Date: December 15th, 2004
Article by: Joe Anderson (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor)
Product Submitted by: Athenatech
<--SHOP FOR A ATHENATECH A605 MID ATX COMPUTER CASE

PRODUCT WALKTHROUGH, SETUP & INSTALLATION

While the upper front of the case is unremarkable, with four snapout 5.25" bay covers and one 3.5" floppy cover, the lower half is a bit unusual sporting the largest power-on indicator I've ever seen. At 1.75" in diameter with a back-cut prismatic effect it puts out a pleasantly diffused blue glow. On the right is the elliptical chrome power button and on the left is the round chrome reset button above an amber HDD activity LED. The drop-down door directly above houses the customary front panel audio ports and two USB ports. The black areas of the lower front bezel not covered by the blue accents is perforated to facilitate air flow into the case.

The side of the A605 is rather plain with two perforated areas for ventilation. As we'll see later, the raised, circular area has an air duct behind it. The lower, slightly recessed area is over the PCI slots but curiously has no provision for fan mounting.

Two features keep the rear of the case from being unremarkable. Most notable are the four sliding panel latches that allow easy, toolless access to the interior of the case.

This case also allows the installation of a single 80, 92, or 120mm fan at the rear. The card slot covers are stamped and must be broken out, although one replaceable block-off plate is included.

Removing the side panel reveals some nice surprises. Screwed to the side panel is an adjustable length 90mm air duct to bring external air to the CPU fan. The included 120mm exhaust fan is of the sleeve-bearing variety by a manufacturer I'm not familiar with.