Gamers are particular about their cases. If
you’re on a tight budget, however, you may find that your choices are limited.
Before you lower your standards, we invite you to take a look at the Diablotek
CPA-8950 Cyclops, a steel mid tower that offers a handful of nifty features
without demanding fistfulls of dollars.
Diablotek
Gamer Series CPA-8950 Cyclops
This case features a black painted interior
and exterior and a black plastic front panel dominated by five metal mesh
covers over the 5.25-inch drive bays. The power and reset buttons form a
chevron at the top of the front panel. Large plastic ridges line either side of
the front panel, and the bottom of the front panel features more chevron
designs, backlit by a 120 mm blue LED fan. The left side panel features a
sloped geometric design stamped into the metal, which adds to the rigidity of
the panel and enhances the case’s curb appeal. The right side panel has an
identical stamped design, which provides more cable-routing clearance. A series
of cutouts around the Mobo tray also help avoid cable clutter. Another cutout
behind the CPU makes swapping coolers simple.
For I/O ports, a pair of USB 3.0 ports and
mic and line out jacks are located on the front edge of the top panel. Happily,
those USB 3.0 ports connect to headers on the motherboard, not as a pass through
to the rear I/O.
This case ships with five fans in total. In
addition to the one on the front panel, there’s a non-LED 120 mm fan on the
rear panel, two on the top panel, and a 140mm blue LED fan in the side panel to
keep your graphics card(s) cool. The case has seven expansion slots for your
various components, including enough space to accommodate up to three 13-inch
graphics cards.
One of our favorite features of the Cyclops
is the trio of planks for 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs, each of which lets you
securely mount a drive on one side and a 120 mm fan to the other side, for
additional cooling. Other extras we like include the proliferation of thumbscrews
on the expansion slots and side panels, the handles on the side panels, mesh
expansion slot covers, tool-less drive bays, and a bottom- oriented PSU bay.
This case is also liquid- cooling ready, with a trio of grommets at the top of
the rear panel.
In the Gamer Series CPA-8950 Cyclops,
Diablotek has managed to put together a solid gaming case that offers a lot of
value to cash-strapped enthusiasts. If you’re in the market for a case built to
handle the heat, this one will do it without burning a hole in your pocket.
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Information
Price: $79.99
Manufacturer: Diablotek
Website: www.diablotek.com
Specs: Dimensions: 18.5 x 7.4 x 18.6
inches (HxWxD); Motherboard support: mATX, ATX; Bays: 5 5.25-inch external, 5
3.5-inch internal; Fans: 1 120 mm blue LED front, 1 120 mm rear, 1 140 mm
blue LED side, 2 120 mm top
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