Aspire X-Navigator: A High End Gaming Chassis
by Purav Sanghani on October 26, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Introduction
| Quick Look | |
| Aspire X-Navigator | The Good |
 |
+ Front panel USB/FireWire + Four 5-1/4" drive bays + Nine removable 3-1/2" drive bays (2 exposed) + Included 500W aluminum power supply + Five LED case fans |
| The Bad | |
| - No front panel Audio - Loud fans - Bright LED lights |
|
Aspire International is a company whose goal is to satisfy its customers by taking their feedback and turning it into a successful product, which will be taken in by more and more computer users. On their website, Aspire declares that they release their new and innovative products on a quarterly basis to keep up with the changing industry.
Since 1999, Aspire has been committed to providing quality products to customers ranging from peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and audio equipment, to our beloved cases, which hold our expensive, high end components. Over the years, cases have changed to adapt to the wants and needs of users. We recall case designs from 10+ years ago where the main material used was steel. Thinly cut with no attention to sharp edges, we lived with these heavy, badly designed chassis for years. The introduction of aluminum to the PC case industry changed our expectations for what a chassis should be, how it should function, and what features it should have.
Today, we received a chance to look at one of the most innovative designs in the case industry. Made of all aluminum with room for expandability and much more, the X-Navigator from Aspire raised our standards in PC cases. We have performed our usual thermal and sound benchmarks against the X-Navigator as well as taken a look at its most significant features. Read on to see what makes this case such a great product.
More information is available on the X-Navigator at Aspire's website.
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23 Comments
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LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
Looks like an ugly attempt at a premodded case for me. The fan grills are gaudy, and I can't stand front case doors, especially plastic ones. Too much built-in lighting makes this case more blingy than it is useful, and the interchangeable front plastics are all ugly. Give me multiple low-noise 120mm fans over the cooling setup here any day as well. I also don't like clear power supplies; they look good for about two months until dust gets in them, and then they're nasty. To clean them, you'll probably end up voiding the warranty.Thresher - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
That case is fugly.I like the feature set, but I can't stand the "bling" on it. I wish more case manufacturers took Antec's lead and built more cases like the Sonata and Aria.
Entropy531 - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
#9 - They use it so they can get impartial results. If you're comparing apples to oranges, the results aren't very legitimate. They have to use all the same components to get thermal benchmarks. #5 and #10 - I agree.diehlr - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
ugly.shabby - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
Why dont you guys use the psu's that come with the case for testing, you switched to the ocz psu again.Aquila76 - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
#7 - The other HDD bays do have space for a cooling fan, it just isn't included (greenish bracket):http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cases/aspire/x...
The top 3 are really meant for the External 3.5" drives, so even the bracket isn't included on that one, but you can get a universal one pretty easily if you need it.
MustISO - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
One thing I just can't understand is why there are three, 3 1/2 drive cages and only one of them has a fan. What the hell are they thinking?"Gee, maybe the users only want to cool 3 hard drives, the others can fry!"
Antec does the same thing.
At the very least add 2 additional fan brackets and let the user decide. That should increase the total cost by $2.
Beenthere - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
I definitely wouldn't bring this case home... but different strokes for different folks.skunkbuster - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
i actually think it looks pretty fugly + gaudyLocut0s - Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - link
Scratch that sorry it's much clearer on a 2nd read. If any admin is watching you can delete the past 3 posts by me.