Robi_G
New member
Casecom K5-9388
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I got this last year and have only just got round to doing a review, since buying it I've cut bits off to make way for radiators (that I still haven't got) and put a window in the side panel, for this reason some photos may be missing or not representative of the case, these differences will be pointed out though and the two manufacturer's photos bellow give you a good portrayal of the case.
Introduction:
Casecom are a Taiwanese company building power supplies, fans, speakers and cases, while you may not have heard of them (I certainly hadn't) they have a large catalogue of products including today's piece, the K5-9388, a mid-tower ATX case.
This imaginatively named case sells for £23 on ebuyer, which is the cheapest (and one of the only places) I could find it. At this price range you may not expect much, if anything from the case, which is almost expected at this price range yet the Casecom is surprising in this respect as we will find out.
A look outside the case:
The K5 comes in a brown cardboard box with the manufacturer's logo and a picture of the case on it (no pics) there are 4 thin pieces of polystyrene protecting it from damage and puny as they looked they did the job alright.
The accessories included consist of a replacement expansion slot cover (as the ones on the case are breakout pieces), 6 small cable ties, a motherboard speaker and a few M3 screws, all in a small grip seal bag. Not brilliant, but not unexpected.
The front of the case is a bit bland, there's some filtered mesh running from top to bottom along with the front I/O, (2x USB2.0, audio out, mic. in, power and reset buttons) in the top 5.25" bay. This IO is attached to the from panel so will have to be unplugged from the motherboard to allow removal of the front panel. There is a space for an eSATA connector on the I/O panel but no actual connector. The bay covers are easily removable via some plastic clips on the inside of the panel but to get to them you'll have to remove the front panel which is a bit more of a job to get off (although still easy enough).
Two cold cathodes run vertically down each side of the case and plug onto a 4pin Molex connector they are bright but I wouldn't say distractingly so, after a year's use one has broken and the other flickered before I unplugged it but that is probably my rough handling and not Casecom's fault. What is annoying however is the blindingly bright HDD activity light which I painted over in the end. The front panel is a glossy plastic that contrasts with the rest of the case, this will annoy anyone who is fussed about looks but thanks to the generic black colour of the rest of the case, some cheap spray paint means it now blends in fine.
The sides of the case are uneventful, the right hand one is a blank, flat panel and the left is the same apart from 2x120mm fan holes and a plastic handle on the end for easier removal, the panels slide on to the case (as in not hinged) and do so without fuss, they are held in place by 2 thumbscrews per panel, the screws themselves aren't coloured (only the thumb grip bit) but you'll have some left over spray paint from doing the front panel
.
The rear of the case is a standard affair, hole for the PSU, rear IO space, a 120mm fan hole and a couple of grommets for external water cooling. As mentioned before the 7 expansion slots are one-time jobs that snap out but Casecom gives you a single replacement so it's not TOO much of a problem.
The top of the case has 2x 120/140mm fan spaces.
Inside the Case:
Despite the bland and understated exterior, the inside of the K5 really shines for its price bracket. But first the few bad points: the PSU anti-vibration pads WILL fall off and get lost but they didn't do anything in the first place (the PSU isn't noisy though). The bottom of the case isn't filtered either leading to a fair bit of dust getting in.
The good points however, far outweigh the bad. All the drive bays are tooless, with the clips matching the colour of the cold cathodes on the front of the case. The bottom hard drive cage is also removable to allow for better airflow. The hard drives attach to the cage on supplied rails so they just slide in and latch, a convenient feature. The clips run down each side of the drive mounts so if you want to remove or add anything to them you'll have to take off both panels.
The case comes with 2 Casecom fans (both molex powered), a 140mm in the roof and a blue LED 120mm in the front which isn't as bright as the picture makes out, these fans are by no means bad but at the same time aren't really very good either so it's down to user preference as to whether or not they stay. The case can only hold the 1 fan in the front although there is space for another so if you wanted to cut some bits off and mess around a bit you could get a second 120mm in there.
In the bottom of the case there is space for a 120mm fan next to the PSU, although it's a very tight squeeze with PSU cables (PSU is an OCZ ZS750W).
There is no space in the roof for a radiator without modification of said roof and there is no hole for the CPU power lead unless you make your own or somehow route it up behind the motherboard. Note that both these ideas will only work when there is no fan in the space above the power connector.
(Included fans not shown)
The cable management for the case is excellent, all cables fit behind the motherboard tray, even an SSD will fit along with the cables but I was having to force the back panel on then so I wouldn't recommend it. There are three ungrommeted cut-outs in good locations around the tray along with a good few cable tie points, With this case you can pretty much make everything disappear (you can get it even neater than in the pictures).
The front IO cables aren't sleeved so you'll either have to paint them of get some electrical tape on them, the front audio is a real stretch to attach to the motherboard although if you didn't route it out of the way it would fit easily.
Air cooler compatibility is good with coolers of up to 162mm (165mm at the absolute most) being able to fit.
Conclusion:
For £23 the Casecom K5-9388 is pretty decent, offering great cable management and quick drive removal. The exterior is bland but not ugly and pretty much all the other problems can be solved with some spray paint that costs about £7. The panel thickness is decent and the case hasn't felt flimsy at all. For the £20-35 price range there's not much else that I'd say could beat it. A great value case.
Price: 10
Presentation: 6
Performance: 8
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I got this last year and have only just got round to doing a review, since buying it I've cut bits off to make way for radiators (that I still haven't got) and put a window in the side panel, for this reason some photos may be missing or not representative of the case, these differences will be pointed out though and the two manufacturer's photos bellow give you a good portrayal of the case.
Introduction:
Casecom are a Taiwanese company building power supplies, fans, speakers and cases, while you may not have heard of them (I certainly hadn't) they have a large catalogue of products including today's piece, the K5-9388, a mid-tower ATX case.
This imaginatively named case sells for £23 on ebuyer, which is the cheapest (and one of the only places) I could find it. At this price range you may not expect much, if anything from the case, which is almost expected at this price range yet the Casecom is surprising in this respect as we will find out.
A look outside the case:
The K5 comes in a brown cardboard box with the manufacturer's logo and a picture of the case on it (no pics) there are 4 thin pieces of polystyrene protecting it from damage and puny as they looked they did the job alright.
The accessories included consist of a replacement expansion slot cover (as the ones on the case are breakout pieces), 6 small cable ties, a motherboard speaker and a few M3 screws, all in a small grip seal bag. Not brilliant, but not unexpected.
The front of the case is a bit bland, there's some filtered mesh running from top to bottom along with the front I/O, (2x USB2.0, audio out, mic. in, power and reset buttons) in the top 5.25" bay. This IO is attached to the from panel so will have to be unplugged from the motherboard to allow removal of the front panel. There is a space for an eSATA connector on the I/O panel but no actual connector. The bay covers are easily removable via some plastic clips on the inside of the panel but to get to them you'll have to remove the front panel which is a bit more of a job to get off (although still easy enough).
Two cold cathodes run vertically down each side of the case and plug onto a 4pin Molex connector they are bright but I wouldn't say distractingly so, after a year's use one has broken and the other flickered before I unplugged it but that is probably my rough handling and not Casecom's fault. What is annoying however is the blindingly bright HDD activity light which I painted over in the end. The front panel is a glossy plastic that contrasts with the rest of the case, this will annoy anyone who is fussed about looks but thanks to the generic black colour of the rest of the case, some cheap spray paint means it now blends in fine.
The sides of the case are uneventful, the right hand one is a blank, flat panel and the left is the same apart from 2x120mm fan holes and a plastic handle on the end for easier removal, the panels slide on to the case (as in not hinged) and do so without fuss, they are held in place by 2 thumbscrews per panel, the screws themselves aren't coloured (only the thumb grip bit) but you'll have some left over spray paint from doing the front panel
.The rear of the case is a standard affair, hole for the PSU, rear IO space, a 120mm fan hole and a couple of grommets for external water cooling. As mentioned before the 7 expansion slots are one-time jobs that snap out but Casecom gives you a single replacement so it's not TOO much of a problem.
The top of the case has 2x 120/140mm fan spaces.
Inside the Case:
Despite the bland and understated exterior, the inside of the K5 really shines for its price bracket. But first the few bad points: the PSU anti-vibration pads WILL fall off and get lost but they didn't do anything in the first place (the PSU isn't noisy though). The bottom of the case isn't filtered either leading to a fair bit of dust getting in.
The good points however, far outweigh the bad. All the drive bays are tooless, with the clips matching the colour of the cold cathodes on the front of the case. The bottom hard drive cage is also removable to allow for better airflow. The hard drives attach to the cage on supplied rails so they just slide in and latch, a convenient feature. The clips run down each side of the drive mounts so if you want to remove or add anything to them you'll have to take off both panels.
The case comes with 2 Casecom fans (both molex powered), a 140mm in the roof and a blue LED 120mm in the front which isn't as bright as the picture makes out, these fans are by no means bad but at the same time aren't really very good either so it's down to user preference as to whether or not they stay. The case can only hold the 1 fan in the front although there is space for another so if you wanted to cut some bits off and mess around a bit you could get a second 120mm in there.
In the bottom of the case there is space for a 120mm fan next to the PSU, although it's a very tight squeeze with PSU cables (PSU is an OCZ ZS750W).
There is no space in the roof for a radiator without modification of said roof and there is no hole for the CPU power lead unless you make your own or somehow route it up behind the motherboard. Note that both these ideas will only work when there is no fan in the space above the power connector.
(Included fans not shown)
The cable management for the case is excellent, all cables fit behind the motherboard tray, even an SSD will fit along with the cables but I was having to force the back panel on then so I wouldn't recommend it. There are three ungrommeted cut-outs in good locations around the tray along with a good few cable tie points, With this case you can pretty much make everything disappear (you can get it even neater than in the pictures).
The front IO cables aren't sleeved so you'll either have to paint them of get some electrical tape on them, the front audio is a real stretch to attach to the motherboard although if you didn't route it out of the way it would fit easily.
Air cooler compatibility is good with coolers of up to 162mm (165mm at the absolute most) being able to fit.
Conclusion:
For £23 the Casecom K5-9388 is pretty decent, offering great cable management and quick drive removal. The exterior is bland but not ugly and pretty much all the other problems can be solved with some spray paint that costs about £7. The panel thickness is decent and the case hasn't felt flimsy at all. For the £20-35 price range there's not much else that I'd say could beat it. A great value case.
Price: 10
Presentation: 6
Performance: 8
