Today I will be taking a look at one of the latest budget chassis designs from Aerocool, a brand who might not have the biggest reputation here in the UK but one that we have seen produce some truly impressive products in the past, especially those from the PGS (pro gamer series) range such as the BX500 and the incredible Xpredator which we reviewed last year. Of course the PGS series were focused on high end performance and were nearly twice as expensive as the Strike-X, so it would be unfair to compare them. The Strike-X will set you back around £40 from most major retailers and that puts it right at the heart of the budget market.
The budget market is doing better than ever in terms of choice for the consumer and these days you often have to go out of your way to find a product that is rubbish as many of the top brands in the business offer something impressive for around £30-50, so it will be interesting to see what Aerocool have to offer as we already know they can do high-end chassis very well, but can they make a competitive budget solution?
The chassis comes in a brightly coloured box with a nice clear image of the chassis on the front as well as a run down of the major features and component compatibility.
In the box I found a 5.25″ front panel adaptor, user’s manual, a collection of screws, standoffs and a few cable ties.
40 years ago I may have thought the styling was to die for but today it leaves me reaching for a welders helmet. One thing I’m pleased to see is they never bothered with USB 2 ports but I don’t like the USB 2 breakout cable but at this price, understandable. But what’s not understandable is the use of break-off slot covers, I mean, C’mon… how much extra can reusable ones cost? Although this is common among budget cases, I’ll never understand it. Another thing that leaves me gob smacked is how the hell could they not notice the badly placed bottom cable slot. Amazing.
40 years ago we didn’t have cases like this, let alone PC’s 😉
Lol.
I like Aerocool cases, my son has had a chance to choose from a lot of cases from Cooler Master etc. But he picked the VS-4 Window case. When we build the system together ( a family that builds together stays together) we found it to be a real pleasure and it looks great. Terrific gaming case. Before this I was skeptical of Aerocool, but now I am quite impressed.