Naturally
we get a lot of requests from manufacturers and retailers to review
their items but not everything makes it into our pages. Some requests
we can see that the item in question is obvious crap, and we don't
want to look at rubbish any more than you want to read about it.
Of course there is also the other end of the spectrum. A manufacturer
contacts us and we are left wondering why we've not heard of these
people before as (on paper at least) their product sounds rather
good.
3R
System contacted us to ask if we'd like to review their new
R110
“The One” ATX Mid Tower. After checking out a
few photo's and specifications we asked them to send it, as without
a doubt the case fell into the latter. Let's take a closer look.
Specifications
| Dimension(Chassis) |
200(W)
x 430(H) x 435(D) |
| Dimension(Total) |
200(W)
x 437(H) x 473(D) |
| Drive
Bays |
5.25"
x 4ea ,3.5" x 6ea (Hidden : 5) |
| |
*
Full Heat Sink aluminium HDD Bays : 4ea
|
| M/B
Form Factor |
ATX,
Micro-ATX |
| PSU
Form Factor |
ATX |
| Weight |
7.5Kg |
| Colours |
Black,
Silver |
| Expansion
Slots |
7
Slots |
| Front
Fan |
140mm
(Removable Dust Filter) |
| Rear
Fan |
120mm
|
| Port |
USB
2.0 x 2ea / MIC / SPK |
| Side
Panel CAG 1.1 |
120mm
Air Duct(Removable Dust Filter) + VGA Cooling Hole |
| Navigation
Display LCD |
6-level
Fan Speed Controlling (2 channel), the storage of Fan speed
, temperature display, visual Indication of FAN/HDD operation,
system running time display |
The
box for the R110 “The One” is of the standard 'RESY'
brown cardboard, printed with specifications and imagery of
the case. Inside, the case was protected by polystyrene inserts
which held the case suspended between them and also covered
in a transparent plastic bag to prevent scratches.
Once
the case was removed from the box and packaging we were able
to get a good look at it. The overall exterior appearance is
quite stylish and smooth; No flamboyant designs or outrageous
appendages here. The front of the case is constructed of black
plastic which matches perfectly with the steel and aluminium
construction of the rest of the case which is also black. The
top front sports the four 5.25” drive bays, the top two
of which have built in Optical Drive bay covers. As the bay
covers are built in you won't be able to change their position
from the top two bays to say the bottom two bays, but only you
as an end user can say if that would be a true issue.
Just
below the four 5.25” bays is a single 3.5” bay for
floppy drive use. While floppy drive use is declining, many other
devices are built to fit in a 3.5” bay; some card readers
for one.
Just
below the 3.5” inch bay, the black front is broken up by
a mirrored panel sporting four buttons. This panel is a built
in fan controller with provision for two fans to be controlled.
It can also display the fans current speed, system up time, temperature,
HDD activity and also has a little mascot of a dog catching a
frisbee.
Below
this is the enclosed air intake sporting the recessed silver power
button. Air can be drawn in from above and below, as well as from
the bottom of the front panel itself. The power button is stylishly
recessed and is ringed by a blue LED light which is quite fetching.
Now
your probably thinking that this case doesn't have a reset button;
but it does. Moving to the right side of the front, parallel to
the power button you find a circular silver button for reset.
The opposite side has twin USB ports as well as Mic and Headphone
jacks. At the very bottom of the front we find a silver 3R System's
logo sitting slightly proud in silver.
The
top of the case is uneventful, as is the right hand side panel.
The left panel however has two grills, one above the other relating
to the CPU area and Graphics Card area respectively.
The
rear of the case shows us the chassis for the first time; steel
and painted a solid black. Note also that both side panels are
held on with thumbscrews.
Removing
the side panels let's us get a look inside the case for the first
time but before we do, I want to show you the other side of the
left hand side panel. This is the panel which had the two air
grills on it and from the other side we can see that the lowest
grill is just that; a grill. The top grill however has an adjustable
(and filtered) air duct. These can be both good and bad as unfortunately
the location of a CPU is not a standard these days with manufacturers
of motherboards placing them as they see fit. Still, the duct
is adjustable and removable so if you really can't get it into
the right position it can always be removed altogether.
As
we have noted before, the chassis is all black, which while a
simple change from bare steel makes quite the difference; it gives
it more of a complete or finished look. We find a brown cardboard
box taped into the 5.25” bays which contains the extra items
you will need such as screws and zip ties for cable management.
The
bays themselves are nothing fancy, your everyday “screw
in the optical drive” bay. The exception to this is the
3.5” bay which uses the included green extensions for mounting
devices.
Below
is the area for mounting your 3.5” hard drives and this
is quite a unique part. The setup is basically twin heatsinks;
two either side which serve as the mounts for the four hard drives.
Thermal pads on the insides of the panels ensure good contact
with the hard drives themselves. To mount a drive, you simply
remove the four screws which hold the left hand side heatsink
in place. Then, laying the case flat you put the hard drives in
place using the nipples instead of screws. Replace the left hand
side heatsink and you are good to go.
While
the Hard drive Heatsink panel is off we can also see the intake
fan; a 120mm fan, and like the CPU duct it's filtered.
The
PSU Area is pretty much standard. A lip on the same area as the
motherboard tray helps hold the PSU in place. The Motherboard
tray itself is clearly labled for different formats which is a
nice if simple addition. The rear exhaust fan is a 120mm fan much
like the front intake, although the rear is not filtered, but
it's nice to see that 3R System have included both 120mm fans;
more than one manufacturer still only supplies one fan. The rear
fan grill is pressed out of the chassis, and also has provision
for mounting an 80mm fan.
The
PCI slots are held in with the traditional screws and blanking
plates setup. One thing I like is that 3R System have used simple
silver blanking plates rather than matching to the black case.
By design? Who knows, but it's highly unlikely that your PCI cards
will have black rear plates, so the silver blanking plates will
help to keep with the matching theme.
The
plastic front of the case can easily be removed which allows for
cleaning and maintenance, and for us to get a good look.
NEXT
