Enermax Hoplite case review

Cases & PSU/Cases by leeghoofd @ 2011-06-19

At CeBIT 2011 Enermax already showed us some insights in their latest case designs. Sporting their infamous Vegas fan as a real show stopper. For those that don't know the Vegas fan. Think Las Vegas, think loads of Neon lights, think flashing in all sort of ways to illminate the skyline. But there's more to the Hoplite series then just a cool fan. Enermax included some nifty features that are mostly only found on high end cases. Cases that only will be yours at a premium price.  The Hoplite is available in three different versions. Did Enermax pull it off and did they create a build/feature rich quality case at an affordable price ? Time to open the box and explore the ECA3220 review case.

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unboxing

The box design is the comon brown box. While some already find this a flaw, I don't care as long as the case is well protected from heavy duty shipping. And anyways it's the inside content that matters.

 

 

The case has a futuristic design. Though it still radiates style and doesn't look like some cheap junk out of a Transformer movie.

 

    

 

Without the sidepanels you easily spot the USB3.0 cables and the big hole behind the CPU socket for dead easy cooler installations.

Pre cut holes, protected by rubber grommets, are foreseen at ideal spots for easy cable routing. The 3222 version got even more precut holes.

 

 

 

The front panel has one eSATA connection, two USB3.0 ports, in and out jack for headset and microphone and the obligatory power and reset button. The included front Vegas fan is controlled in all it's nuttyness by a small button. so the user can select a matching LED light and display scheme. (think theimage below explains more than a thousand words ever could do) The fan speed is also manually adjustable by a turn knob.

 

 

 

The front is very well crafted and leavens no room for imagination. Up to Four 5 1/2 bays are foreseen for your optical delights. The rear has got two holes foreseen for watercooling and the top rubber is to aid the routing of the USB3.0 cables. All the mesh has got a build in dust filter.

 

 

 

Similar to the Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced this Enermax Hoplite version sports a hot swappable docking station for your favourite S-ATA hard drive. Being it 2.5 or 3.5 inch versions. The 3221 version doesn't have this docking station. The top mesh is beautifully executed and gives the case that little extra bling bling.

 

 

 

 

As you can expect in most high end current cases, the Power supply get's a removable dust filter. It jsut easy slides in and out for super easy cleaning/removal.

 

   

 

Specifications :

 

The original case only has two preinstalled fans. Thought there's always room for more : up to two 12/14cm fans on the top and 2 12cm fans on the sidepanel ( limiting your CPU cooler height from 17.8cm to 16cm )

 

 

 

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