An affordable chassis that’s fit for the
gods
Xigamtek might not be the first name on
your lips when listing case manufacturers, but it has a history of putting
together well- designed and extremely well-priced chassis. Both its mid-range
Utgard and E-ATX Elysium have earned Premium Grade awards in the past, with the
Midgard II looking to be just as competitive thanks to an exhaustive feature
set, which rivals that of cases twice costing twice as much.
Xigamtek
Midgard II
The Midgard II’s exterior manages to strike
a balance between the meshed sections, needed to allow effective airflow into
the case, and the rounded plastic fascia, which is made from a soft-touch
plastic reminiscent of BitFenix’s trademark coating. The result is a case that
looks and feels reassuringly solid and stylish, despite offering a huge tally
of eight separate fan mounts. There’s a pair of 120/140mm mounts in the roof, a
second pair of 120/140mm mounts in the left side panel , a third pair of 120mm
mounts in the front, a rear 120mm mount and a floor 120mm mount. This is more
than any other case on test, and it allows huge scope for upgrading the case’s stock
cooling, a pair of 120mm fans fitted as a front intake and rear exhaust.
With so many fan mounts, it’s also good to
find that Xigmatek also bundles the Midgard II with a 3-channel variable-speed
fan controller. Occupying one of the case’s seven expansion slots, the
controller is identical to that bundled with the Fractal Core 3000 (see p68),
and it enables you to choose whether the case should compromise on noise or
cooling. There’s ample provision for dust filters too, with an external filter
fitted along the case’s floor, and thin mesh filters inside the front fascia
and over the roof vents.
This
is more than any other case on test, and it allows huge scope for upgrading the
case’s stock cooling, a pair of 120mm fans fitted as a front intake and rear
exhaust.
The Midgard II’s front panel is similarly
well equipped, with a pair of USB 2 ports alongside a single USB 3 port, and
the usual headphone/microphone jacks and power/reset button. Uniquely, though, there’s
also a 3.5in/2.5in external SATA docking station built into the case’s roof.
While this isn’t a necessary luxury, it’s better implemented than the same
feature on the Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (see p62) and will prove useful if
you’re juggling hard drives.
While
this isn’t a necessary luxury, it’s better implemented than the same feature on
the Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (see p62) and will prove useful if you’re
juggling hard drives.
Swinging the side panel off the Midgard II
reveals an impressive interior. Like the Fractal Core 3000, the Midgard II
boasts a pair of three-mount 3.5in drive cages, using drive trays to easily
secure up to six 3.5in or 2.5in drives in place. The lower cage is riveted in
place but the upper cage, fitted in front of the bundled cooling fan, can be
removed to improve airflow. All six trays are fitted with vibration-dampening
rubber grommets to cut down on drive noise too, although this means that you’ll
need a screwdriver to fit drives. Above the 3.5in mounts is a trio of tool-free
5.25in drive bays, with the welcome addition of an adaptor to mount a slimline
optical drive, complete with an appropriate replacement 5.25in blanking plate.
Alongside the excellent drive bay mounts is
the surprisingly roomy provision for cable routeing, made even easier by the
ability to fully remove the roof fascia and front fascia. Thanks to a clever
fan-mounting mechanism in the roof, which secures fans to two platforms rather
than drilled mount holes, this effectively allows you to remove the case’s roof
and gain access to all those pesky corners around the motherboard for cable
routeing.
As such, routeing the 8-pin EPS12V cable
behind the motherboard is a snap, with 19mm of clearance behind the motherboard
tray offering enough room for 24-pin ATX power cables. There are plenty of
cable-tie points on the back of the motherboard tray too, enabling you to use
the bundled cable ties to bring order to the cable chaos. Our one criticism is
that the front panel cables are rather untidy and unbraided, but this is soon
rectified with a cable tie or two.
Performance
With a pair of fans fitted as a rear
exhaust and front intake, the Midgard II produced decent cooling out of the
box, with a CPU delta T of 54°C matching the Corsair Carbide 200R (see p64).
The GPU delta T of 36°C is more
competitive, however, with the ventilated front panel ensuring effective
airflow to the front intake fan. Meanwhile, dialling down the fans to minimum
speed saw the CPU temperature rise to a delta T of 58°C while the GPU delta T
increased to 40°C. Both results are less competitive, but you’ll want to slow
down the fans, as they sound harsh at full speed.
With
a pair of fans fitted as a rear exhaust and front intake, the Midgard II
produced decent cooling out of the box, with a CPU delta T of 54°C matching the
Corsair Carbide 200R
Adding our two Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm
fans as a roof exhaust and side intake improved the Midgard II’s cooling
considerably, with the CPU delta T dipping to 47°C - 2°C warmer than the best
result on test. The GPU delta T of 34°C was similarly pleasing and, again, 2 °C
off the best cooling on offer.
Conclusion
While the Midgard II didn’t beat the
Fractal Core 3000 in our cooling graphs, its cooling can be improved with extra
fans. It’s the Midgard II’s expansive feature set that shines though; no other
chassis on test can touch it for fan mounts and extras, helping to justify the
$78 price. The ability to remove the roof and front fascia, combined with the
high-quality drive bay mounts, makes PC building easy too. These factors make
the Midgard II the most competitive case in this league.
