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Ahanix Black Knight Case |
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Introduction
Ahanix is a company that has been making high quality good looking cases ever since I can remember. They are known for their creativity and quality of their build. Today I will be reviewing their latest creation, the Black Knight.
First Looks
The Black Knight arrived via FedEx, in a plain old cardboard box. To my surprise the package was in a nearly perfect condition, no big dents, cuts, shoe prints, just a little packaging tape tear and some handling dents in the corners.
After carefully opening the box, another box was revealed. The second box was surrounded by Styrofoam corners to keep it in place. A few moments later, it was out of the larger box and once again I carefully opened it. This time the box contained the case which was surrounded by more Styrofoam padding and a plastic bag. It is rare to see equipment packed so carefully.
Specs/Features
When it comes to the specs, this case is really loaded. This bad boy comes with a digital single channel fan controller and three channel temperature readout. The other thing that I thought was extremely cool is that it came with a little toolkit box that houses a Phillips head screw driver, mobo stand off’s, a bunch of different size screws, washers, zip ties and finally a small piezo speaker/buzzer. Here is more detailed list of features grabbed from Ahanix’s website:
Item Code:
- X195 Black Knight Case
Features:
- Sliding front door
- Reinforced plastics material for a hinge
- Groove inside door for Hard-rack user
- 6 Level fan speed control / 3 Channel thermometer ( Knight has 6 levels manual mode and 1 Auto mode. There are total 3 thermal sensors in the case. You can monitor 3 channels's temperature anytime.)
- Anti-overheat function(If it will be over your setting limit temperature, your computer system will be shut down. This Anti-overheat function can help the system's stable operating.)
- Soft touch buttons
- 2 x Front USB ports
- 120mm X 2 Cooling fan
- Twice rounded chassis
- Power supply install guide
- Accessory supporting box
- Black only Specification
Specifications:
- Case Type: Mid Tower
- M/B Type 10"(width) x 12"(height)
- PSU Type Standard ATX (sold seperately)
- Front Ports 2 x USB
- Front Fan(s) 1 x 120mm (included)
- Rear Fan(s) 1 x 120mm (included)
- External 5.25" Bays: 4
- External 3.5" Bays: 1
- Internal 3.5" Bays: 7
- Expansion Slots: 7
- Width: 7.68"
- Height: 17.25"(with feet), 16.93(without feet)
- Depth: 19"
- Weight: Net.: 16.2lbs, Gross:20.6lbs
The Black Knight case came with a sheet of paper folded in half forming a four page brochure that demonstrates how to connect the USB ports, how to install the motherboard standoffs, how to use the controller, and the proper thermal diode placement.
Exterior
At first glance, the Black Knight appeared to be nothing special, just a plain black case with a hinged front door panel and an added fan controller with temperature readout LCD module. When I took a closer look, I found that the hinged door is able to slide out of the way. You can open this sucker up just like in a normal Antec/Chieftec case, but you can also push that door back and make it stay on the side of the case. I think this is a pretty cool idea because if you constantly use your optical drives or anything else that might be in your 5.25” bays, you know that that door is will get eventually get in the way. Therefore instead of removing the door, why not just slide it to the side, and when you’re done just slide it back, giving you that stealth look once more.
Right below the hinged door there is a little LCD and a bunch of white rectangular spots representing various LED locations. A few inches down from there is the power and reset buttons, along with the buttons to control the fan controller and temperature probe selector. The buttons are arranged in a nice oval shape with the power button in the middle which gives the case a very elegant look. The fan controller LED’s are orange, temperature LED’s are red, power LED is Blooo and the LCD is red on a black background.
Moving back to the top, when the hinged door is opened it reveals four 5.25” bays, and one 3.5” bay. On the left side of the 3.5” bay there are two USB ports. On the left there is also a tinted plexiglass piece. I unscrewed the bezel just to find out that this piece serves no purpose whatsoever. My guess is that the company might have planned to put another set of USB ports there, or maybe an IR sensor. The back of the case looks like any other case, with the exception of the 120mm stock fan hole. I was happy to see that the side panels were secured by thumbscrews.
