Nexus Caterpillar ATX Quiet Case

Introduction:

Nexus perhaps isn't as well known as some of the other big names when it comes to cases. While they've produced a wide range of other peripherals, such as power supplies, they only have a handful of cases in their catalog compared with the longer lists of their competitors. This, of course, doesn't mean that they are inferior, but it does put an onus on them to ensure that those few cases are of good quality.

In the past few years we have seen the move towards quiet computing. In the early days of modding, the aim was to achieve a well-cooled system no matter what the cost, with the "cost" usually being annoyingly loud fans. No more, some have said. With the multitude of other "quiet cases" out there currently, Nexus has set out to beat them all with their Caterpillar, dubbed the "Silent System PC Case". Can this innovative case live up to the promises?

Specifications:

The Caterpillar is not too big, being a mid-tower with three external 5.25" drive bays and one external 3.5" bay. Its overall dimensions are 43.7x19.7x52.9cm (HxWxD), making it about average as far as mid-towers go. Internally, there is one 3.5" bay and another four 3.5" HDD bays in a cage at the bottom. Thus, the Caterpillar should be able to hold the contents of most systems, provided you don't have a crazy RAID setup. The case itself is a neutral black colour, normal for most cases nowadays, though there is a nice slide-down door that hides your drives.

• Full Specifications

Besides the designation of this being a "Silent System PC Case", perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Caterpillar is its inverted design, as we'll see later. This layout sees the PSU at the bottom and the motherboard mounted upside down as compared to most cases - thus everything is inverted except for the drives. Because of this, it is the right side of the case that opens, not the left, as viewed from the front.

The Caterpillar came all the way from The Netherlands, and was very well packaged, being double boxed and surrounded by foam. Opening it up, you are treated to a fairly normal-looking case, not anything that'll stand out, but also not anything that looks tacky. The first thing you notice is the sliding front-door, which nicely hides any drives behind it. The door itself is covered with a mesh screen backed by a honeycomb-like grill, which should allow for effective airflow into the case.

The Nexus Caterpillar.

Well-packaged.

Looks... normal.

Glancing around the case, you'll notice that it is the right side panel that slides out, not the traditional left side as mentioned before. The left side and the top are actually one piece and are riveted into place, so they can't be removed. The front of the case looks very plain, with only the power button and LEDs visible. (The reset button is hidden behind the slide-down door) You can see from the picture below that the front panel should be very good at letting air into the lower front 120mm fan.

Side view.

Front view.

Right side removable.

The front ports are hidden behind a flip-up door at the top. Pressing the door causes the latch to open, and then access to Firewire, USB and audio ports are provided. The audio ports support either the older AC'97 connector or the current HD Audio connector. While the door adds a nice touch for keeping the front of the case looking clean, it only opens up 90 degrees; thus if you're looking down at your case (because it's on the floor), using these ports might be somewhat troublesome with the door in the way.

Back - note inverted.

Bottom.

Front panel door.

Looking at the back, you can see the inverted configuration of the case - it's not the case that's upside down in the above photo, it's just the way the case is made. It takes a little while to get used to this, especially if you've been working with PC cases for a while. At the bottom of the case we can see four rubber feet and also some mounting holes for the HDD cage that sits at the bottom of the case - we'll see exactly how this is structured inside.

Front ports.

Door slid down.

A sliding front door covers the three 5.25" and one 3.5" external drive bays. The reset switch is also behind this door. You simply push this door down all the way, and it locks into place at the bottom. This has an advantage over traditional swing-out doors, since it doesn't take up a lot of space and there's less chance of breaking off the door when it's open. However, the door doesn't feel all that sturdy, with the sliding and locking mechanism being made out of plastic.

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