AeroRacer Pro Mid Size Case Author: faceless105 -- Posted: 2008-11-03
One of our favorite areas to really talk about are the cases. I think a lot of it goes back to our modding roots, but a lot of it also touches on the fact that this is easily one of the larger decisions you'll make with building a computer. If you're like most people out there who build your own rigs, there's a solid chance your case will be used through two or even three different computer setups. This is why I'm happy to be reviewing the AeroRacer Pro by Aerocool.
One reason choosing a case is so hard is because like I mentioned, in its lifetime, it'll more than likely house more than one computer build. This really means that the case has to last, and on top of that, has to offer enough as far as features and performance that it'll cover all the bases on thing tomorrow that you never planned for tomorrow.
So I'll start with the "out of box" description. The AeroRacer Pro looks awesome. I'm reviewing the red model, but it also comes in black, and with the way this one looks, it seems like everyone wins for sure. The way this case looks is awesome. Coming from someone who's roots go back into modding, lol, this case would be an perfect rig to start from.
The case has a ton of nice features beyond the style. The first is the semi-transparent door. This hides all those mis-matched drives, but lets enough light through that you can see if anything crazy is going on with them. On top of that, it has front side USB and audio hook-ups. This is pretty common, but coming from someone who always managed to buy the cases without the, you can never really appreciate this one enough. And to top it all off, is the giant illuminated "Engine Start" power button.
Now for the most obvious part of the case. The AeroRacer comes fully loaded with a large 40cm fan, large enough to take up an entire side panel. One thing we've touched on a lot is that with fans, the bigger the better. This is of course, no exception. The 40cm fan spins at only 400 RPM (as compared with a 120mm spinning at 1800RPM), this seems like almost nothing. With the size of the fan it's able to move 250 CFM (3~5 time greater than the average 120mm fans), and while doing this it's able to keep noise levels extremely low.
On the inside we start seeing a lot of really nice features. The case has a tool less design. All of the drive bays are toolless, as well as the expansion card bays. Now you will still have to use a screw driver for the motherboard and the fans, but this will still save a ton of time since expansion cards and drives are the most common things I've had to move around.
Now back to the giant 40cm fan. We gave the specs above, the fan spins at a meager 400 RPM, but it's able to move a considerable amount of air simply because of the size of it. The specs don't like either. The fan gives a steady and distributed amount of cooling across the entire contents of your case.
Noise was something we imagined we'd be concerned about due to the large size of the fan, but it runs surprisingly quiet. The case provides a good level of circulation as well so you don't need to worry cooling generating much noise at all.
Overall we've been impressed with the AeroRacer Pro. Aerocool really strikes me as a company who uses their own products, so they know what people want to see. The case has an awesome design to it. The modder in my is begging to make this my next project case since it'd make for such a nice base. The tech guru in me is also really impressed with the toolless design, and excellent cooling. If you guys are looking for a nice case, the AeroRacer Pro would be a great case for gamers, or anyone just looking to have an impressive case build.
I know this review did cover a lot and the AeroRacer does have a lot to it, so don't hesitate to ask any questions on it. :)
