The Antidote To Tedium: 11 Midi Tower Cases Bring Excitement to the Desktop

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Nexus Breeze: Plastic Case With Soundproofing

At 12.7 kg (about 28 lb), the Nexus case is one of the heaviest in this test. This heft has nothing to do with soundproofing, but rather with the case's sturdy design. From the outside, you cannot guess what is inside the part-plastic midi tower. The two side covers are held on by just one flanged screw and easily detach from the rest of the case. Since the whole case stands on two massive pedestals, there is little room inside for too much computer hardware.

Between the two pedestals is a 120mm system fan that sucks the air under the case into the interior. A 120mm fan inside the 350W power supply blows out the heat generated by the unit, but another fan is nowhere to be found. An endurance test would be needed to determine whether this is a good design in the long run, but when completely populated with hardware, we feel this cooling concept isn't likely to measure up. After all, in addition to the CPU and mainboard, the drives also generate a lot of heat. A hard drive spinning at 7,200 rpm quickly reaches a temperature of 40°C. And that's just one drive. What about when there are several in the case - where is all this hot air supposed to go?