For those that build computers, here are a few tips for tweaking the Aspire (Apevia) X-Qpack computer case. (Which is the only case I'm currently using to build systems these days. With a few tweaks, it's solid computer goodness.)      
The images show the "Windows" in the sides and top as blue. In fact, they are clear and take on the hue of whatever colour LED is inside the case. (I prefer the non-windowed cases, as they emit less EMF, which can cause interference with radios, cell phones, cordless phones, garage door openers, pacemakers etc.; and make it easier for Nazi radio direction finders and those pesky spy satellites to home in on your position.) Anyway, tweak a computer case you say? Why? What is there to tweak? OK. Good point, but a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out the following pictures (and a little bit of narrative) for what to do to these cases to optimize them. PiffleMaster hops right to it... The following are out of the box pictures. Er, sorry. Out of the box in pieces pictures. Here's the back, with the original junk (grossly overrated but nicely finished) power supply on the right, and a so- so 120 MM case fan on the left. The power supply is labeled as 435W. Aspire should fire somebody's ass or send them back to school, 'cause it's less than half that in real life. A Fortron/Sparkle PS with an integral 120 MM fan will replace the old unit with it's 80 MM fan. (more on this later) The 120 MM case fan has pretty lights, isn't TOO noisy, but is of questionable quality for the long run, and a quiet ball bearing fan should be substituted in its place. The original 80 MM power supply fan blows air out of the case by sucking it up from its bottom mounted orientation, but the following picture reveals a nasty oversight on the part of the case designers. Note that one third of the fan inlet is covered by a front to back sheet angle case support. And this is before we put in a power supply with a 120 MM fan! Doh! A quick snip or twenty with some tin snips will correct this issue, but a nibbler and Dremel would leave a more visually appealing correction. While at it, trim back some of the extraneous aluminum that is incorporated in the CD mounting structure - just to the front of the gnawed out power supply blockage. It just makes it easier to manage cables, and doesn't affect the case strength. That leaves just two areas to fix up. Both are potentially more serious than any of the issues shown so far. The first concerns the removable motherboard tray. Some CPU supports are made of a thick plastic stiffener, which will cause the motherboard to warp when it's attached to the tray, as there is a lip on the tray which interferes with it. The fix is to gnaw away some of the lip. (Please excuse the roughness, my teeth were dull when I did this case. I now have a sheet-metal nibbler which does a much better job.) That's it for the metal-work. The last item which may or not prove an issue on any given build (it's hit or miss, depending on the quality control the day the box was built?)... involves the power button intermittently shorting out. The switches themselves don't short out, but the connections on the back of them may. They are in close proximity to the metal on the front of the case, and moving the case (or even putting your hand on it!) may cause one to contact the case, leading to all manner of issues. This can usually be remedied by using a small flathead screwdriver or a midget's fingernail to bend the connections away from the case. Or... My preferred method if you're in a hurry, just pop the clip (just to the left if the area circled clumsily in red) and spring the plastic bezel away from the chassis slightly, then slip a folded business card down in between the connections and chassis. :-) (Note the area below with the red circle - shows the offending power switch connections. Now for the last tweak, and this one is actually the only tweak that won't void any warranties. Reverse the orientation of the 120 MM case fan so it blows in - rather than out of the case. My experiments with this have shown that in conjunction with the Fortron/Sparkle power supply - (PN ATX-400-PN-B), the case temps drop by 3-4 degrees. Not much, but every little bit helps, as every snowman can attest to. Plus, the additional airflow through the power supply provides some measure of insurance for the power supply if it's fan quits. ***** Here are a few shots of one of these cases with an ASUS A8V-MX, AMD 4600 X2 with stock HSF, a Sparkle ATX-400PN power supply, and a Samsung SHW-162 DVD\CD. A shot of the PS with the lip on the stiffener removed to allow unimpeded airflow into the outlet fan. There isn't much room left with the standard DVD/CD and the Sparkle ATX PS, but it works if you insert the cables into the DVD/CD before fastening it. Note that when the case fan is reversed to blow into the case, it blows air onto the hard drive cassette, which can hold two drives, without cooking either. This shot shows a Thermaltake iBox drawer (not included with the case) installed under the DVD\CD to store stuff like CDs and thumb-drives. Very handy. That's it. Right out of the box I quite like this case, but with these easy to do mods accomplished, it's cooler, quieter and more reliable. Cheers! | 
