Enermax Hoplite Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Completed SystemTo build up a system in the Hoplite took us about an hour although this time would be considerably shorter if we hadn’t tidied up all the cables. We managed to achieve a very clean build with few visible cables to get in the way of airflow.

Installing the optical into the system was very simple. We were simply required to remove the bezel from the front of the case and then insert the drive, locking it in position with the tool-less clip. Then it was a simple matter of hooking up the appropriate cables.

All of the hard drives you install have to be screwed into place as there are no tool-less mechanisms in place. This includes the hot swap bays which also require us to screw the drives in place.

Power supply installation was also simple enough, requiring four screws through the back of the case as usual. There are plenty of cable routing holes in the motherboard tray which make cable routing a doddle.

Installing the motherboard was no more difficult than in any other case, first requiring us to install a selection of motherboard standoffs and then to screw down the motherboard into position. Thanks to the large cutout in the motherboard tray you can install the CPU cooler after the motherboard should you wish. There isn’t a huge amount of room behind the motherboard tray either so you have to be careful where you route the cables.

Installing the GPU into our test system required us to pop out the appropriate expansion card covers. Unfortunately these aren’t replaceable so once they’re removed, they cannot be reinstalled. This could be a problem if you change the hardware in your system frequently.