A-Top XPlode Gladiator Case

This was a bit of a surprise but in a good way.  With the rack removed, notice the fan mounting area for either an 80 or 90mm fan.  Stick a fan here and you'll never have to worry about an overheating drive.

Here's a closer look at the optical drive bays.  As we saw with the HDD rack, tool free drive rails are included and can be used to make drive removal/installation a breeze.

Flip the switch

Below are some shots of the A-Top Gladiator under power.  The lighting you see is from an 80mm blue LED intake and exhaust fan, an optional UV CCFL that A-Top offers with the Gladiator and its power supply.  The PSU's fan as you can see is a tri-color number that really brings out the case as it reflects off the bright aluminum colored walls. 

Conclusion

The A-Top Gladiator has done a nice job at pulling together lots of functional features while keeping itself below the $100 mark.  The lighting of this case and the overall design was well done and will be the major draw for many end users.  Construction quality was good, leaving us with a thumbs up for A-Top Technology for workmanship and bringing to market something new.  Our only concerns with the Gladiator were the punch out expansion slot covers and its having no removable motherboard tray.  Neither of these are a huge deal but still an irritation.  All things considered, the Gladiator won't disappoint you as a home for any system and is something we can fully recommend.

Pros:

• Nice design

• Excellent ventilation

• Side panel window grill

• Intake and exhaust fan can accept 80, 90 or 120mm fans

• Window cut can obscure items you want to hide

• Included 450w X-Blade LED Windowed PSU

• Unlimited custom paint schemes available as a special order

• Tool free drive rails

• Removable drive rack

• Extra fan mounting area to cool 3.5" drive cage

Cons:

• Punch out expansion card covers

• No removable mainboard tray

• Excellent ventilation always means more dust

BACK                    HOME