Tenor Case Review Part Deaux!

[onebxr]

Tenor Part Deaux
(part one here...)


In this final part of my review for the Tenor case I will be exploring
functionality, pros and cons of the case. First off, I would like to
say that this case was a great enclosure to build in. I didn*t donate
blood on this build as I have with almost every other case I have built
in. Smooth edges are the norm with this case. There was plenty of room
to situate all of my goodies. It was not until I came to hooking up
the wires that I encountered my first problem with the case. There is
not much room for wire management. With a full box you are either going
to get very creative or you will have a rats nest of wires in the box.
Since there is not much ventilation in the Tenor I tried my best to hide
wires and keep them out of the way so as not to impede airflow.





As far as the support bridges go, I am opting to use both of them. The
long skinny one is going to be used for the hard drive holder because it
has a 120mm fan blowing across it and will help with heat build up.



If you were to go SLI/crossfire with any VGA you would be forced to go
with the alternate hard drive bay that is also included with the case.



With the cross support there is no room for the second video card. At
this time I would like to mention that you can fit a 8800GTX in this
case, and there is enough room to fit 2 GTX*s in this case. To do
this you will have to opt out of the support bridge that was mentioned
before. I however do not have the money of Mr. Trump so I will be using
a single 6800GS in this build.



Components used in this build are as follows:
Tenor Case (of course)
Foxconn MX!@#%#$AA
AMD AM2 4000x2
(1) 320 GB Samsung Spinpoint 3.00 SATA
(2) 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint 3.00 SATA
Hiper 580W type R
6800GS PCIE
Samsung DL DVD/RW
HT Omega Striker 7.1
Arctic Cooler 64 Pro
Zalman VF 700 VGA cooler

As far as cooling goes I have no tried and true method of measuring
this. I will use Speedfan 4.2 temperature readings to give a good idea of
how warm temperatures are for this system. I know that program readings aren't the most accurate but I think if I use startup and shut down temps and see where they stand it will be a good indicator of how hot the system is getting under load.
My testing will consist of burning a DVD, and then watching said DVD
then I will check temperature readings after the movie is over.





My overall impression of this case is a favorable one. The four things
I would change are no motherboard tray, drive bay door mechanism seems
flimsy, wiring headaches, and the venting of the case. I would
recommend this case but as always this product falls short in a few
categories but what may seem to me like a shortcoming may not be for
you. In my opinion the positives far outweigh the negatives. I believe
that this is a great case for the money. (remember, I only paid $68.00
for it) This was an easy and enjoyable build for me and in my limited
testing it has performed well. As far as a HTPC case goes this has
plenty of room and it blends in with my other TV components much better
than a traditional case or even a lanbox case would. Styling, form, and
function are all applied in this case.

[RA1D]

wow, everybody's pumping out some really nice reviews/guides! i enjoyed the review and nice pics

[Pete]

Thats a sexy setup and you did an amazing job of cable management.

[Capper]

Excellent write up Boxer..... I know you put a lot of time and effort into this, and it really shows.

[Yellowhello]

Nice one, bxr.

EDIT: Way better than my write-ups..............