Outside:

Front	Top View	3/4 Left
Back	3/4 Right	Foot

    Giving it a quick overview, it appears that the GD01 won't stick out like a sore thumb in an entertainment setup. The front of the enclosure is rather simple, not being cluttered with a bunch of "stuff". Instead, everything that would make it stick out is hidden behind a few doors. Basically, the bezel is broken down into three sections: a two-piece top section and a long lower section. All of this is on a front bezel that has a concave curve to it. The upper left portion of the bezel houses the LCD display with IR receiver, recessed power button, and power and HDD LEDs in blue. The right portion of the bezel has an access door. To gain access, just push the door slightly and it will unlatch and lower slowly on a gear drive. So what is behind this door? Well, it's the access door for two 5.25" drive bays. The lower access door, which has the same locking/unlocking mechanism as the upper door, hides the front panel connections. These connections consist of the audio ports, dual USB ports, IEEE, and the 52-in-1 card reader.

Gear reduction

Power/Reset

Front I/O

Card Reader

    The side panels are pretty plain. The left panel has a vent cover, which is used for the power supply. The right side panel also has a rear vent which can be used as an intake port for the CPU. The rear of the case has nothing special here either - just a standard opening for the PSU, expansion slots, and motherboard I/O panel. Just above the I/O opening are two 80mm fans set up for exhaust.

Inside:

Inside view	Optical Cage	Caged removed	6 slot HDD cage
Foam padding	Side mount PSU	Dual 80mm fans	80MM intake

    The inside of the GD01 is very simple and easy to access. The optical drive cage slides onto a rail and is held in place with two screws. This cage can house two 5.25" devices. A center brace for rigidity goes from front to back and over the hard drive cage. The hard drive is held in place with four screws and also slides onto a rail, but the center brace needs to be removed in order to get the HDD cage out. The hard drive cage can hold six 3.5" drives, and also has foam padding to reduce vibration transfer from the hard drives to the enclosure. The front of the HDD cage gives the option of installing two 80mm intake fans, and the right side panel also has an opening for another 80mm intake fan. The rest of the inside is austere, with the PSU being mounted on its side and the motherboard on the floor of the case.

Installation:

Optical in cage

Optical in case

HDD caged up

Power extension cable

    To gain access to the inside, four screws on the back of the case need to removed and the top panel slid off. For HDD installation, the center brace needs to be removed in order to get the HDD cage out of the case. With the cage removed, this is a good time to plug in the LCD/IR 3pin plug; the other end to this plug is on the ATX power extension cable. Optical drive installation is also easy: two screws hold the cage in place. Once these screws are removed the cage slides off its rail. The drive cover plates are also attached to the cage, so there is no need to get all contorted to remove the cover plates. PSU installation is just as simple. If you were wondering about that side panel with the vent, well, since the PSU mounts on its side and some power supplies have a bottom intake fan, the fan would face the side wall when turned. The vent opening takes that into consideration, and now PSU's with a bottom fan can draw fresh air in from the side panel.

LCD power

Extension cable

PSU Installed

Components installed

    After installing the drives into their cages, DON'T put the cages back into the case until you have the motherboard and all the wiring installed. Otherwise, it's a royal PITA to get things plugged in. The data for the front panel LCD uses an USB port, and a adapter is included so it can use either the onboard header or a standard USB port. Once that is done, then proceed to install the drive cages and button up the case.