Sunbeam Tuniq 3 Case

Manufacturer: Sunbeam
Supplied by: Sunbeam
Street Price: $69

by Dean Barker (8/08/2007)

Introduction

Sunbeam's subsidiary product division Tuniq, produces cases and coolers only.  Their task as with all chassis manufacturers, is to balance features, style and pricing to attract attention to their designs.  Their third case design, aptly named the Tuniq 3, does a fine job at blending these three aspects of value.  With an aluminum front bezel that curves under the Tuniq 3's chassis we discover a clean look while keeping costs low.  We also find dual cold cathodes and Tuniq's '3D Core Fan Bracket' that can hold up to four 120mm fans inside the case.  These are a couple of the pleasant surprises we find today in our review of the Tuniq 3 case.  Let's start out with the specs and have a closer look.

Specifications

• Observed Dimensions: 486 x 203 x 464mm

• Observed Weight: 9.3 kg

• Construction: Aluminum bezel / .08 SECC Steel

• Drive Bays: (5) 5.25”, (2) Internal 3.5”, (3) External 3.5”

• Expansion slots: (7)

• M/B Type: Standard ATX and Micro ATX

• Side Mounted Access Ports: USB 2.0 (x2), speaker and mic jack

• Cooling: Front case fan mounting for 120mm, Rear 120mm fan, two internal 120mm fans, Side fan mounting for 80 or 120mm fan

• Window: Optional

• Available Colors: Silver, Black

The Rig

Tuniq is offering their latest case in either a black or a silver color scheme.  As you can see below, our review unit is silver.  The plastic trim is colored in the opposite color as the outer chassis.  So the colors are really silver/black and black/silver.  Size wise, the Tuniq3 is pretty standard with an observed size of 486 x 203 x 464mm which differs from the Tuniq's website's specs surprisingly.  Our scales checked the rig in at 9.3 kilos which puts the Tuniq3 in the nice position of being a good sized case without being too heavy.

Having a closer look at the bezel area we find that the power and reset buttons are set on the top of the bezel door.  The power and hard drive activity lights are also found here.  The door's 3mm thick aluminum construction gives it a solid but lightweight feel.  It is held secure when closed by magnets at the top and bottom left edge keeping the lines pure.  The Tuniq logo may also be found centered at the top of the lower bezel section.

     

Access ports are moved along the left edge and include two USB 2.0 ports as well as a mic in and speaker out.  Before we leave the bezel area, let's take it off.  Six plastic expansion clips (three per side) inside the case keep it in place.  Removal of the bezel allows access to the intake fan area.  No fan is included here but mounting points for a 120mm cooling fan are present.

  

The left side panel has a window option which is included on our review unit.  The window is a bit smaller than panel windows seen elsewhere.  The two pane look is from Tuniq's 3D Core Fan assembly mounting internally that we'll get to shortly.  The acrylic window is perforated for venting and has mounts drilled in so that it can accept either an 80mm, 120mm or no case fan as the end user sees fit.

  

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