AOPEN HX08 FULL-TOWER COMPUTER CASE
Last updated: 07/29/03

  Power supplies.  The case can be ordered with a 300 Watt ATX or 250 Watt PS/2 power supply, the ATX supply being the most common.   The ATX power supply exhausts air from the chassis and does not direct it in and towards the back of the motherboard for CPU cooling as preferred in the ATX specification--no big deal; I fell more secure with quality CPU fans and motherboards with temperature monitoring anyway.  The ATX power supply is almost whisper quiet; yet, by feeling the back, it is obvious to me it is pumping a large amount of air through the chassis.   The power supply had connectors for six 5 1/4" drives and four 3 1/2" drives.

  Motherboards.  The HX08 accommodates both ATX and Baby AT motherboards.  If you use a Baby AT motherboard be sure it has an ATX connector or order the case, if you can, with a Baby AT power supply.

  Hardware.    The hardware is complete and well-packaged.  Covers are supplied for all of the exposed drive bays. There is even a zip-tie to bundle the cables going from the motherboard to the front panel.  It includes two I/O back panels which should accommodate many ATX motherboards.  (One of them matches the Epox EP-MVP3G-M, EP-51MVP3E-M, and EP-58MVP3C-M S uper7 boards reviewed elsewhere in this digest.)  The I/O panel is nicely labeled and is easily and securely attached with a single screw.  There are ample chassis knock-outs for Baby AT motherboard connectors and for multi-media I/O implemented on some ATX motherboards.  

  Packing.  Acer does an excellent job of packing their cases.  The box and styrofoam are good quality and are sufficient to ship an empty case; however, because of its size, I would double-box a finished computer using this case before shipping it commercially.

  One minor annoyance, which is present in all of the AOpen cases I have used, is the four-pin connector for the front panel hard disk LED.  I really don't understand why Acer uses a four-pin connector when only two of them are wired for the LED.  The connector works fine if you are using an AOpen motherboard; but, to connect it to most other motherboards, one must cut the connector longitudinally in half--I use diagonal cutters.

6/22/99 Some of the Aopen cases I am receiving now have 2-pin connectors on the hard disk LED wire.

  Documentation.  Like all AOpen cases, this case includes a exploded diagram and by-the-numbers assembly instructions.

  Dimensions:  16.54"(D) x 7.80"(W) x 23.23"(H)

Larry

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