Inside – in detail
Below is a close up of the rear expansion slots, showing the lever-clip system that's used to secure cards in place.
The system works well enough - and is less hassle than using screws - but it's made of plastic and could suffer over time if you rebuild your system frequently.
The back of the case is steel, so pretty strong already, but Gigabyte includes a number of additional braces throughout the inside to further enhance the rigidity of the chassis.
One such brace is provided at the back between the expansion slots and the I/O plate - an oft-neglected point of weakness.
Such a brace is important because of the potential strain that can be put on the motherboard when securing cards. The brace maintains rigidity and stops the board flexing. So it's good to see that Gigabyte has thought about and eliminated that particular problem.
Also fitted within the case is an adapter for the FireWire header. That's not something we've seen from other case manufacturers and is another nice touch - maximising motherboard compatibility with the external ports.
Onward now to the supplied accessories and the model options, and then to thermal performance...
