Well computers have to be based in that case able to keep the temps of the overall motherboard and also remaining optical components like the hard drive and also the DVD driver and even that big fat blu-ray drive for those toasty little burning power house able to keep 50gb of data for most people could handle, but the case form Ikonik RA X10 could be another of the candidate for most of the hundred cases that is coming up every day in the news.
It’s a shame really, as we find it hard to believe we’ve reach the feature set limit of the humble PC case, with only occasional minor updates like the Cooler Master Sniper’s LED controls adding something genuinely new and radical new ideas like Antec’s Skeleton missing the mark. As first impressions go the RA X10 certainly starts well, with a very large overall chassis approaching the dimensions of the mammoth Cooler Master ATCS 840 that’s clearly going to offer enough room for even the most ambitious of system builds. The large side panels are both made of high quality well reinforced brushed black aluminum and both sport meshed ventilation sections, with the left hand panel boasting a large window shaped mesh divided by plastic trim and the right hand panel fitted with two long thin meshed opening to compliment the case’s unique cooling layout – but more on that later.
The RA X10’s plastic paneling also falls foul of that all too common flaw among cases that heavily mix metal and plastic construction of clear gaps between panels where they meet. On our review sample the most notable gap was between the meeting between the roof and front fascia panel where a gap of 2mm opened up, but there are other slightly gaps between many of the plastic paneling. On a cheaper case we’d likely let such a problem slide but the RA X10 is squarely aimed at the premium end of the market, and the exterior build quality is a some way off that of the ATCS 840 – the benchmark for cases at this sort of price.
Ikonik includes six lengthy temperature sensors with the case, and they’re all easy enough to fit and secret throughout the case thanks to the room design, although the mess of wires coming out of the back of the SIM box will quickly become a problem to keep tidy – just as well it’s hidden well out of view behind the 5.25” drive bays.
It’s the unique features that set this case apart from anything else on the market though, with the changeable window paneling and the SIM system the real highlights. While the cooling layout itself is bizarre and doesn’t deliver the advantage you’d expect from 13 cooling fans the SIM system driving it is fantastic and although there’s still room for improvement in the software we’d love to see a similar setup making its way into other cases. Imagine an Antec Nine Hundred Two fitted with a SIM like fan controller and you’ll understand our excitement, although it’s clear that its uses are limited to those cases where the default noise level is extremely high – there’d not be much point fitting a SIM system into an already very quiet case after all.
