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| Case | Type | Size WxHxD | Weight | Cooling | 5.25” Bays | 3.5” Bays | I/O panel | Noise | Approx. Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sigma Unicorn | ATX mid tower | 203 x 452 x 521 mm | 24 lbs | 2x 120mm, 2x 80mm | 4 | 2 ext. 4 int. | 2x USB, HD Audio (on front bottom) | 43.5 db | $100 |
The Sigma Unicorn was the lowest cost case in our roundup, but it came with a good list of specifications when compared to the other review units: a completely tool-less design, two 120mm fans and two 80mm fans for air flow, and four 5 ¼” drive bays and six 3 ½” drive bays, two of which were external. At 24 pounds, its weight was about average.
The Unicorn’s I/O panel was a little sparse, with only two USB ports and the usual audio connectors. The I/O port bucks the current trend with its placement on the bottom front face of the case instead, of being on top. It’s a bit of a pain to use, because the door has to be open to access the panel.
Unique Features
The Sigma Unicorn has a host of unique features, especially considering its low price tag. The most impressive by far are the sides of the case, which open like a door with hinges on the bottom edge. This feature allows a user to open the side door and install the motherboard and components without picking the entire case up and putting it on its side.
Another feature is the rotating hard drive bay that allows easy hard drive access by turning toward the outside of the case when you want to work with it. When you’re done, just rotate it back in.
The Unicorn has the power button on the very top of the door, which is pleasantly convenient if you put your case on the floor.
The Unicorn is built with tool-less assembly in mind; all of the drive bays use rails hidden in a tool box within the case.
The Unicorn also has a nifty tool-less system for inserting video cards: a fan-holding bar fits across the top of the card, and small adjustable sliders hold the card in place. The bar is removable for easy access.
Appearance, Fit & Finish
The Unicorn is certainly an attractive case, and it distances itself from the “me-too!” crowd by opting for red LED lights instead of blue; if this is your color preference, the Unicorn might find its way to your short list.
Fit and finish is a little on the plasticky side of things. To be fair, the Sigma Unicorn is one of the cheapest cases in this review, and that has to show somewhere. It does, of course, and the most obvious place is the tool-less mounts for optical and floppy drives: they are definitely not well-fitting parts, and require a bit of force to make them work. Also, the front plastic door doesn’t have the weight that we naturally associate with quality parts, and the plastic-painted-chrome door top does nothing to dispel this image. Had Sigma opted for a metal plate in place of the painted plastic piece, it might have made all the difference in the world.
User Experience
The Unicorn is an interesting case to work with; the case is designed with a tool-less user-oriented theme that is often clever. On the downside, the unicorn was the loudest case in our roundup. It wasn’t the loudest by a mile, but it was noticeable.
Our experience with the Unicorn was inconsistent: we loved the hinged door that allowed us access to the motherboard and components by flipping them out onto the table, but we found the fan noise to be excessive. We liked the hinged hard drive bay, but we disliked the small working space and clutter. We liked the price, but we weren’t big fans of the fit and finish.
When all is said and done, the Sigma Unicorn offers some great features for a case in this price range, so it can’t be ignored as an option. If the tool-less mantra tickles your fancy, but the noise doesn’t appeal to you, it might be well worth it to invest in some silent fans.
However, we do have to point out that it appears to be internally identical to the Raidmax Smilodon case that we’ve used in a previous system builder marathon. So if you’re interested in the functionality offered by the Unicorn, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t also consider the Smilodon.
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Nothing on the Thermaltake Armor?
One of the best case designs and plenty of room and features.
Every one of those cases is butt ugly, unwieldy and depressing.
Nothing from Lian-Li, Thermaltake or Antec? In that price range you could review a nice case from any of those companies.
Yep is a very poor roundup allright !
Where is Antec Nine Hundred or the new Twelve Hundred and the excelent P182 ???
The Cosmos S seems to be out of place here.... its in another league: Armor+, Silverstone TJ07B, Stacker
Simple is an uknown word in the aesthetics of the east.
Lazy review, the guys from TOM's couldn't find more attractive PC Cases? It's all made in "China"-like?
poor Roundup.. no Enermax Chakra/uber Chakra no EZCool .....
I have my doubts about your praise on 3R System case. I have similar model. Exactly the same inside structure but without the remote control, display and with different front side.
First of all, it's not that well-built. Sides bend and that inside metal (Al?) is really soft. And if you want to remove the front there are like 6 almost unreachable screws to be unscrewed which is pain in the a**.
Fans are really quiet though.
All mid tower cases... not one Full Tower! I haven't purchased a mid tower case in nearly 8 years for any of my builds because they are too crammed for my liking. As stated by other commenters, where's the Thermaltake Armor? Where's the Antec Twelve Hundred? etc. These were nice looking cases, but they are all middle of the road as far as I am concerned. You need to do a cases revisited or an enthusiast case round up! ...please do that
only Cosmos S look good to me.
well its not bad information but they really could have done a better job picking out cases to review.
Funny how you keep referring to the Antec case(s)but do not include one in the review. Why buy an imitator when you can get the real thing?
No need to add the good old 900 and P182. We all know they're good and it's not a coincidence that the NZXT and the Raidmax looks so much like the 900
As for the 1200 : it's a bigger 900 so there's nothing much to say about it.
But yeah it would have been more appropriate to use case from all company to make a round-up.
I have the Cosmos S, its the best water cooling case out there next to the Mozart. You can easily get 2-3 Radiators in and installed with no mods what so ever. Plus the heat sensitive power button is very impressive. It may not get you laid, but it sure will fit into any modern or high tech lifestyle. The Nine Hundred is quite old in comparison to these cases. I have not seen a new stacker... I think the Cosmos is closest thing to them.
I was skeptical of the Cosmos s at first. But after everything went in without a hitch, I had to really appreciate the work that had gone into this case. The thing I like the most is the rails. Its not that easy to move a 60+ lb case with 2 rads and at least a liter of water.
Good job guys. I enjoyed the round up. I would like to see a more practical round up in the future for more budget PC's. To see more cases that have good practical usage and lower prices. They should all have 2 120mm fans minimum though. 40$-100$ cases.
It would be really cool if for another roundup they did all of the Maximum PC cases that won a "Kick Ass Award". Yeah you may be using info from a competitor, but it would make for one really interesting read to see who would be the best of the best!
No Antec 900 or P182? Certainly two of the best cases on the market.
I also find it funny that the Antec Nine Hundred was mentioned about five times (and the NXZT Tempest is a clone of it) but was not in the review. How about a Nine Hundred vs. Clones comparison?
Why do people love the Thermaltake Armour cases so much? It was the hottest case I ever owned. When I switched to my CM 690 my cpu temps dropped 10 degrees.
not toward this but everyone needs to start measuring the distance between the processor and the wall. because i want a IFX-14
We really need a list of full tower cases.........High end if you wish............Pretty Please.
Most of the cases you picked out I wouldn't consider at all.Mid tower is not where things are going....Some cases have 10 Expansion slots.......I belive we need a review thats with the current trend...as we live in the now ...not the past.