A-TOP AT589 TRANSLUCENT COMPUTER
CASE
Last updated: 07/29/03
DRIVE BAYS. The case
has six drive bays: one partially exposed and two hidden 3 1/2" bays,
and three exposed 5 1/4" bays. The partially exposed 3 1/2" bay
is for the floppy drive and has plunger to activate the floppy eject button
drive and a molded slot through the front to insert and remove floppies.
Putting a 3 1/2" floppy in one of these
cases can be challenging the first time. The 3 1'2 bays are in a removable
cage. You have to reach under at the front of the cage and towards
the right side of the case to activate a clip to release the bay and really
wiggle the cage with some force to get it out. The cage is also secured
with a single screw. The Panasonic floppy drive I installed did work
fine with the molded plunger. 5 1/4" drives are easily installed
without rails.
I would have liked another exposed 3 1/2 drive
for a Zip drive, etc.
Translucent dust covers are included for all
of the 5 1/4" bays. Surprisingly, a beige CD-ROM drive did not
spoil the over-all translucent appearance of the case--I thought it would
look like yuck before I installed it. A translucent front on the drive
would have looked better, but is probably impractical to manufacturer for
all of the drives out there.
I/O. The case comes with on ATX
back panel which will accommodate all of the motherboards I have reviewed
to date in the Digest. The ATX panel is bit on the thin side,
but should work ok. There are only two knock-outs: for one DB-9 and
one DB-25 connector. I would have preferred one more DB-25 knock-out
Baby AT motherboard printer/second serial connector.
POWER SUPPLY. According
to A-Top's Web site, the AT589
comes with a 230W power supply. The one I received has a Tough Power
ATX power supply which, according to the label, is rated at 250W, and has
all of the usual credentials. You can certainly hear the fan, but when
you feel the back of the power supply you can also tell it really is pushing
a lot of air from inside the case to the exterior, which, by the way, is
the opposite direction preferred in the ATX
specification--no big deal. The power supply is vertical
along the left side of the upper-back of the case. This makes it little
more difficult to work with rear, left corner of a motherboard, which is
partially obscured by the power supply, but where most of the venting is
located on the power supply and where the venting will be right over the
CPU on most Pentium II/III motherboards, such as the Abit
BH6. This power supply only has two drive supply wires with
a total one 3 1/2 and four 5 1/4" drive power supply plugs. That
is, the power supply has fewer plugs for drives than the case has bays for
drives! One thing I do like is the real power On/Off switch right on
the back of the power supply in addition to the ATX Power-on capability activated
by the front panel switch and motherboard.
FAN AND VENTING. This case is
very well designed for good ventilation. There are air holes
in the lower front and rear of the case. There is a good channel for
air at the bottom of the front panel. Air circulation
from the front bottom, over the motherboard and CPU, and up and through the
power supply looks good. The case comes with large muffin fan if you
ask for it when ordering the case.
Now for the flaws... The only way you
are going to secure this fan to the front of the case I received is with
super-glue. The tabs on the plastic fan-expansion card guide assembly
do not fit the holes in the case. The unit does not snap firmly into
place as it should and falls-out with slightest jar. Furthermore, I
would have preferred a three-pin power connector on the fan so it can be
plugged into the motherboard and monitored by the system monitor available
on the motherboards I sell.
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