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    Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

    I have already covered this case and the psu inside a bit in another thread but since this case has now dropped to 49 euro (or less with company discount) i will summarise and expand for our Greek friends because I think this case is good value.

    it has everything you need and is quite good looking if you use all black drives. Myself i do prefer all black because it is easy now to obtain black versions of optical and fdd drives at even the same price as the beige ones. Aluminium silver is very nice but then you are talking about aftermarket face plates etc to get it all matching. anyway i have done a few builds with this case and customers have been very happy, especially next to a silver samsung or LG tft and black/silver microsoft mouse and keyboard,

    it is something nice looking and these days it is possible to get a whole lot of good looking and functional computer for the money. Especially if people are upgrading from dial up to DSL which is still happening these days in Greece especially with those hanging on to PII or PIII systems with CRT monitor. Why not get a whole new setup but at a value price with value 19" tft and a new box which is fast and responsive and yes all colour co-ordinated. even with a celeron they can see the additional responsiveness and when the whole package is presented with tft and adsl they are very happy.



    anyway on to the case. here it is with samsung dvd (18 euro) and black floppy 8 euro. next is samsung 710v and logitech black keyboard. now the 19" monitors are the ones to get with samsung sm 930bf for gaming at 399 euro and sm913v for value at 269 euro.



    for the home user it is nice to specify black LG4167 or NEC ND3550 DVDr they are both 50 euro and very nice. also it is nice to have a black floppy with 7in1 card reader, everyone is using digicams these days. very useful and only 30 euro. I have zero problems with the teac units, they are much less problematic than the sandisk external usb ones. nice to have it internal even if the floppy is rarely used. for zero problems i am talking about the card reader functionality, for the floppy i have had a few fail, but who uses those these days.....

    anyway since the price is now 49 i got one to replace the case for my media pc. i wish they would sell it for less without psu because i have no use for that and it will be sold.

    so on to the first problem with the case. if you want to install floppy it requires removal of the entire front panel (6 screws) to get the floppy in with the rails installed. not a great start.



    you can see the case has external 4 x 5.25 bays and 2 x 3.5 and yes a 120mm fan, my first for home.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by willawake; 05-26-2006, 02:15 PM.
    capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

    #2
    Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review



    the HDD cage is sideways configured for easy access. this is nice for convenience but as Galvanized said it is not so great for airflow from the front fan. at the moment i have it configured like that and i can feel blowback. the HDDS are connected with rails that snap in fine, i personally dont like rails too much but it is ok. you can fit 5 HDDs no probs but there is rails for 4.

    you can see also that while the floppy bays can only be used with rails, the cd rom bays can be used with screws or the provided metal rails. so i will get some brackets to get my hdds up there and remove the cage for better airflow. it is a benefit that the cd rom bays can be used with screws because if you wanted to use a front panel, it will attach nicely unlike other rail based bays. for instance on the chiefec cases which are nice, it is impossible to install a front panel which has short ears without some mods.



    so here we see the hdd bay removed and there is nice airflow from the 120mm fan. there is also option to install an 80mm fan blowing sideways to cooll the hdds if you liked. personally that is going to make some strange turbulence.
    Attached Files
    capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review



      so on to the front fan. it is a cheap Te Bao DC Brushless Fan, what did you expect? wowee anyway more money to spend on nice NMB fans. it is reasonably quiet at full power. in order to access the fan you have to remove the front panel which it is attached to on spikes, you could bolt one direct to the case if you wanted.
      Attached Files
      Last edited by willawake; 05-26-2006, 02:16 PM.
      capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review



        here is the side of the case empty. the motherboard attaches with screwed in stand offs, i prefer those.



        here is the case with an albatron p865pec pro budget board in, like i have in my media pc. there is reasonably good space inside the case when compared to other budget models.
        Attached Files
        capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review



          on one side of the case you have the grille over the pci slots where it is possible to install two sizes of fans. also you can see the exit of the cylinder that guides airflow to the cpu. at the exit there is a plastic fibre filter which i have removed. looks fine if you wanted to keep it and regularly blow it out with compressed air.



          on the other side of the case you have the inlet for the 80mm fan at the hdd cage and also some general inlets for behind the motherboard. the motherboard tray is not removeable but both side panels and top panel are.
          Attached Files
          capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review



            yes you can remove the top panel but that is where the strength in the case is. so dont do it with the psu attached. the metal is typical for budget cases not strong but adequate. you can see the rear exhaust 120mm fan space that you can install if you like. also there is a hook for psu cables near the top of the case towards the front.
            Attached Files
            capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

              on to the psu. well dont expect too much for a budget model included in a budget case. actually it is not too bad but dont expect it to do 420w. anyway it is much much better than the usual L&C seen in budget cases. It has Koshin caps which we have seen in another budget item (hdd external caddy) on this forum. i have a few of these psu in various cheapass client installations so i will advise if there are early fails. anyway, cheap case = more money to buy good psu. at home this case has the HEC.









              finito...the END

              yeh we need more stuff to review...please send us
              Last edited by willawake; 05-26-2006, 03:53 PM.
              capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                nice i just stuck my aa charger under the hdd to cool by the 120mm fan.
                capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                  Very nice case!

                  Simple but stylish design, clean, no gay windows and neons, and excellent layout! I'd take one, most definitely!
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                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                    Hi Will,

                    Looks like a good case for the price. Of course, it's hard for me to judge such things as "solidity", strength, build quality, etc. without physically seeing it, so you'll have to chip in there.

                    I do like that 120mm intake fan - the front mesh will also aid in filtering out the larger dust particles without being restrictive. The 120mm grill on the back, on the other hand, is cut a little like like a drainhole cover (although I've seen far worse, admittedly.), which may prove restrictive and noisy. On the other hand, it can always be dremelled out and replaced with a standard chromed wire grill.

                    Aesthetically (matter of taste, of course), I like it - it's quite stylish without being tacky.

                    That PSU appears to be made by ChannelWell Tech... which would be good for a "came with the box" unit.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                      That PSU appears to be made by ChannelWell Tech
                      good eye indeed!
                      yes i see the CWT on the transformers

                      said drainhole will be dremeled....
                      Last edited by willawake; 05-26-2006, 05:50 PM.
                      capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                        It does look good, nice face, decent body and the top comes down

                        The rear fan is set-up for 80, 92 or 120. That's a nice touch for those with limited funds and might have to fit what's at hand. Dremeling causes too much metalic dust for me, nibbler for the win.

                        The side saddle HDD cage does block intake fans. In this application the fans with straight blades seem to work well, as they throw the air off the blade tips and around most of the cage.
                        Sanyo Denki says fans should never be closer than thier thickness to any blockage on the suck or discharge side when used for case intake or exhaust.

                        Your going to move the HDDs anyway, so the above is a non-issue. I've mounted HDDs with grommets but next time that mod may not be done. I was reading where one fella mounted his HDDS solid in an aluminum cage and used a dot of TIM around each screw hole for better heat transfer. This helped the alloy cage be a better sink. Might do it next time.

                        Cheers, Will.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                          Originally posted by Galvanized
                          Dremeling causes too much metalic dust for me, nibbler for the win.
                          I agree - in any case, it's not something I do myself. I know that some people do have little problem with this, although you'd have to wash the case out under the shower very thoroughly to ensure that all that conductive dust is gone.

                          Non-conductive dust is annoying enough already.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                            grommets hehehe i wonder if i can find a bucketload of rubber grommets and long screws for 5.25 hdd mods.

                            actually a 5.25 hdd cage with 80mm fan would be nice. i am still looking for them at reasonable price.
                            capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                              nibbler looks ugly in the end though. dremel and household vacuum is your friend.
                              capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                                Nibbler + half round bastard file

                                SPCR has a forum dedicated to soft mounting HDDs. Some guys use those tiny bungee cords cyclist use and suspend the drives in the large bays.
                                Seek times are supposedly increased when drives are suspended.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                                  Seek times are supposedly increased when drives are suspended.
                                  I don't see how this could happen.
                                  The great capacitor showdown!

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                                    I had exactly the same thought as Chris

                                    Though it would perhaps be a possibility that the drive itself rattles more and therefore the head has problems to position on the tracks properly and might need to wait an extra "spin" before it sees the data

                                    This is just my own little theory though, no idea if it is true, or even the reports by users at SPCR...
                                    "The one who says it cannot be done should never interrupt the one who is doing it."

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                                      Drives have a slight gyro effect when they start up, you would think a rigid mount would be more stabilizing.
                                      Jim

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Re: Turbo-X DU09AL Case Review

                                        Per, I did spend some time looking for the link on the testing of suspended HDDs seek times over at SPCR's Silent Storage Forum but nada. IIRC, when suspended with loose bands the inertia of the light weight head does effect the mass of the heavy drive enough to increase seek times an insignificant amount. It's just barely measurable. I did look over at silentstorage too.

                                        I've made some cages for others and have split one of mine to make it a tad wider and used #9311K138 grommets from http://www.mcmaster.com/

                                        In my search I came upon this pdf w/some interesting pics.
                                        https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...1c399c9489.pdf

                                        Comment

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