A-Top Translucent X2 588 ATX Mid Tower

Design

The spec sheet for A-Top's 588 looks pretty good for a fairly small mid tower case. Each of the three side panels can be removed by two standard screws and have a thick layer of paint on them. The motherboard tray is similarly set free by the removal of three screws and a tug on a small handle. The removable motherboard tray allows for the installation of the motherboard and all expansion cards outside of the case where there is more room to work. This is an especially good thing in this case since the power supply is positioned directly above the ATX specified CPU location. Of course, that also means that a quick CPU upgrade requires the removal of either the power supply or the entire motherboard tray.

Once your in the case, the construction quality quickly becomes apparent. Most edges are rounded off, but there are a few sharp ones, so be careful. The sheet metal is fairly thin and can easily be bent.

Drive installation is fairly typical. For 5.25" drives, that means slide it in from the front and secure it with screws. For 3.5" drives, it is possible to remove the drive cage and install your drives outside the case. Unfortunately, it is held in by a screw from the 5.25" bays above that is extremely difficult to take out without small hands and a small screwdriver. Of course, if there are drives there, it is impossible to remove without the removal of the drives.

The bezel features an integrated floppy drive slot that should be compatible with most 3.5" floppy drives on the market today. Potential problems may arise with older drives and it is, of course, useless for something like a Zip drive, tape backup, or most other non-floppy devices. The eject button for the floppy drive is unfortunately not spring loaded so it constantly feels loose.

Cooling options are fairly minimal. By default, the case only ships with the exhaust fan in the power supply to serve as the only form of cooling. A plastic fan holder at the bottom front of the case is available for the attachment of an additional cooling fan. Our review sample did not include this fan and was tested as such.

That power supply is from the relatively unknown Tough Power and provides 250W of power. It is fully ATX 2.01 compliant and provides 800mA on the +5Vsb line to adequately power wake on LAN/keyboard/mouse/etc. options that many motherboards have. A physical power switch is located on the back of the power supply for when ATX soft power refuses to shut the system off.