Installation

I decided to start installing parts into this case with the optical drive and powersupply. These are probably the easiest components, and the motherboard should be able to fit in after them. To install either of the items, the front panel must be removed. Thankfully, it's attached in four places and pops off without much effort. The powersupply went in very easily, thanks to the spacer we looked at earlier. Once it's securely screwed, you can plug the power cable that runs to the rear of thecase.


Next up is the optical drive, which is much more trivial than the powersupply. To GMC's credit, the optical and floppy drives are both installed using rails, eliminating and necessity to ATTEMPT fitting a screwdriver in at an awkward angle.


I hit one snag during this initial installation. Althought I didn't tug hard or jerk the front panel while removing it from the case, I discovered that the power button wires were pulled off of the terminals on the front panel. All the other wires seemed to be fairly sturdy, so I'm not sure what happened here. I can make the suggestion to GMC that they perhaps begin hot-gluing solder points to prevent such things, as many companies do.

Installation, continued

We're using an Intel P965 motherboard, which is a full-size ATX board. I had to pull the optical drive out a bit for it to fit in, but it went under the powersupply without much issue. It's a snug fit, but everything on the motherboard is accessible without having to remove the optical drive or powersupply.


The front panel connectors were a simple install, as both the USB and Audio connectors were already in blocks. You don't have to worry about looking up pin numbers in the motherboard manual. The switches and HDD LED were similarly easy to install. Another awesome feature here is that the power light is powered by a 12v molex connector rather than the motherboard. This way, you don't have to worry about whether your motherboard has a 3-pin or 2-pin header for the power LED.


As this is a "slim" case, there is no room for some of the simplified PCI slot solutions, such as push-clips that hold cards in. With this case, you've got to use the old-fashioned screw driver to secure your expansion cards. I have no issue with this, I think it's easier to secure the card and to fit the card in. Ever trying fitting a dual-slot videocard inside some of the cases with clips?


The hard drive wasn't the easiest part of this installation, but it wasn't a difficult step, either. It fits into the bracket above the motherboard and is screwed in, but if you want it securely in, you're going to have to take off the other side panel to get screw sin the other side. This isn't a huge inconvenience, but it's still a slight bother.


The last thing left is to connect power to everything and make sure everything is secure.