External Design
The Sea Hawk has a sleek look given by its brushed metal side and top panels and its acrylic covered front bezel. The top half is occupied by four 5-1/2" drive bays, each with a case matching cover to continue the theme. The covers can be easily removed by pushing them out from the inside.
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Directly below the 5-1/4" drive bays are the 3-1/2" floppy bays. The top bay comes with a floppy drive bezel to keep the look consistent. The second bay uses a cover like the ones used for the larger drive bays.
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The bottom section of the case is occupied by the power button above it all. There is also a blue temperature LCD display, the reset button directly beneath that, and finally, the fan speed control for up to 4 case fans directly below that. At the height of the fan speed control knob are the power and HDD LEDs on either side. The Sea Hawk comes with a 2-pin to 3-pin converter wire for the power LED to adapt to those boards.
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At the bottom of the front of the case is a fold-down panel that hides the USB, audio, and Firewire ports. The internal connections for these ports are not the single plug type, but are divided by individual wires making it slightly tedious to connect.
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Moving to the side panels, the left panel is always the standard windowed panel, since all of the components face towards that side. The Sea Hawk's left side panel has a simple rectangular window, which extends about 2/3 of the way up the panel and is wide enough to display the entire contents of the case.
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Both panels can be removed easily by pulling back on the hooks that are mounted to them. We found this to be much more convenient than the indentations in panels that many other manufacturers have. The panels did stick a bit when we tried to pull them off, so the hooks helped us better there. The side panels are also secured to the case by thumbscrews, making them easier to work with.
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Zepper - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
the 1018x series is totally different from this series - in a whole other league of quality. Way overpriced for .7 SGCC (recycled tin can metal - not quality steel) case. I can't imagine why there wasn't more mention of the flimsiness of the metal except re. the drive bay ears.. I wouldn't buy it on a bet. Equal quality can be had from a lot of 3rd and 4th string case makers for half the price and including a PSU.
.bh.
Mday - Sunday, August 15, 2004 - link
You know, I have been wondering why certain non-core reviews by anandtech refer to the name on the box as the actual manufacturer of the item.We all know Enermax didnt design this case. And the same can be said of that case Zirconium has (which I have also).
Zirconium - Sunday, August 15, 2004 - link
I got the Enermax CS-10181 case. It is a very nice case - plain looking, but extremely functional. I can't comment on this one because I don't actually own it, but I'd look favorable on this one since it probably shares some features with my case.val - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
window (shape of flower) on side... for sure :-)Val
val - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
I Have older Enermax case, with window on front, Enermax power supply and one case fan, I am satisfied with those products for over 2 years now. With power supply in range bellow 100USD is no other option, but also overall Enermax quality is highly bigger than price difference.Val
TrogdorJW - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
*MUCH* nicer looking case, IMO. Unfortunately, it just doesn't sound like it's really worth the cost. $65 for a case without PSU? If you're spending $65 without getting a PSU (and here at least we could get a relatively decent PSU, since Enermax is one of the better PSU manufacturers), I would think there are better options. By the time you factor in a decent PSU, you're looking at about $120.And the front lights are still a bit too bling-bling for my taste. But hey - to each his own. I still haven't heard of any nice cases (i.e. not gaudy) with 120mm fans other than the Antec models. Which is why I keep getting Antecs. Is there no other decent option? :p
sprockkets - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
This case is used in a lot of different designs, yet is the same on the inside. I've built two, one that was aluminum and one that was steel. One had a front 120mm or 80mm fan holder, both had a fan on the side, and one had the 2 fan holders in the back while one used a fan duct system. Good points to mention is the fact that the HDD are right in front of a fan for good cooling, plus there is room for four. Those pin out headers are annoying, but if they weren't that way then it wouldn't work for all the different pinout styles.Although the InWin cases are sturdier, the ventilation on most of these, with the expansion capabilities and still being good on style make these a good choice for ATX cases, especially for the cost.
Thoreau - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
w00t!! Finally, a case that doesn't totally suck the life out of installed components! =)