External I
Where are the drive bays ?, I hear you say. This Cooler Master hides them behind the stylish door that's almost invisible to detect in the above picture. Notice how easily the brushed aluminium becomes smudged; one of the banes of this light material. The front seems to be attached to the rest of the chassis via four allen bolts located in each corner.
Open Sesame !!
The door comes away from the chassis from left to right. It's held to the case by the two magnets you see on the left-hand-side. The door's well constructed and fits in perfectly each and every time. The thickness of the aluminium here is admirable. Cooler Master, as is their recent tradition, leave the topmost of the 4 5.25" bays uncovered. This is all fine and well for most, as you're bound to introduce an optical drive to one of the bays. But, and this is a pet peeve of mine, you should get the full complement, irrespective of usage. Two 3.5" bays sit underneath.
Further, the main on/off and reset switches are located underneath and to the right. The buttons have a satisfying click to them. The two LEDs in between the buttons glow a pleasant blue when called into use. The mesh between the aluminium hides two fans that I'll discuss later.
The front is nice enough and caused plenty of ooohs and ahhhs from impressed friends. Does the rest of the case shape up ?.
You may have seen the vent at the top of the case from the very first picture. With an onus on practical cooling, the 110B-SX1 has a pre-fabricated vent for air extraction. You can see one of the four supplied 80mm sleeve-bearing fans fitted underneath. They're simply screwed into the chassis. I found these fans quiet in operation with more of a hum than a screetch. Speaking of the fan, here it is:
It's extremely difficult to find the correct specifications for the fans, but I'd go with mid-25dB. I'd have preferred ball-bearing fans in a package that's based around quality.
