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Sleek black ATX case for dirt cheap, build quality nightmare or great flipping potential?
Sleek black ATX case for dirt cheap, build quality nightmare or great flipping potential?
Reviewer: Yams
Reviewer: Yams
Welcome, Flipping Central members, to our second case review from the brand SAMA. SAMA's previous case, the Space X1-ARGB was a great value case for the price, which has set the standards very high for SAMA.
Today We're looking at the SAMA S35, a black, clear side panel ATX case that I bought for only $32 on sale. Now on Newegg this case is $42.99, which is a very large price hike from what I got it at.
I'm going to apologize in advance for these photos, they're garbage.
At first glance, this case is what it seems. It comes in a normal cardboard box with a bag of screws. I didn't get a manual, though, although that can be uncommon.
Welcome, Flipping Central members, to our second case review from the brand SAMA. SAMA's previous case, the Space X1-ARGB was a great value case for the price, which has set the standards very high for SAMA.
Today We're looking at the SAMA S35, a black, clear side panel ATX case that I bought for only $32 on sale. Now on Newegg this case is $42.99, which is a very large price hike from what I got it at.
I'm going to apologize in advance for these photos, they're garbage.
At first glance, this case is what it seems. It comes in a normal cardboard box with a bag of screws. I didn't get a manual, though, although that can be uncommon.
This case does come with a back fan, I just replaced it with an aftermarket purple fan before writing this review. Here's a shot of the fan. It has a 3 pin and a 4 pin molex connection on it, which, I know a lot of people hate, but I personally like it. Lots of cheaper motherboards don't have many of fan headers, so the option of molex is nice. As for the fan's performance and noise. It's very average. It pushes and average amount of air, is fairly quiet.
This case does come with a back fan, I just replaced it with an aftermarket purple fan before writing this review. Here's a shot of the fan. It has a 3 pin and a 4 pin molex connection on it, which, I know a lot of people hate, but I personally like it. Lots of cheaper motherboards don't have many of fan headers, so the option of molex is nice. As for the fan's performance and noise. It's very average. It pushes and average amount of air, is fairly quiet.
Here's a picture of the front, where we can see that about 10% of it has a wannabe mesh type thing on the sides, while the rest is solid. Safe to say airflow wont be that great. There's also a nice brushed finish on here.
Here's a picture of the front, where we can see that about 10% of it has a wannabe mesh type thing on the sides, while the rest is solid. Safe to say airflow wont be that great. There's also a nice brushed finish on here.
Here's a picture of the top. There's a power switch, reset switch, two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. That's amazing to see dual USB 3.0 on a case this cheap!
Once again apologizing for the horrendous image quality here.
Here's a picture of the top. There's a power switch, reset switch, two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. That's amazing to see dual USB 3.0 on a case this cheap!
Once again apologizing for the horrendous image quality here.
Here we can see that the side panel is actually a cheap acrylic or something of the sort. Definitely going to be knocking off a point or two here as brands like DIYPC are able to get actual tempered glass at this pricepoint, at least from what I've seen.
This side panel really does seem super cheaply made. I feel like even the smallest touch will scratch this thing and forever ruin it when I'm holding it.
Here we can see that the side panel is actually a cheap acrylic or something of the sort. Definitely going to be knocking off a point or two here as brands like DIYPC are able to get actual tempered glass at this pricepoint, at least from what I've seen.
This side panel really does seem super cheaply made. I feel like even the smallest touch will scratch this thing and forever ruin it when I'm holding it.
Here's a shot of the inside of the case, sorry for the bad lighting. Here we can see that there's a fair amount of cable management holes, even some at the top for fan and CPU power cables, which is great to see.
This case is EATX form factor, so it can fit up to EATX boards.
There is space for 3 fans at the front, 2 at the top, one on the back, and 2 on the PSU shroud. All 120mm. I've never seen a use for fans on the PSU shroud, but, the holes to allow for a PSU to be mounted with it's fan facing up, which is great if you want your computer on carpet, and, I have the psu mounted up in it right now.
Also, there actually is a glorious PSU shroud! This is awesome to see in budget cases!
Here's a shot of the inside of the case, sorry for the bad lighting. Here we can see that there's a fair amount of cable management holes, even some at the top for fan and CPU power cables, which is great to see.
This case is EATX form factor, so it can fit up to EATX boards.
There is space for 3 fans at the front, 2 at the top, one on the back, and 2 on the PSU shroud. All 120mm. I've never seen a use for fans on the PSU shroud, but, the holes to allow for a PSU to be mounted with it's fan facing up, which is great if you want your computer on carpet, and, I have the psu mounted up in it right now.
Also, there actually is a glorious PSU shroud! This is awesome to see in budget cases!
Here's a shot of the terrible cable management I did. I was in a bit of a rush, so I didn't zip tie anything at all.
Anyways, we can see that cable management isn't half bad. There's about a half an inch of space to rout your cables, so I came across no problems.
We can also see back here that there's 2 or 3 SSD mounting spots and one hard drive bay.
The PSU shroud is pretty spacious. Great for shoving cables in there.
Forgot to mention earlier in the review, but there was a bag of screws included, and it also had a couple zip ties in it, which is a nice touch.
Here's a shot of the terrible cable management I did. I was in a bit of a rush, so I didn't zip tie anything at all.
Anyways, we can see that cable management isn't half bad. There's about a half an inch of space to rout your cables, so I came across no problems.
We can also see back here that there's 2 or 3 SSD mounting spots and one hard drive bay.
The PSU shroud is pretty spacious. Great for shoving cables in there.
Forgot to mention earlier in the review, but there was a bag of screws included, and it also had a couple zip ties in it, which is a nice touch.
Interesting side note that I'd like to throw in: This case has the same exact internal layout as the DIYPC Rainbow-Flash-S1 that we reviewed previously.
Interesting side note that I'd like to throw in: This case has the same exact internal layout as the DIYPC Rainbow-Flash-S1 that we reviewed previously.
My Conclusion and Rating
My Conclusion and Rating
PROS:
Full Size ATX Form factor
Dual USB 3.0
PSU shroud
Good Cable Management Holes
CONS:
Current Pricing
Front Panel Airflow
Low HDD Cage
Very Cheap Side Panel
Neutral:
Only One Included Fan
Overall: This case is good if you can get it for $35, anything more and it's bad value
PROS:
Full Size ATX Form factor
Dual USB 3.0
PSU shroud
Good Cable Management Holes
CONS:
Current Pricing
Front Panel Airflow
Low HDD Cage
Very Cheap Side Panel
Neutral:
Only One Included Fan
Overall: This case is good if you can get it for $35, anything more and it's bad value
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
(based on current pricing)
This review is not sponsored or endorsed in any way by the brand or manufacturer of the product, and all our opinions are unbiased.
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