The case was tested in its stock configuration, by which I mean that the 2 80mm side panel fans, and 1 80mm front intake fan were the only fans used. The included 400w power supply was also used for testing.

The components used are the following:

• Gigabyte GA-7VAX motherboard
• AMD Athlon XP 1600+ CPU
• OCZ Dominator 2 CU Heatsink
• 1 Gig PC2700 DDR
• BFG GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
• Lite-On DVD Rom Drive
• 80 Gig Western Digital Special Edition Hard Drive
• Sound Blaster PCI sound card.

As mentioned above, this is not a super high-end setup, and is probably what I would consider to be at the low-end of the mid-range systems. I’m mentioning this because the Sidewinder case is meant to go after the mid-range gaming case market. And since XG included a power supply with this case, it should be fully capable of catering to the needs of the average mid-range computer gamer. However, the power supply included, as mentioned, simply does not have enough leads on it to properly connect all the components and included fans. In order to get all of my components connected, I had to run one of the power leads to the video card, and use that to also power the 3 internal case fans and the front backlit XG emblem. I then had to mount my hard drive in the top-most of the hard drive mounting positions, and my CD-ROM drive in the bottom-most 5.25 inch bay just so that the power connectors would reach. I don’t know about the majority of computer users, but I like to have my optical drives mounted in the highest bays, and my hard drives situated such that the front fan blows across them. However, this just wasn’t a possibility unless I used extension cables, which I did not use since they were not included. This isn’t a huge issue as you can always just get a different power supply. However, I still feel that XG should have included a power supply that was capable of powering the machines of their target market.

Another issue I encountered during installation is that the front power led header is a solid connector, rather than having each of the two wires separate. This can be an issue if your motherboard, like every single motherboard I own, has the positive and ground pins separated from each other. I was not able to connect the power led as a result of this, which is no big issue, but it is something to be noted.

Aside from issues with the power supply and power led connector, I didn’t encounter any other issues or problems with the XG case. All of the components fit correctly, the 5.25 inch drives lined up nicely with the front of the case, and all of the other mounting holes lined up properly with their components.

Testing and Usage

The temperature results were achieved by allowing the computer to come to an idle temperature by sitting with no use for 20 minutes after start up. We then run folding @ home in the background, as well as Prime 95 for a period of 30 minutes, taking a temperature reading every minute, and then taking the average of the values. Also displayed is the maximum temperature reached during the testing period. As stated, the stock fan configuration was used during testing. Temperatures were taken from the internal sensors on the motherboard. Room temperature was kept at 23 degrees Celsius during testing.

Overall, these temperatures aren’t too bad. Chassis temperature is only a little over 10 degrees over ambient, and the CPU isn’t too hot for being under full load. Putting a 120mm instead of an 80mm fan in the front, and adding two exhaust fans in the back would probably help quite a bit, especially since the case does not come stock with any exhausting fans at all. Noise wise, with the included fans and the OCZ Dominator heatsink, the case was relatively quiet. In a room with a couple other machines, this one blends right in with the others, not making any more or less noise.

While there weren’t enough leads on the power supply for my liking, it did produce enough power to run the system. All of the voltage levels were where they are supposed to be at as well.

Conclusion

I like the Sidewinder case quite a bit. In fact, I like it so much that after doing the review, I actually moved my main rig from my Chieftech dragon case that I have owned for the past 3 years into the Sidewinder. I simply love the simplicity of the design, and the cooling capabilities that it has. Not to mention that this case is quite a bit lighter with all of my components in it than my dragon case ever was, which makes it much nicer to take to LAN parties, or even to just carry from my room to the table to work on it. It is my opinion that the backlit XG emblem looks really cool, and adds quite a bit to the front of the case. It’s not over the top flashy, but it does draw your attention just enough to be able to appreciate it.

Cooling is very well executed with the Sidewinder case as well. The fact that it can keep a case temperature of 27 degrees Celsius with a 3 GHz Presscott P4, ATI x800 Pro, and 4 hard drives installed with an ambient temperature of 23 degrees Celsius is pretty good. Note, however, that this is not in the stock configuration, but with 2 80mm exhaust fans added to the back. I’m sure that putting a 120mm fan in the front would lower internal temperatures a bit more as well.

Pros: Nice, clean design

Not too small to work in

Ability to mount 120mm Fan in front is nice

Side mounted USB, Firewire, and Sound is nice and out of the way, yet easy to get to at the same time

Cons: No exhaust fans come with the case

There aren’t enough leads on the power supply

No removable motherboard tray

While a 120mm fan can be mounted in the front, it needs to be relatively thin to fit

Bottom Line:

This is a really nice case overall. It has excellent cooling capabilities, nice, clean design, and room for even a relatively high-end system. All of this while remaining quite quiet and cool. If you’re looking for a nice looking case to put your machine in, the Sidewinder case by XG is definitely worth a look, especially when it can be found in quite a few places on the net for between $54.00 - $65.00 USD including a 400w power supply.

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