A-Top Technology is not one of those companies you hear about all the time. They've been around a while, but they've been very low key, until now. A-Top has come out with several premodded cases that they feel will appeal to many of the LAN gamers and PC enthusiasts out there. Let's see if they are right.
The case I'll be checking out this time around is A-Top's Gladiator. The Gladiator is a mid-tower ATX case with some interesting features. It also comes with a power supply, a 10" Logisys UV cold cathode, and a pair of 80mm case fans already mounted for intake and exhaust duties. Let's take a closer look. I'd like to thank Danny at A-Top for providing the sample used in this review.
Packaging
The Gladiator came in your typical cardboard box. UPS was kind enough to leave the box and its contents intact. I did find what looks to be a drive or motherboard screw in the styrofoam after opening the top of the box. I didn't find any screws missing when I examined the contents, so I guess I'll just call it a bonus and move on.
The additional piece of styrofoam you see is there to protect the Gladiator's most distinctive feature from being damaged during shipment. The bubblewrap was a strip that wound around the entire case twice, which helped to preserver the side panels from the more "enthusiastic" loaders at UPS.
Specifications
Let's take a look at the Gladiator's specifications, as listed on the A-Top website:
Unique heavy-duty 2.0mm brushed aluminum door panel w/ bright LED lighting in the background Dimension: 200mm(W) x 430mm(H) x 440mm(D) = 7.9" x 17.0" x 17.3" Patented screwless & tool-less mounting rails (U.S. Pat#6,385,036) Max. Motherboard size: 12" x 10"(w/ 4 x 5.25" installed) OR 12” x 10.5” (w/ 2 x 5.25" installed) Side panel window with heavy-duty custom 1.0mm mesh for ultra cooling performance Side wings (paired) with custom chromed trims and 1.0mm mesh guards Exclusive front custom claws (paired) with chromed trims and 1.0mm mesh guards 4 open 5.25” drive bays with patented tool-less drive rails 2 open 3.5” drive bays 5 hidden 3.5” drive bays with patented tool-less drive rails Deluxe ver.: 5 x 5.25" opens + 1 x 3.5"open + 4 hidden h.d. (special order only) A total of 10 drive bays Build in 2 front USB 2.0 + Mic & Audio port connectors Includes a front bright Blue LED 8cm Blue cold cathode light (optional) Deluxe ver.: with an extra 12cm rear blue LED fan All fans are clear w/ extra bright LEDs built in 1 additional optional 8cm fan (not shown) on the opposite side of window panel Front 8cm fan can be replaced by a 12cm fan Power supply: Exclusive XBlade 450 Watts gaming power supply Also available with 500, 550, 600 watts ATX 1.3 or BTX 2.0 versions
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