Vidabox, makers of those high end Media Center machines, have recently released a Mini-ITX case called the CubeCase, and if you are planning on building your own Media Center or Windows Home Server Vail machine, then you should take a look at this.
Here is what Vidabox say about the CubeCase:
VidaBox has done it again – CubeCase is the perfect chassis for your next DIY home server or mini Media Center! Unlike other typical chassis, CubeCase has been engineered from scratch by VidaBox to deliver the best possible features, field-serviceability, and cooling performance that today’s advanced builders demand. As a culmination of our years of building tons of servers, CubeCase is the ONLY Mini-ITX chassis that packs so many features into a small, stylish case, such as:
Tons of HDD space:
We challenge you to find another mini-ITX case this small that has 3 HDD bays, a full sized optical drive bay, AND a full-sized expansion slot! (If you find one, let us know! We couldn’t find one to buy, which is why we designed and built our own!)
(2) fully field-servicable Hard Drives:
Opening up the case after your initial build is alot of work, even knowing you’ll need to upgrade your storage at some point. The VidaBox CubeCase makes this easy with its dual-field servicable HDD drive bays, so you can easily plug in additional hard drives as you please!
Keep other part costs down:
Full size optical drives are important to keep costs down. Many short-height cases “cheat” and use slimline drives to keep more HDD space inside – but have you seen how much a slimeline Blu-ray drive is vs. a full size one? VidaBox CubeCase lets you take advantage of sub-$50 full sized Blu-ray drives!
Full size expansion port
Conventional small form factor cases generally means you have to sacrifice powerful graphics or performance – but this is not so with the VidaBox CubeCase! Add in your favorite expansion/add-on cards with CubeCase’s cleverly positioned expansion port for the best of both worlds with this small and powerful case design!!
The Power Supply (PSU) IS included
To keep sizes small, VidaBox CubeCase includes a 300W SFX power supply that powers your entire system! It also includes plugs for power-hungry, dedicated graphics cards as well so you can use this case for a server or a powerful, mini-form factor Media Center!
Efficient Heat/thermal transfer:
With its reduced size, heat removal is extremely important in these types of cases. A large 120mm fan on the front pulls in clean, fresh air, and the rear build-in PSU exhausts the heated air out the back for cool, long term performance.
Quiet performance – minimal fan noise:
We strategically placed the air intake fan right by the front area, and in concert with natural convection through the cubeCase’s side openings plus the PSU in the back, this allows you to enjoy adequate airflow while minimizing noise. For even quieter performance, One can always replace this fan with a quieter one, or just run it without a fan if only 1 HDD was installed instead.
What’s In The Box?
The box is very well packaged and actually shows the case on the outside rather than the usual plain packaging. My box was a little banged up but that was the courier and not Vidaboxes fault.
Rivered Construction
(1) Cubecase Chassis w. front mounted plastic cover/bezel
(2) Field-Servicable HDD cages
(1) USA Power Cable for PSU
(1) Pre-installed 300W SFX PSU
(1) Accessories bag with screws and zip-ties
Specifications
Taking A Look At The CubeCase
The case looks stunning, there really isn’t any other word to describe it.
There is a front fan along with the drive bay.
The whole of the front of the case opens outwards giving access to the 2 removal drive bays.
Just a click on the drive bay button pops open the latch and enables you to slide out the bay.
Adding a hard drive is simple – you just put it in place and then screw it in, then just slide the bay back into the case – very very simple!
Both sides have vents to help with the air flow.
