Test System: DFI LANParty Ultra-D, AMD Athlon64 3200+ (Venice Core), Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache SATA Hard Drive, HIS X850XT IceQ-TurboII 256MB

Temperatures in Celsius, Lower is better

Some may say that measuring a case against a wide open Tech Station is unfair. Well, I feel it’s a good baseline of what an air cooled system can achieve. The results show that the X-Plorer does a decent job at getting air through the system, allowing the components to keep themselves cool. Granted I modified the original fan design, but I am sure most of you would as well. The only glaring difference I could see is the Hard Drive, but then the Tech Station has a nice 120mm fan blowing directly across the HD.

A note here that I could hear the CPU fan spin up and down as it attempted to get air; this could be due to the position of the air-duct not being directly over it. If that is the case, this is not something that most of you will hear.

Final Words

Aspire has delivered a very attractive design, on the outside. Once you open the case up, you run into some old fashioned design concepts with some not so thought out solutions and positioning of fans and air-ducts. Although in my situation I have a specific motherboard that causes a position issue, there should be a plan in place for that, as DFI is not exactly a small motherboard supplier in the enthusiast market space. Aspire needs to redesign the interior solution in order to make the X-Plorer a nice completion to your home system.

Pros: Stylish Design, Decent cooling with minimal noise levels, Front Temperature probe readout, Ample internal space in a Mid-Tower design

Cons: Independent connectors on the Front I/O cables, Internal 3.5” mounts rear facing, Does not use slide rails for easy mounting of 3.5” and 5.25” drives, Top fan position intrudes on PSU space making it unusable, Side Air-Duct assumes manufacturer position of CPU, not always correct

Bottom Line: Aspire has delivered a very clean and edgy looking case in the X-Plorer line. Unfortunately looks are only skin deep, once inside, it needs an overhaul.

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