Four Unique ATX Cases Compared

Moving To A Different Beat: Spotswood Custom L-18

Spotswood Custom Computers has the perfect case for those who march to the beat of a different drummer. The concept resembles something an artistic modder with a passion for music may have come up with, but the accuracy in details is far greater than most amateurs could ever hope to achieve.

External Design

Spotswood Custom Computers specializes in round PC cases that resemble a bass drum. The company's L-series even uses quite a few hardware pieces familiar to the musical instrument, but the wood seems a bit thicker. At any rate, these are actually built from the outset as computer cases, rather than being based on pre-manufactured drums.

Clear heads, er, side panels make for an enclosure that really shows off your internal components, and are easy to describe with only a few shots. Two 92 mm low-noise exhaust fans and one 140 mm low-speed intake fan are clearly visible, as well as the power supply air inlet. Cables pass to the outside through a slitted rubber flap below the exhaust fans.

Front connections include four USB, microphone/headphone, and an IEEE-1394 FireWire port in a 3.5" external bay device. The empty bay above it fits a slimline notebook optical drive (CD or DVD.)

Opposite the front connectors, two Nexus DF1209SL-3 cooling fans quietly remove hot air.

Internal Construction

The unusual design of most L-18 mounting brackets means that the best description will come as hardware is mounted.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.