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It's quite clear from the moment you open the box that the Strike-X Air is no ordinary case. The form factor is fairly similar to other ‘test benches' on the market. It's construction combines both steel and plastic feels and little flimsy in places. The black and red finish is certainly eye-catching but we we'll let you decide whether you like the styling or not.
Rather than using a completely open design, Aerocool have chosen to include a large mesh cover which can be set it various orientations to allow access to the components installed within. It also acts as a mounting point for a large 200 mm fan which helps generate airflow.
Along the front edge of the chassis there are a selection of front panel connections. These consist of two USB3.0 ports, three USB2.0 ports, and two 3.5 mm jacks. We find the power and reset buttons to the right of these.
Moving over to the left section of the case, there are three hot-swap hard drive bays at the bottom which features plastic caddies. These support both 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives. Above these, there are three optical drive bays which can be removed if required.
Looking at the rear of the chassis, we can see that there are ten expansion slots in total. This should ensure compatibility with pretty much every motherboard on the market. To the left of these there are four water cooling grommets, above the I/O panel.
There is also a long metal bar on the rear which features a number of pre-drilled fan holes. These are designed to let you affix fans to the rear of the chassis. This is quite flimsy, though, so we wouldn't recommend mounting a radiator to it.
I love this, looks nicer than the other one from Antec or Silverstone was it?
Yeah I like that myself, fancy a test bed myself to play with some hardware I have. just ordered it from Amazon. good review henry thanks.
Buying this too. I have a system I use for work, but id like a rig I can just rip bits out of regularly. Good price too IMO.
Henry when you say its not a wonderful build. do you mean you think it might fall apart, or is it just a bit of ‘flex’ on the metals?
I like the look of this, but dont want it falling apart on me in a few months.
@Ivan
I would assume by the score, its just a minor thing, otherwise I can’t see it scoring 8
@ Ivan,
You’re right, there’s a bit of flex here an there in the materials and it generally doesn’t feel as solid as it could be. I highly doubt that it will fall apart or anything, though!
Does anyone have any ideas how to fit a corsair Hydro H80i in the case (Aerocool Strike-X Air)? Appreciate any pointers. Is there a bracket I can get? Alternatively which liquid cooler would be suitable in this case for an AMD FX 9370 with the Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z? Thanks.