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Design & Features
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The front of the case has sharp styling,
although not revolutionary by any stretch. The large round blue light in the
middle of the ‘face’ is the power switch. On the left side is a red HDD
indicator and on the right is the tiny reset button. I was unable to press
this button hard enough to get it to work without the assistance of a pen or
another small tool. The case does have a surprisingly large intake, with two
good sized holes hidden behind the lower decorations. The door uses plastic
clips to hold itself shut, and combined with a small finger groove makes it
not very easy to open. We’ll see if that action improves with use and make
note in the forums if it does happen. The arrangement of bays is like most new
cases, with five 5.25” bays and one 3.5” bay.
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The side window is well done, with all the
rivets securely mounted and a neat design that compliments the front of the
case well. There is a nice chrome grille supplied with the case, but it is
held in with rivets that are not long enough to hold the fan that should
clearly be mounted there. These rivets should have been supplied in the bag of
hardware that the case didn’t have.
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The remaining side is uneventful, save for the
two USB 2.0 ports, headphone, and microphone jacks located on the side of the
front bezel. The rear of the Samurai is identical to the Guardian, with the
same split level exhaust grille and tool free PCI slots.
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The inside of the Samurai is identical as the
Guardian, except the plastic tool free system and fan box are molded in white
instead of purple. This is mostly a good thing because this particular tool
free system works very well, and without having to mess around with separate
rails. Just insert your drive, slide the lock back, and you’re done! I’ve
already said that I’m not a fan of the fan box and the split level 80mm
exhaust. Not only is it slightly restricting, but when you’re working in the
case around the heatsink, you’ll have to remove the whole assembly just to get
in there. Although there is no removable motherboard tray, the case is just
large enough to work without being too cramped.
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