VIVO CASE-V08 ATX Mid-Tower Review

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

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Hardware Installation & Test Configuration

The original CASE-V08 installation kit includes three standoffs, a beep-code speaker, four cable ties, one replacement slot cover, and a variety of screws.

Cables include a USB 3.0 that occupies both ports but only connects to one, USB 2.0, a split power LED cable, HDD LED/Power/Reset, HD Audio, and a 4-pin ATA style connector for the fan controller. The 3-pin fans can also be connected to motherboard headers, but doing so sacrifices fan controller function.

ATX was originally specified in inches, and AC-97 was specified from ATX, yet many geeks refuse to be tied to a standard fictitiously based on the length of a king’s finger (and factually based on, of all things, barleycorns). Outside of former British colonies, the alternative scale appears to be a more of an inconvenience than an annoyance.

Unfortunately, there are sometimes issues with metric conversion, such as when a ½” cable header (12.6mm) gets converted to 13mm and ends up being 13.12mm. The test motherboard has a shield around its USB 2.0 header that measures 12.84mm-wide, which is more than enough clearance to fit a 12.6mm connector. 13.12mm doesn’t fit. Everything else fit, although after installing eight screws we had to loosen all eight and wiggle the board to install the ninth. Perhaps something else got lost in the conversion?

There’s a great deal of space for liquid cooling components even though the case isn’t designed to hold a large radiator. Then again, fitting a 2x 140 radiator to the front panel isn’t very difficult for those who own a drill.

Here’s how the completed system appears in its stock configuration.

Remember the High Airflow upgrade kit? It includes four spacers for the front glass, and four longer screws.

And here’s how the case looks after adding those parts. We’re testing it both ways.

Comparison Cases
Antec P8
BitFenix Nova TG

Fractal Design Meshify C

The CASE-V08 is compared to our most closely priced glass-paneled rivals, with the Raidmax Alpha Prime being the closest match at three glass panels and four LED fans. The Alpha Prime does not, however, include a high-airflow upgrade kit.

Test Configuration








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Drivers & Settings
ChipsetIntel INF 9.4.2.1019
CPU4.2GHz (42x 100MHz) @ 1.2V Core
MotherboardFirmware 17.8 (02/10/2015)
RAMXMP CAS 16 Defaults (1.2V)
GraphicsMaximum Fan for Thermal Tests | Nvidia GeForce 347.52


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Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • heystokes
    Such a premium appeal with those front 3 LED fans, and then running into such a simple cheap component like that USB header really does frustrate builders. Did anyone at the VIVO factory plug an actual motherboard in and test the thing before producing tons of them? Still a beautiful front bezel
    Reply
  • VIVO-US
    20719524 said:
    Such a premium appeal with those front 3 LED fans, and then running into such a simple cheap component like that USB header really does frustrate builders. Did anyone at the VIVO factory plug an actual motherboard in and test the thing before producing tons of them? Still a beautiful front bezel

    All of our test motherboards have the more typical open USB header, so we weren't aware of the problem before. We'll be checking into this to see about improving it for future production.
    Reply