Directron.com's D30b Server Case Review
Date : Thursday, 30 August 2001
By : Diceman
Product : Directron.com's D30b Server Case
Provided by : Directron


Directron.com's D30b Server Case

Introduction
Ok, We've all seen the numerous reviews of the Antec Sx1030 and Sx1030B so I'm not going to go crazy with specifics on this box. This is more to show you the Directron.com D30b version of this case. It physically is the exact same as the sx1030(B). But the main difference with this case is the so-called "Stealth" black of this case versus the charcoal black/grey of the regular sx1030b. The "greyish" of the sx1030B dissapointed alot of people that were in search of an actual black case and thought they were buying one. Only to get it home and it's more grey then black.

Contents
Directron was the first retailer I saw that had what they called a "stealth black" D30b (which looked like an real black sx1030 to me). I was intrigued as to how black this case was so I asked them If I could take a look at one. They gladly accepted my request and sent me the D30b right away. I was quite excited to get the knock on the door from UPS when the case arrived. I was really hoping to be blown away by a stylish "Real" black case. Well first impressions are very important..and let's just say....I was very disturbed as to what I saw. Take a close look at this!

And here I'll show you how it actually compares with the infamous "stealth black" made famous by IBM. It's pretty close and looks even closer in real life.I had to delete about 60% of the pictures i took of this case because they looked so bad I couldn't even show them to you. It just wouldn't do the case any justice at all. I mean you need to see what the case really looks like and I'm gonna show ya. If you sit this case in a fairly dark room with no direct sunlight hitting the case it'll look great. However, when the light hits it, It really brings out the grainy texture and shade differences in the finish. Or as you may say "smearing" or "smudging" on the finish.

Two things here to pay close attention to 1) What's up with the purple handle on a black case?......and 2) WTF is all over the case??? It looked as is it had been drug the last ten miles to me from directron. Yet, you can see that the box it was shipped in to me was in perfect condition! So what is it?....Well , thats a good question. It's actually just dust and debris trapped inside the texture of the finish. i couldn't wipe it off with my hands so I grabbed a handtowel to try to wipe it clean....BIG MISTAKE! The very rough "sandpaper" finish of the case almost shredded the poor towel and, to make matters worse, all it did was leave massive amounts of "towel-dust" all over the area's I wiped.This finish is rough, and I mean ROUGH!. If you drag your finger on the finish of this case, you'll leave a "skin-trail"! Not that it will cut you, it will actually shave little skin particles off your hand and leave "skin-dust"....LOL!..... Well, the only thing that came to mind to try to get the crap outta the texture was water. So i physically took apart the case and hand washed the panels with soap and water! Yes, sounds insane to go thru all that, but it worked for the time being. It got all the crap outta the texture and the case started to look much better.


Don't look so bad now...but will it last like this?

Features
We'll now that I got it all cleaned up to look good (or so I was thinking) let me show you the inside of the case which should not need cleaning just yet.;-) Features: 10-Bay easy assembly server case. Swing-out side panel with lockable design for security access. Detachable HDD cage for easiest installation and maintenance. Snap fitting fan support for quick assembly. Durable construction.

 

I'm not going to bore you all with overboard specs and "likes and "dis-likes" of the design and features of the case too much. I know 99% of you all will just be skipping thru the text and looking at mostly pics anyway. Again, this review is more of just showing you guys the "real" black version of the Antec so you guys can decide if this is right for you or not. But here's the basic specs of the case.

Specifications

And here's is some extra info provided to you by Directron.com

Notes

You can see our review of the Chieftec Model DX-01WD right here on VH!

(WOLFIE: LINK TO NEXT PAGE HERE>>)>>>>Let me see more pictures!!!!

 


The drive rails secured nicely in there included holders.


Directron included 3-pin to 4-pin passthru's on each fan!


With bezel removed. Notice the "knockout" style bay slot covers =(


Included fans and Drive Rails. One thing I've always liked about this case is the open design of it. Very spacious.


A closer look at the inside rear. Included in the little bag was MB supports, two sets of keys for the locking door and side handle, and more than enough screws to tighten down all your stuff.


Floppy secured in the upper 3.5" drive cage.


Closeup of drive rails. Once secured they just slide in that snap tight. Although the drive rails are mostly plastic, they seemed plenty tough enough and held the drives very securely. An excellent feature of the case.


Here it is with the front door removed and all but the uppermost 5.25" bay filled. I'd save that top 5.25" bay for if you really need it. I didn't like how the top of the front bezel stuck out so far over it. My slot dvd drive would've been alittle hard to handle in that bay as fas as inserting and removing the cd's.


Since I got the case without a psu, I needed to add some power! I installed an Enermax 550w PSU in this case thinking I'd be all "big -n-bad". Welp, the 11 molex connections and Two-mile long cables on the Enermax 550 are alittle too much for this case I think. LOL!.


Asus Cusl2-C motherboard installed with tons of room to spare.


The built-in hard drive cooler of this case is a nifty feature. This was the only space on the case that didn't come with a fan already installed. So I added a fast, and loud, Delta 80mm fan. It just snapped right in the bracket. Doesn't get any easier than the snap-in fan brackets on this case.

 


Time to clutter it all up with lots of IDE cables and such. A thing to note here is that those fancy rounded cables you can buy, though purdy and all, really are quite bulky compared to typical homemade ones.


Got it all tucked in here and the door back on. Looks pretty sharp in this pic.


With a hardware Mpeg decoder and the required passthru cable for it , I've got alot of cables in back. But.... <b>What's with that purple handle!@!@ LOL!</b>


These are some of the best pics i could get of the finished product. Looks pretty mean in these pics...heh.


And in case you're wondering how a couple 120mm fans would look on the side panel with that handle. Or maybe you're wondering if a 120mm fan will fit in the lower front. Nope, not unless you MOD it of course! <evil grin>

Conclusion
It's hard to give my final thoughts on this case. The case itself is, as we all know, a fantastic case overall. It's been a huge success and was the hardest item for retailers to stock for the longest time. But this review is more of "How is the D30b?" Well....the insides are great and the outside isn't. Unfortunately, because of the excessively rough texture of the finish, Anyone who buys this over the D30 for the pimpy black looks and braggin rights will be dissappointed. This particular version is just too hard on my eyes for me to wholey recommend. The paint finish should be the last thing you have to worry about when buying a brand new case right? And since your gonna be looking at the outside of the case most of the time, You want it to look its best. This isn't the case with this case......ermm........you know what I mean..LOL!

In the time that's passed since I received this case from Directron.com (due to the recent downtime VH experienced), they have since packaged the case with a Enermax 330Watt dual-fan EG351P-VE ATX Power supply. There price for this case, at the time of this review, is only $109 USD. And again, that includes the Enermax. You can pick up this Directron D30b right here. Though I might suggest that if you really dont NEED a black one then go get the beige version called the Directron D30 .

I'd like to thank Directron.com for allowing me to give this case an in-depth look. If you haven't already, be sure to thoroughly check out Directron.com . They've got an impressive selection of computer cases including black cases , color cases, silver cases, and aluminum cases !

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