Cooler Master intros $50 enthusiast-grade Mini-ITX chassis

Cooler Master has unveiled an affordable case that combines the internal functionality of an enthusiast chassis with the diminutive footprint of a home theater PC. Priced at only $50, the Elite 120 Advanced can house full-size graphics cards while measuring only 8.2 x 9.4 x 15.8 inches (240 x 207.4 x 401.4mm -- for reference, the full tower Cooler Master Cosmos II we recently reviewed measures 27.7 x 13.5 x 26.1 inches).

The enclosure supports Mini-ITX motherboards, which are readily available for practically every Intel and AMD platform, and it can house up to four 2.5-inch drives or three 3.5-inch drives, as well as one 5.25-inch drive. The Elite 120 Advanced can handle graphics cards up to 13.5 inches (343mm) long, which covers current-generation products from Nvidia and AMD, including the Radeon HD 7970 and GeForce GTX 680.

The case also supports processor heatsink assemblies measuring up to 2.5 inches (65mm) tall as well as full size ATX power supplies. Despite such cramped quarters, Cooler Master claims the Elite 120 Advanced offers best-in-class cooling, which includes a 120mm front intake, an 80mm x 15mm slim side fan, an optional 120mm x 25mm hard drive fan, as well as perforated side panels for improved ventilation.

Although the front is part aluminum, the case's body is constructed of steel alloy. Connectivity includes two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, as well as mic and headphone jacks. The case's product page also mentions a rear panel grommet for an external USB 3.0 cable, an adapter that supports drives as thin as 1.8 inches, grooves built into the top frames for cable management, and it looks like the internals are fully painted.

Cubitek HPTX-ICE Case Review

Founded in spring 2010, Cubitek is a relative newcomer to the chassis industry, but that's not stopping it from challenging the biggest names in the business -- including veteran Lian Li. Last month, the company unveiled its latest ICE series with five premium models spanning everything from Mini-ITX to HPTX.

The most affordable is the Mini-ICE, which runs $170 and supports Mini-ITX boards. Next up is the $260 Micro-ICE for MicroATX boards. That's followed by the ATX-ICE ($280), which, as you probably guessed, supports ATX boards. Larger still is the EATX-ICE for $320, which handles up to and including EATX.

If that's not big enough for you, Cubitek offers the $360 HPTX-ICE, which stands 559mm (22") tall and 613mm (24") long. All of the ICE series chassis feature a 2.5mm aluminum construction and Cubitek says this makes them stronger than standard aluminum cases while maintaining a thin and light figure.

Given our preference for full tower chassis like Cooler Master's HAF X and Storm Trooper, it should come as little surprise that we're reviewing the heftiest of Cubitek's new arrivals. We're also interested in the largest model as few enclosures support EVGA's HPTX form factor (mostly just Lian Li cases).

Besides, at $360, the HPTX-ICE is among the priciest cases around, so we're expecting good things -- though the competition is certainly stiff. Lian Li's PC-V2120 is $350, and it left a strong impression when we reviewed in 2010. Let's move on and see what the HPTX-ICE is made of -- literally and figuratively...

External Design

Cubitek uses a clean and minimalistic design for all its ICE cases. As previously noted, the HPTX-ICE measures 559mm (22") tall, 613mm (24") long and 230mm (9") wide, and weighs 19.6lbs (8.9kg) when empty, which is surprisingly light for its dimensions.

In front, it has a sleek brushed black aluminum bezel with a large fan grill and five 5.25" drive bays. While front panel connectivity is found on top of the case, power and reset buttons along with activity lights are up front. I/O includes two USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports along with headphone and mic jacks. Also on the top of the HPTX-ICE are two fan grills similar to the grill on the front.

The 5.25" drive bay covers look great, but almost every time I grabbed the case to move it around they would press in, often falling inside. This introduced another annoying aspect of the HPTX-ICE: you have to remove four screws per door.

While most case doors feature clips every few inches around the perimeter to ensure a tight fit, the HPTX-ICE simply relies on one screw per corner. This is annoying in and of itself, but it's more than just an inconvenience.

Once hardware is installed, cables pressing even gently on the door cause it to buckle outwards. This leaves the HPTX-ICE looking unattractive and we spent quite a lot of time trying to tuck the cables away to avoid this issue. The doors are bland with no distinguishable features, though they blend into the design well -- if you can get them to sit flush, that is.

We also dislike Cubitek's use of four pop rivots to connect the back panel to the panel that covers the top and front of the chassis. This isn't necessarily bad, but the panels don't align correctly, giving the impression of poor craftsmanship.

Nevertheless, the back is quite clean with a polished aluminum insert that houses the motherboard's I/O panel, a rear fan, water cooling holes and ten expansion brackets. At the bottom is a bracket for an ATX power supply.

Overall, the HPTX-ICE's external design isn't bad, it just lacks refinement as noted with how the doors and panels attach. Given the case's size and price, Cubitek had room to come up with a more intelligent means of accomplishing both.

Internal Design

As mentioned, getting inside the Cubitek HPTX-ICE requires you to undo four small thumbscrews, which allows the door to be fully removed. This is easy enough to do, but it's more time consuming than it has to be.

Inside, you'll find a massive motherboard tray that is non-removable -- though that's okay, given how spacious the HPTX-ICE is. Towards the front are seven 3.5" drive bays with one 3.5" to 2.5" adapter for a pair of SSDs.

Above the HDD bays are five 5.25" bays and the bottom two are populated with an adapter for another two 3.5" drives. In total, the HPTX-ICE supports five 5.25" drives, nine 3.5" drives and two 2.5" drives out of the box.

Moving to the back, there are ten ventilated expansion brackets and a power supply mount. There's also a 120mm black fan that uses a 3-pin power connector and is rated at 38.83 CFM. Speaking of fans, there's also a front-mounted 200mm blue LED intake fan with a flow rate of 57.76 CFM.

Cubitek also installed a pair of 140mm blue LED fans into the top of the case, and while they call these "outflow" fans, our review sample came with one mounted as an intake and the other as an exhaust. Both are rated at 49.05 CFM and use a 3-pin connector.

If that's not enough airflow, you can install a 140mm fan in the bottom of the case. Alternatively, the movable 3.5" hard drive cage can be placed here, freeing up the 5.25" bay area. Even with the HDD cage at the bottom, the HPTX-ICE has enough room for a 220m (8.6") long PSU, which covers just about everything available.

The case also has 17" (433mm) for graphics cards, loads of space considering the longest cards only measure around 11". Likewise, CPU coolers up to 7" (180mm) tall are covered.

For its size, the HPTX-ICE seems a little stingy on cable management. Unlike the Corsair 800D, the HPTX-ICE's motherboard tray doesn't provide holes for ATX boards, so cables have to stretch further than they should. There also isn't as much room behind the motherboard tray as we would've liked. Companies such as Cooler Master solve this issue by being creative with concaved doors.

The HPTX-ICE is also missing a fan speed controller and some form of a tool-less design. Although Cubitek says it provides anti-vibration and tool-less elements for the hard drives, this is not entirely true. There is an anti-vibration design, but it's far from tool-less. Each drive requires four screws and four rubber grommets before being installed, and that calls for a screwdriver. That said, we like the anti-vibration implementation and tool-less or not, it works well.

Amazon sued for bullying Kindle accessory maker M-Edge

M-Edge, an accessory maker for the Kindle and other such devices, has sued Amazon for "unlawful corporate bullying." Filed in Maryland, the federal suit alleges that Amazon attempted to "hijack" M-Edge's products through threats, deceit, interference with customer relationships as well as patent infringement.

M-Edge has been building protective cases for Amazon's Kindle since it first launched in 2008, addressing a common complaint about the e-reader's flimsy default cover. At the time, Amazon commissioned 8% of M-Edge's sales, but that changed as the Kindle (and inherently, M-Edge's products) grew more popular.

After the Kindle appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show in October 2008, M-Edge's inventory sold out. That drew attention from Amazon, which requested that the accessory firm become a "special partner" in January 2009. As part of the relationship, Amazon vowed to give M-Edge pre-launch details about next-generation Kindles.

A month later, M-Edge entered a "Kindle Compatible" agreement that placed its products in Amazon's "Kindle Store" page. In exchange, Amazon requested another 7% slice of the sales (totaling 15%). Amazon wanted to advance the relationship in May 2009 by making M-Edge a "first-party" seller, but the firm declined.

Fast forward to November 2009, the companies penned a three-year agreement that locked M-Edge into the 15% commission while affording it special status as a preferred seller. Only two months into that deal, the e-tail giant demanded a new contract that would grant it 32% of sales and make M-Edge a "first-party" seller.

M-Edge refused and that's where Amazon proceeded with various strong-arm tactics. The company supposedly threatened to "de-list" M-Edge from Amazon.com unless it complied. Although the parties never signed a new agreement, in February 2010, Amazon demanded that M-Edge retroactively pay the 32% commission.

Unwilling to part with the $600,000, M-Edge told Amazon to take a hike. The harassment continued through May 2010 as Amazon kept pushing new contract terms, demanding unfair retroactive pay as well as threatening to "de-list" and bury M-Edge's products on Amazon.com. M-Edge caved to the pressure in July 2010.

The revised contract granted Amazon a 32% commission, allowing it to "extort" an extra $6.5 million from M-Edge. Despite making more cash, Amazon failed to honor its old agreement to share pre-launch details about the Kindle. The third-gen e-reader launched on July 28, 2010 and M-Edge only received a one-day notice.

What's more, the filing implies this was an attempt to hijack M-Edge's sales. Amazon launched its own covers that bared a stark resemblance to M-Edge's designs, all the way down to the colors chosen. M-Edge took the beating and in January 2011, Amazon demanded even more cash -- another $150,000 a year, to be precise.

Amazon resorted to similar bullying methods, demanding onerous reporting requirements, vowing to de-list M-Edge's products and withholding payments. By March 2011, Amazon allegedly owed M-Edge nearly $2 million. That's a summarized version of the filing's background section. You can read the full 15-page complaint here.