Cubitek HPTX ICE Review: How Far Aluminum Can Go
by Dustin Sklavos on May 11, 2012 1:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Full-Tower
- Cubitek
- HPTX
Introducing the Cubitek HPTX ICE
Aluminum has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance in the notebook industry, spearheaded largely by Apple and now Intel's ultrabook initiative, but as a construction material for desktop enclosures it's largely been a specialty item. Most manufacturers use it in isolated places, usually as an accent, with entire cases built out of it becoming largely the purview of Lian Li...and not too many others.
Cubitek, on the other hand, has seen fit to employ it for an entire new line of cases under the "ICE Series". Five enclosures all using an almost entirely aluminum chassis and finish, ranging from the Mini-ITX "Mini ICE" all the way up to the grandaddy of them all and the enclosure that we have in for review today: the "HPTX ICE." The Cubitek HPTX ICE is as big as it gets and is able to support the biggest motherboards on the market, every spec from Mini-ITX all the way up to EATX and HPTX, and it has a supersized price tag to boot. Is it worth it?
This is the first time we've had an enclosure in for testing from Cubitek, and the brand isn't as well known stateside. In fact none of the ICE series is readily available yet, and reviews are scarce. That's all the more reason to familiarize ourselves with their enclosures. After all, if we've learned anything from Bitfenix, it's that just because a brand hasn't gotten that much exposure in the states, it doesn't mean it isn't worth investigating. Here's the quick overview of the HPTX:
Cubitek HPTX ICE Specifications | ||
Motherboard Form Factor | Mini-ITX, Micro ATX, ATX, XL-ATX, EATX, HPTX | |
Drive Bays | External | 5x 5.25” (includes removable 5.25"-to-2x3.5" cage) |
Internal | 7x 3.5" and 2x 2.5" (converted from one 3.5" bay) | |
Cooling | Front | 1x 200mm intake fan |
Rear | 1x 120mm exhaust fan | |
Top | 2x 140mm exhaust fan | |
Side | - | |
Bottom | 1x 140mm fan mount | |
Expansion Slots | 10 | |
I/O Port | 2x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic | |
Power Supply Size | Standard ATX | |
Clearances | HSF | 180 mm |
PSU | 400 mm | |
GPU | 17" / 430mm | |
Weight |
19.6 lbs. 8.9 kg |
|
Dimensions |
9" x 22" x 24.1" 230mm x 559mm x 613mm |
|
Special Features |
Completely aluminum shell and chassis USB 3.0 connectivity via internal header Adaptor cages for 5.25"-to-2x3.5" and 3.5"-to-2x2.5" |
|
Price | MSRP $359 |
Off the bat, the most noticeable thing about the HPTX ICE (at least for me) was the price tag. At an MSRP of $359, the HPTX ICE is the most expensive enclosure I've ever reviewed, which means it has some mighty big shoes to fill. Of course, that's no doubt due to employing aluminum over the entire enclosure. Cubitek also makes a point of using thicker aluminum, stating on their site, "Thicker materials mean less vibration," and we'll look into claim that later in the review.
The other place you're going to notice the aluminum, however, is the weight. The HPTX ICE is roughly as large as the SilverStone FT02, but it weighs half as much. That makes it substantially easier to manipulate, so if you have depressingly tiny chicken wing arms like I do, it'll be a nice change of pace.
As far as the specifications go, everything here is fairly standard for a full tower. Ten expansion slots, a wealth of internal and external drive mounts, and support for just about every motherboard standard you'd need concern yourself with. Cubitek is employing what is currently the bog standard cooling design, essentially negative pressure channeled through the front intake fan and at an angle up and out the rear of the case. What astute readers might notice, however, is the lack of allowances made for any kind of liquid cooling beyond a basic 120mm closed loop radiator and just two routing holes in the back of the enclosure. The two 140mm exhaust fans in the top of the case are mounted separately and there's no way to mount a double-length radiator instead.
That's enough of the basics. Let's see how it all comes together and performs.
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colonelclaw - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Referring to you photograph of the front of the case http://www.anandtech.com/Gallery/Album/1949#2If I had just spent $359 on anything in the world of computing, and it was put together as poorly as this I would be absolutely horrified. Not one single panel is flush with another and the shut lines are all over the place.
I'm probably overreacting, but to me this looks like a photo of a $50 piece of junk
cjs150 - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
At least based on your assembly picture:1. Looks like there is room for a thin 240 radiator at the top
2. Drop the drive cages, based on your review is not a loss!, and put a 200x200 radiator up front there is still plenty of space at bottom to resite the hard drives
But at $359 I would not bother, silverstone does it far better
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
You can't install a 240mm radiator in the top. The way the two 140mm fan grills are spaced, I think you'd wind up having to modify the case a little to get it into place.cjs150 - Monday, May 14, 2012 - link
A little modification is fine but truthfully I am struggling to think of any reason to buy this case.maybe the smaller versions are better
Flunk - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Lian-Li doesn't need steel reinforcement so it is possible to make a good all aluminum case. This just isn't it, and the price is almost 3x what an equivalent Lian-Li would cost.etamin - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
This is a big assumption to make, but the price and quality of this case makes it seem like the company went way over budget on development and manufacturing costs and is struggling to stay afloat by hoping for inexperienced builders to jump on high price tags.I've seen Cubiteks on SundialMicro for at least a year and the lack of build quality is visible in the stock images. The cases are literally Lian Li and Silverstone knock offs at higher prices. Believe me, I mean no disrespect to the engineers and designers, but this is just the general effect these products give. Cubitek is a pretty new company (started 2010?) and I think it started off too ambitious without a realistic plan.
stren - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
At this price you're almost into the territory of CaseLabs where you'll get some very well designed cases with some unique features and support for real enthusiast builds. When will anandtech look at them?HexiumVII - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Why are all the new cases putting the PS on bottom. You now need 30 inches just to reach the 12v four pin on the top of motherboards.SmCaudata - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
So, out of curiosity I searched for the miniITX version and came across this.http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1922/1/
Normally wouldn't link to an outside site, but it was just a fun idea. The small version is actually a decent looking case.
Stas - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
No, thanks. I'll take the Silverstone.