Reviews
AeroCool Spiral Galaxies
It would be best to keep this galaxy far, far away
76 MA XIMUMPC MARCH 200 5
E
ven though the original Gaming Bomb was as light on features as
it was on the wallet, its successor is so replete with goodies we’re
declaring it one of the best cases we’ve ever reviewed.
Where to begin? For starters, the Gaming Bomb II’s all-aluminum con-
struction makes it incredibly light, but it’s still pleasingly sturdy. What’s
more, if you’re the LAN-gaming type, your chiropractor will appreciate the
carrying handles mounted on top, while you’ll enjoy showing off your PC’s
naughty bits via the large side window.
Thanks to a stellar design and tool-less drive bays, working with the
GBII is practically effortless. Optical drives and hard drives lock down with
the twist of a lever, and the removable motherboard tray and external PSU
installation make inserting the tangly components a profanity-free affair.
But the coolest feature of the GBII is its removable six-bay hard drive cage
and the ginormous 120mm fan dedicated to it. Once loaded up with drives,
the cage can be returned to the case with the drives facing toward the
motherboard or sideways toward the window for quick drive-swapping. It’s
a simple innovation, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Cooling options consist of the aforementioned 120mm fan in front of the
hard drive cage, a 120mm fan above the AGP slot for exhaust purposes,
and an empty 92mm fan bay on top of the PC that uses a tool-less locking
mechanism, so you can simply slide a fan into place and connect it to the
PSU for additional cooling.
Other notable features include front-mounted USB, audio, and FireWire
ports; the ability to route power cables behind the motherboard tray, for tidy
wiring; and an overall elegant aesthetic that is decidedly more sexy than the
original Gaming Bomb.Tool-less, lightweight, and sturdy, with cool
features.GAMINGGROOMING
Mid-towers in general aren’t suited for dream-
machine duty.
$223, http://www.chenbro.comMA XIMUMPCVERDICT 9
Chenbro Gaming Bomb II
It really is the bomb
B
ack in November 2004, we reviewed a case from Silverstone that
was strikingly similar to this AeroCool unit—the only major dif-
ference being the front bezels. Like Silverstone’s TJ06, the Spiral
Galaxies (who comes up with these names, anyway?) sports a unique
“reverse ATX” chassis that opens on the right and requires the ATX moth-
erboard to be mounted upside down. This puts the CPU at the bottom of the
case, smack-dab in the middle of a wind tunnel created by twin 120mm fans
on either side of the motherboard. The vortex is enhanced by a massive
plastic shroud that clamps down over the top of the motherboard. Although
this cooling design could be beneficial for overclockers, it’s a pain in the
butt to affix or detach the shroud, which is largely unnecessary for conven-
tionally clocked PCs.
We also had problems this time around getting the power supply cables
to reach the motherboard. Because the PSU resides at the very top of the
full-size tower, while the motherboard is located at the very bottom, you
need super-long cables to span the two. The exact length of cable var-
ies depending on the location of the mobo’s ATX power connector. If the
connector is above the CPU—as was the case with our mobo—you could
be SOL. Not even the extra-long cables that came with our PC Power and
Cooling test unit would reach. This is a big, big problem.
Another annoyance is the hard drive cooling situation—or lack thereof.
The Spiral Galaxies doesn’t include any dedicated fans for the drive cage,
so cooling duties have to be handled by a fan on the bottom of your PSU,Interesting design and roomy interior.FULL-SIZE TOWERFULL-SIZE TUMOR
Needs really long power cables, and the cooling
shroud is a PITA.$95, http://www.aerocool.usMA XIMUMPCVERDICT 5
Color us impressed. Our
only gripe is that the GBII is
not a full-size tower, which
we think is necessary for
ultimate dream-machine
configs. But as far as mid-
towers go, this case is
definitely a hit.
—JOSH NOREMWhile the Spiral Galaxies case is extremely roomy, the
spaciousness requires extremely long cables for everything
from the PSU to the hard drives and optical drives.The Gaming Bomb II is full of trick features,
including a removable hard drive cage that can be
rotated to face either the rear or the side.provided it has one. Also, like
the PSU cables, hard drive
cables have to be lengthy given
the drives’ location up at the top
of the case.
This case might boast a
unique design, but clearly it’s
more trouble than its worth.
Take it from us: Stick with stan-
dard ATX for the time being.
—JOSH NOREMven though the original Gaming Bomb was as light on features as