, and even better cooling options, for multiple rad water loops.
Or for £75 is the king of this price range – the Fractal Define S. Excellent cable management, solid build quality, and room for up to a 420mm rad on top (or a 360 if going x120), up to 360mm on the front, a 120mm on the bottom and a 120 or 140mm on the rear.
Not sure what corsair are thinking with this tower, they lose to one of their cheaper cases for functionality (the carbide 270r) and gets demolished at the price point by the define S.
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what would you recommend around those prices for someone who ‘d like to have the possibility to mount at least three 3.5″ mechanical drives without sacrificing quality-usability-neatness
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-s
The define S, fits 3x 3.5″ and 2x 2.5, can fit multiple radiators too (should you aio cool your cpu and have a hybrid cooler for your card, along with solid cable management. For me it’s the best case in its price point.
where i stay its price at the moment is more than £85 ( >100 euros ) and that’s a bit over the price range i have in mind.
besides this i am skeptical about the way the drives are mounted. is that convenient ? isn’t a problem that ssd’s are behind the mobo ?
what about CD/DVD drives? Where is the slot for them outside?
there isn’t one