Enermax iVektor Review
Category : Cases
Published by Luca Rocchi on 05.03.14
iVektor is an ATX case from Enermax. The front panel is made by a large amount of ABS covered by a soft-touch finish that looks very good. Other than that it look like the interior offers good flexibility and other than that no less than seven 2.5 inch drives can be installed. Furthermore there are several possibilities to place radiators. At a very first glance it looks like this could be quite a neat case for gamer and maybe also modder.
On the following pages we
will show you strengths and weaknesses of the Enermax iVektor case.
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Preview
Specifications
| Model |
Enermax iVektor |
| Case Type |
Mid tower |
| Dimensions |
495 x 234 x 508 mm |
| Material |
SECC |
| Color |
White |
| 5.25'' drive
bay |
3 x external |
| 3.5'' drive bay |
7 x 3.5'' |
| 2.5'' drive bay |
4 x 2.5'' |
| Expansion
slots |
7 |
| Form factors |
ATX, Micro ATX, Mini-ITX |
|
Weight |
6.1 kg |
| Cooling |
Top: 120mm fan x 2
Front: 120mm fan x 2
Rear: 120mm fan |
| I/O ports |
USB 3.0 x 2, USB 2.0 x2, HD Audio |
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Front
Overview |
|
| |
| Compared to previously analyzed Fulmo ST,
the iVektor has a design with soft lines and is a bit more rounded. The materials, after an initial analysis, are of good quality and workmanship. The front of the iVektor is entirely made of ABS and covered with a white color
softouch finish. The upper part of the case features three 5.25" bays and the lower part is taken by the silver Enermax logo. Behind the front mesh there are the two 120mm fans placed to cool down the HDDs.
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| |
Back
Overview |
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|
| |
| The rear part, like the bottom one, is made of black SECC steel. In the upper part there is a place for the rear fan and two rubber grommets for liquid systems. The area devoted to the power supply is located at the bottom of the case, and the housing is comfortable and very spacious so you can even install big PSU without any problems. |
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Right side
Overview |
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| |
|
Like other parts of the case, even the right side shares the same good build quality. The edges of the motherboard tray are well
manufactured despite the fact that there are no rubber grommets. Between the side panel and the back plate of the mainboard there is enough space for a good cable management. Both panels, the right and the left, are equipped with easy-to-use thumbscrews,
which is quite rare, considering that usually we can't find thumbscrews on the right panel. When we take off the right panel, we instantly notice two important features: there is a big cut-out behind the CPU socket and the
case features a modular HDD cage.
|
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Left side
Overview |
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|
| |
|
Both side panels do not have windows or mesh, are made of steel but nevertheless are very thin and easy to deform. Inbetween the 5.25 inch and the 3.5 inch cage, you can either install 3.5 or 2.5 inch drives. The case ships with the left pillar placed to install 2.5 inch drives. If you want to install more 3.5 inch drives you can release a few screws and put the pillar more to the left, closer to the motherboard. All drives can be installed without using any tools at all, just the tool-less rails that
Enermax includes in the bundle are needed. If you remove this center cage entirely, you can install graphics cards with a maximum length of up to 430 millimeter and heatsink with a maximum height of up to 180mm. During the assembly, we found out that the top left cut-out, the one that should be used for the 8-pin CPU cable, is a bit too tight, and it's really difficult to route a cable through.
|
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Top
Overview |
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| |
|
The top line shares the same line of the front and also here is possible remove all of the top panel to access
the fans and dust filters. Closer to the front, there are the I/O connectors, where you get 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 as well as audio. In addition there is also a two-speed fan controller.
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| |
Bottom
Overview |
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| |
|
The bottom part is simple, there is a removable dust filter and four solid rubber coated feet. The dust filters are removable and washable.
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Conclusion
| General |
|
+ |
- |
| Overall,
the iVektor from Enermax is a good mid-tower case. The materials used are of good quality
when compared to the rest of the tested products. Inside, you can install
a liquid cooling system, multi-GPU systems and high-end components. Besides the numerous connections present on the upper part, there is also a two-speed fan controller. We noticed, however, a couple of downsides regarding the structure of the case. The side panels, albeit made of SECC, are too thin and the pass-through EPS 4+4 pin
hole is a bit too small.
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-
Design
- Fan controller
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| |
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| Manufacturing quality / Ergonomics |
|
+ |
- |
| The build quality is very good, the iVektor is produced with really decent materials, and the softouch finish is very good. Overall there is plenty of internal space and allows you to have a very powerful rig without worrying about messy cable management or high temperatures. Also on the backside of the motherboard or on the side panel, there is plenty of space to route lots of cables. |
|
- Build
quality
- Interior
Space |
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| |
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| Design |
|
+ |
- |
| The design is always a subjective aspect, however, we believe that the appearance of iVektor is pleasant to look at. Since this model is proposed for gamers, you can install a large amount of radiators and fans.The iVektor uses a tool-less retention systems, which is definitely a plus in our book. However, we have found that the lower dust filter is not so easy to remove. |
|
- Cooling |
- Dust filter not easy to remove
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Recommendation |
|
+ |
- |
| Checking on Geizhals.eu,
the Enermax iVektor has a price of 60 EUR excluding shipping costs. If you are looking for a mid-tower case with good ventilation and good materials, we
definitely suggest you consider this model. |
|
- Gaming-PC
- Deskop-PC |
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| |
| Rating |
|
The
Enermax iVektor gets good 3.5 out of five
stars. |
| |
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