CasEdge Diabolic Series Limited Edition Gamer Case

Company: CasEdge
Product: Limited Edition Diabolic Series Gamer Case
Street Price: ~$149 USD
Date Reviewed: December 31, 2003
Reviewed By: Jason Rabel

Outside Of The Case:

The case we received was the "Storm Blue" color, along with a 400w PSU. The first thing you will notice about the front of the case is how deep and rich the colors are. Even though I didn't use a flash for the front picture, the actual blue is a little darker to the eye. The two eyes light up red, as well as the power switch when the computer is on. The mouth slides up to reveal the USB (2.0 compatible), sound, and firewire ports. Having front ports is a very nice feature that is common among high-end cases, and almost a necessity for the gamer who has joysticks, game pads, headphones, and whatnot. One thing to note is that there is no reset button or hard drive LED, but a little functionality can be sacrificed to keep a clean, sharp look.

Included with the Diabolic Series case is a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) to mount anywhere you please on the inside, a power cord, key lock, and instruction manual. I'm not one to usually read manuals, but this case was a little tricky being tool-less, and the manual provided excellent instructions on how all the parts worked. Take my word for it, spend a minute or two reading over the manual before you even open the case, it will make installation go a lot smoother.

Both sides of the case continue the theme from the front, giving a little accent and depth to the case. The left side of the case has a window, as well as a fan duct that is pretty well centered where the CPU would be on the motherboard. To remove the side panel there are two thumb-screws and a latch, then the panel just slides right off.

The back of the case sports a 120mm fan (which is included), and has a 3-pin connector on the end. There is an I/O shield pre-installed, however more than likely you will have to swap it out with the I/O shield that is included with a motherboard you purchase since they are always making their own custom configurations. Under the fan are two punch-out plates for additional serial ports (or whatever else that is the same size).

Going the extra mile is what it is all about when making a custom case, and CasEdge certainly hasn't forgotten the little details. The feet, which swing out to give extra stability, keep with the theme by looking like claws. Once I got all the parts installed in the case it seemed a little tipsy, but once I swung the feet out it was stable as a rock. In the first picture you can see additional ventilation near the front of the case underneath where the hard drive cage is inside.