Installation

As Sunbeamtech touts this case to be tool free, don't expect using huge amounts of screws and nuts. Should you encounter a problem installing one or more components, you can always reread the manual which briefly describes all necessary actions. First off we install the PSU, which fits like a charm by the way. It's a simple matter of screwing four screws to the corresponding corners.



Next up is the motherboard. Hold it a few inches above the side of the case to find out which motherboard screws you can use. Remove the fan bar if you have a full sized ATX motherboard to avoid damage and frustration. After that, we can safely take a breath as the most difficult part of the installation is over. The HDD and other 3.5" and 5.25" bay devices can all be installed without screwing around. For the 3.25” devices you first need to attach two of the holders to each side. These holders give a click sound when attached properly.



The hard disk drive can now be slid into the removable cage. Note that the holders stick out a bit so you can easily remove it later on.



You install optical drives by using one of the tool-free clamps. After removing the front cover and sliding in the drive, it's just a matter of firmly attaching it with two plastic sliders. Video cards and PCI-cards are almost as easy; no screws here, but only clamps to hold everything together. They are a bit clumsy to work with at first, but in the end they seem to hold everything together nicely.



The front USB and audio connections are just as easy to install. Both of them are strapped together as a whole as we see in most cases nowadays. Again it makes hooking them up so much more comfortable when we compare it with those single cables we have to plug in one by one.

After connecting the power and reset connections to the motherboard, it's time to boot up and do some tests. One small thing I noticed immediately was a vibrating noise. It seems like the Quarterback is unsuccessful in filtering sounds coming from some of my hardware components. I think it might have to do with the hard drive vibrating when using its read/write heads in combination with the removable cage. It only occurs from time to time, and I'm still trying to find out what is causing the issue. Other reviewers haven't stated this problem, so it might just be a bad attached component or some sort, I’ve had no other issues or problems.

The picture below shows the reset and power button, both surrounded with a blue LED.



I haven't commented yet on the weight of the steel construction. The Quarterback comes in at about 7.7kg; I can see this midi tower being used at LAN parties but no doubt can become quite heavy when fully packed with hardware.

Onto the performance tests ->