2003 Winter Case Review Part 2: The ATX Avalanche

Fong Kai FK-333ATX, Continued

The FK-333 is an interesting combination of case styles. It features a variety of concepts that have come from the gaming case arena and have been adapted for use in this high-quality workstation case. It is a solid design and leaves very little on the table, when you consider its reasonable price. The one drawback for the consumer, however, is that the FK-333 is targeted at the workstation market and those with the need for a case of such durability and quality. This case is very heavy. You will not be lugging this case to many LAN parties; but it offers a wealth of features that make it an interesting case.

A look at the inside of the FK-333.

The FK-333 incorporates a semi-screwless design. Most of the devices can be installed into the case without having to use a lot of screws. We were especially attracted to the nice green color coding inside the case that highlighted areas of interest that are functional. For instance, the handle of the latch release for the 5.25" screwless bays was highlighted in green. This case is extremely roomy, so much so that one could almost get lost inside the FK-333. This is no surprise, since it can handle extended ATX motherboards. Another unique feature is the AGP spring-loaded card retention device. This handy little gadget applies pressure to the top of the AGP card to hold it firmly in the slot during times of movement or transit. This was an optional item and was included at the $129 US MSRP.

The construction of the FK-333 is solid and uses a variety of rolled and folded edges to prevent nasty nicks and scrapes to the user's hands. Except for one slightly rough edge just above the hard drive bay, every place we reached inside the case there were exceptionally clean edges. Obviously, the quality of construction of a workstation level case is going to be superior over most consumer level products. The FK-333 is obviously hard tooled, which can be seen upon close inspection of the case. It uses a series of rivets to fasten the majority of the case together. The FK-333 also uses several strategic bends to add strength to the chassis. The chassis itself exhibited a small amount of twist, but next to no bend, which we would rate as excellent.