Mountain Mods is a relative newcomer in the market of computer products. They started doing business in June of 2003, just over a year ago. Mountain Mods then introduced their first product, the U2-UFO case. Now this case definitely was a bit different than any other case on the market at that time. From that time on, gone were the days of a rectangular case. Built upon a 18 inch cube chassis, with capabilities of holding 7-120mm fans, 4-80mm fans, 5-5.25” devices and a total of 9-3.5” devices. The U2-UFO was definitely a large, really cool package. One problem for some was the size; fitting an 18” cube on your desk can pose some issues. To answer this Mountain Mods have release the Twice 7 line of cases.

The Twice 7 line is built on a 14 inch cube chassis, which should make it easier to fit into your setup. Don't let the Twice 7's smaller size fool you though, it still has room for 3-120mm fans, 2-80mm fans, 3-5.25” devices, and 5-3.5” devices. Let's take a closer look though.

Mountain Mods Twice 7 - Specifications
Here are the case's specifications taken directly from the Mountain Mods website.

Material	Aluminum 5052
Thickness	1.65mm-3.25mm
Dimensions	14x14x14 inches
Finish	Powder Coat
HD Bay	Removable
Hard Drives	Holds 5
5.25 Bay	Removable
5.25 Devices	Holds 3
MB Tray	Removable
Form Factors	mATX/ATX/EATX
Fan Mounts	3-120mm,2-80mm
Empty Weight	10.5 lbs.

Overview
Once taken out of the box, the Twice 7 actually surprised me. It was bigger than I had expected it to be. Until you actually see the case, you can't really figure out how big it actually looks. The front has two 120mm fans ports located on the bottom. To the right side of the top is the 5.25” device bay. This whole piece is removable via 4 thumbscrews.

To the left of the bay are the power/reset switches and two LEDs. The two switches are high quality switches, made completely of metal. They definitely add to the classiness of the front, and add some contrast to the predominantly black front. In the center of the two switches are the two blue LEDs. They lights are held in place in some silver colored light holders, which also fit into the black/silver theme of the case.

To the rear of the case is also split in half. To the left is the power supply port on the bottom. Above the power supply port is yet another 120mm fan port. On the right side of the back is the motherboard section. The motherboard tray is removable, via another 4 thumbscrews on the outside, and one inside. Included in the motherboard tray are the two 80mm fans.

Finishing off the outside is the sides/top cover. This whole cover is one piece of aluminum bent into a U shape, with square windows on all sides. The windows are attached to the panel using rivets, which makes for a smooth, clean installation. The whole panel is removed by unscrewing 14 thumbscrews, yes 14. Seven thumbscrews are located on each side, surrounding the two windows. This feature makes you want to plan how often you enter into the case, because undoing 14 screws, can take some time. The strangest part of the whole cover though is how your remove it. Unlike a regular case, where the panels slide off, you lift the cover of the Twice 7 straight up to remove it. This would not be too bad if you did not have to pull the sides out from the case at the same time, in order to clear the windows from the frame. Once you get the hang of it, it just becomes second nature though.

The inside of the case is split into two compartments by the motherboard tray. Looking from the top, to the right is the drive bays and power supply, where to the left is the motherboard. This design is much better than the traditional case as far as airflow is concerned. On the Twice 7, everything that would block your intake air from flowing over your motherboard/CPU has been moved to its own compartment.

On the bottom of the device compartment is where the hard drive bays are located. This whole panel is removable by 4 thumbscrews, making installation of drives very easy. Getting the bay into place can be a bit tricky, especially if the motherboard tray is still installed, but it is doable. Right in front of the hard drive bay is a 120mm intake fan, this should provide excellent cooling for you hard drives. Above the hard drive tray is the 5.25” bay, which as mentioned above is removed by four thumbscrews.

At the back of the case on the bottom is the power supply mount. Now this position can cause some interesting problems. You need to make sure that your ATX power connector is long enough to wrap around the motherboard tray and connect to your motherboard. I did not have any problems with either of the power supplies I had at my disposal (Thermaltake 420w, Ultra 400w UV). Above the power supply is the final 120mm exhaust fan.

One thing I have not mentioned yet is the cases finish. This case has a black powder coated finish on all of the components. Powder coating makes for a very high quality and durable finish. The overall quality of the finish is excellent.

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