Photos Part Three: Hardware Installation and Testing
Now for the important stuff:
- Maximus V Gene
- Intel i7 3770k
- Evercool Venti
- Patriot Viper 2x4GB 1600mhz memory
- Visiontek Radeon 7950
- Silverstone 700w modular power supply
- Seagate 500gb hard drive
- Thermaltake Chaser A31
As always, you have tool-less installation for both types of drives; however, it should be noted that the method for installing DVD/Blu-Ray drives is a bit different than most cases. To install a drive in the A31, you have to remove the entire front bezel. A little unorthodox, but it doesn’t take much effort to remove it or put it back. Unfortunately, this line of Chaser series does not have a top-mounted HDD slot.
As you may have noticed, the backplates for mounting video cards and the like are internally bolted; however, the plates are a bit pointy seeing as how they lack a square guard to keep you from sustaining a small cut. But as long as you use common sense, odds are, it won’t even matter. Of course, since they are internal bolts, you will have to go back to using a 1/4″ nutdriver or phillips-head screwdriver instead of just having to use your finger and thumb.
The A31 has only two fans, so the air flow isn’t really anything to write home about. Ambient temperature is fine, but I can’t help but think it might benefit from another pre-packaged fan. But given that you can buy fans for mostly reasonable prices, I’d say just go to your local PC store and buy one for a three or so dollars.
