So i just got this in the mail today, and figured i would write my first hand impression, as decent reviews on this chassis (both from Digital Storm and Omni) isnt that detailed regarding the innards and difficulties replacing some key components.
So far, i am quite happy with it.
It is a little noisy, and the fans go up and down a ton, but you can fix that with Asus QFan control easily. Regardless, i come from a noisy Alienware laptop with a graphics amplifier adding to that, so this is nothing for me.
The display itself is awesome, if you ask me.
It supports PIP and up to 4 inputs at once, so i can divide the screen into 4 different inputs and essentially hook up several computers and have the screen display each of them.
This is pretty cool if you ask me, a bit of a gimmick, but i will definitely be using PIP!
Theres a ton of settings for calibration of the monitor, RGB, Backlight, Contrast, Gamma - a lot of things to toy with, to get a picture youre happy with.
Now.
I ordered this one with a decent setup, but leaving out a few things as i was doing a few upgrades upon arrival.
I had a GPU as well as an SSD already from another computer, so i ordered:
Asus Z170I Pro Gaming MB
I7 7700K
Liquid cooling (required with the I7)
16gb HyperX
A GeForce 710 (Replacing with a 980TI)
WDBlack 1tb HDD (And mounting a 500gb Crucial M.2 SSD)
So i had heard a bit about some of the difficulties regarding opening up this bad boy, but was happy to discover how easy it was to pop the lid. Something like 8 or 9 screws, with 1 corner screw being longer than the rest, and you are basically in.
Inside, things were neatly tucked away, so the rather snug backplate could fit properly.
First things first, i went to attach the M.2 SSD, which on this mobo, is on the bottom.
Wires are all strapped together, so had to cut them up so i could move the wires freely.
Had to remove the heatsink from the CPU and the power as well as the flex cable for the USB ports in the back, with those 3 things removed, it was just about moving a few wires so i could lift the mobo and fit the SSD. The mounting point for the stand is very much in the way when moving the mobo around, giving very little room to move it when its surrounded by wires.
The difficult part, however, was strapping the wires together again so the backplate could fit without bending or bulging. Took a few gos, but was able to fit all the cables down, almost like they were originally.
Now, the fun part.
Replacing the GPU with my 980TI
Just removing the small 710 was a bit of a hassle, but in the end i figured out you had to remove just a few screws to fit in a new graphics card.. Well, at least in the width.
The length is another story.
My 980TI could just fit under the top grills, moving a few small wires to the side. It is almost wedged in at the top grill.
This is a Gigabyte G1 Gaming edition, and it should not be any bigger than a 1080. But it sure was a hassle getting this fitted.
In the end it fits snuggly and securely held in place by 2 solid brackets.
Now it was time to close it up again. After a bit of adjusting the wires once more to make sure the backplate was fitted properly, i started putting back the screws.
I had to bend and push down quite a bit to fit all the screws, but in the end it all seems to have gone quite well. It is very apparent that the chassis isnt top quality, but for this purpose it is absolutely fine.
I was quite happy to read that this unit is shipped with a VESA mount adapter, but feared that it would be a flimsy and badly executed solution. But what you get seems pretty solid, its a VESA 100x100 adapter that fits in the same place as the stand does, with 2 screws right into the backbone of the chassis itself. The adapter itself feels very solid and can definitely hold the weight, no problem at all!
Reading up on it, i had figured out a fully fitted unit could weight upwards of 25kg, but this one is only about 19kg after i fitted my own GFX, which makes finding a decent wall mount for this beast a little easier
Everything is now running smoothly, i havent gotten to do any gaming yet, as this monster is shipped in 2 packages, and today i only received the package containing the computer, so atm it is up against some cardboard, but tomorrow another package is due, and i hope that will contain all the stuff i am currently missing, which includes part of the feet, the Driver CD, mobos WiFi antennas, and a power cord (luckily i got plenty in reserve).
Will try and put up a few pictures later
So far, i am quite happy with it.
It is a little noisy, and the fans go up and down a ton, but you can fix that with Asus QFan control easily. Regardless, i come from a noisy Alienware laptop with a graphics amplifier adding to that, so this is nothing for me.
The display itself is awesome, if you ask me.
It supports PIP and up to 4 inputs at once, so i can divide the screen into 4 different inputs and essentially hook up several computers and have the screen display each of them.
This is pretty cool if you ask me, a bit of a gimmick, but i will definitely be using PIP!
Theres a ton of settings for calibration of the monitor, RGB, Backlight, Contrast, Gamma - a lot of things to toy with, to get a picture youre happy with.
Now.
I ordered this one with a decent setup, but leaving out a few things as i was doing a few upgrades upon arrival.
I had a GPU as well as an SSD already from another computer, so i ordered:
Asus Z170I Pro Gaming MB
I7 7700K
Liquid cooling (required with the I7)
16gb HyperX
A GeForce 710 (Replacing with a 980TI)
WDBlack 1tb HDD (And mounting a 500gb Crucial M.2 SSD)
So i had heard a bit about some of the difficulties regarding opening up this bad boy, but was happy to discover how easy it was to pop the lid. Something like 8 or 9 screws, with 1 corner screw being longer than the rest, and you are basically in.
Inside, things were neatly tucked away, so the rather snug backplate could fit properly.
First things first, i went to attach the M.2 SSD, which on this mobo, is on the bottom.
Wires are all strapped together, so had to cut them up so i could move the wires freely.
Had to remove the heatsink from the CPU and the power as well as the flex cable for the USB ports in the back, with those 3 things removed, it was just about moving a few wires so i could lift the mobo and fit the SSD. The mounting point for the stand is very much in the way when moving the mobo around, giving very little room to move it when its surrounded by wires.
The difficult part, however, was strapping the wires together again so the backplate could fit without bending or bulging. Took a few gos, but was able to fit all the cables down, almost like they were originally.
Now, the fun part.
Replacing the GPU with my 980TI
Just removing the small 710 was a bit of a hassle, but in the end i figured out you had to remove just a few screws to fit in a new graphics card.. Well, at least in the width.
The length is another story.
My 980TI could just fit under the top grills, moving a few small wires to the side. It is almost wedged in at the top grill.
This is a Gigabyte G1 Gaming edition, and it should not be any bigger than a 1080. But it sure was a hassle getting this fitted.
In the end it fits snuggly and securely held in place by 2 solid brackets.
Now it was time to close it up again. After a bit of adjusting the wires once more to make sure the backplate was fitted properly, i started putting back the screws.
I had to bend and push down quite a bit to fit all the screws, but in the end it all seems to have gone quite well. It is very apparent that the chassis isnt top quality, but for this purpose it is absolutely fine.
I was quite happy to read that this unit is shipped with a VESA mount adapter, but feared that it would be a flimsy and badly executed solution. But what you get seems pretty solid, its a VESA 100x100 adapter that fits in the same place as the stand does, with 2 screws right into the backbone of the chassis itself. The adapter itself feels very solid and can definitely hold the weight, no problem at all!
Reading up on it, i had figured out a fully fitted unit could weight upwards of 25kg, but this one is only about 19kg after i fitted my own GFX, which makes finding a decent wall mount for this beast a little easier
Everything is now running smoothly, i havent gotten to do any gaming yet, as this monster is shipped in 2 packages, and today i only received the package containing the computer, so atm it is up against some cardboard, but tomorrow another package is due, and i hope that will contain all the stuff i am currently missing, which includes part of the feet, the Driver CD, mobos WiFi antennas, and a power cord (luckily i got plenty in reserve).
Will try and put up a few pictures later
