Addtronics WTX 8500 Case Review
Background:
The Addtronics WTX 8500 case was created to be a high-end workstation case supporting motherboards based on Intel's WTX standard. WTX was to be the new defacto standard for high-end motherboards. The primary feature of an WTX motherboard is the increased area, nearly twice that of a standard ATX board. This was to provide the room for onboard SCSI, LAN, video, dual processors, 8 or more DIMM banks, and many other onboard features.
Cooling:
The 8500 has what is probably the best air cooling around. WTX clearly defines 4 areas in which area flow requirement are to be met so that high-performance processors and 15k RPM hard drives are adequately cooled. The main cooling area runs across the bottom of the case and is supported by 4 X 80 mm fans in the rear drawing heat off of the processors and 3 X 80 mms up in the front along. In addition, the hard drive bay supports 1 X 92 mm fan for cooling off high-speed drives. Up top there is an 92 mm side vent fan to help cool any hot running DVD-R or CD-RW drives you might have running.
Layout:
The WTX standard provides for a very unique layout of the components. The motherboard is on the opposite side of the case as compared to a traditional ATX case. This is to position the processors along the lower and therefore cooler area of the case where air can flow unimpeded by hard drives or CD-ROM drives that reside in the upper area of the case. This case is absolutely huge inside and dwarfs most standard sized ATX boards as can clearly be seen. My MSI motherboard looks quite tiny, even with its Swiftech MC-462 Heat sink mounted.
The case supports 5 external 5.25" devices and 5 internal 3.5" devices and 1 3.5" external device (floppy drive). I am running it with 4 various CD/DVD drives and a SB Live! Platinum taking up the front 5 bays. In the drive cage is a 10k RPM 18.1GB Seagate Cheetah and a 7.2k RPM Maxtor 30GB Drive (a 15GB 7.2k drive used to reside in there, but it journeyed over to my new dual P3 system to run Linux...I got tired of dual-booting, so I got a new dually cheap on ebay ;-) )
Installation:
This case does not have a removable motherboard tray, and usually that would be a major downside to a case, but with such a large area to work with in the 8500, it really never becomes an issue. Just look at the pics below and you can tell for yourself that you won't be having to scrimp your hands to get in there. The 8500 has all of its edges either very well deburred or with the edges bent over to prevent you from getting a nasty metal cut which I so hate. I appreciated the nice construction.
Getting my motherboard in was a breeze, other than it feels slightly odd to put in all your cards up at the top and upside down. But, once you get used to it, it is a breeze. The drive rails that are included work well, but I do prefer the type that allows you to slide the drives right out, like those from Antec. However, this is a minor issue and there is a reason for them not doing it: so that their locks actually prevent people from easily sliding things right out and taking them!
I did encounter a minor issue with the drive bays being a little odd to get out. Firstly, it was hard to find the little screw to release it because it is right below the 92 mm fan on the front. Secondly, the cage is a little sticky when getting it out. It feels like it is almost impossible to get started, and then it just sort of explodes out. When no drives are in it, it isn't a big deal. But, when I have important data on drives, I hate it when it jerks out.
As far as a safety issue goes with the case, the 92 mm on the front has no guard and I have nearly caught myself twice about to dice my fingers up in it. It is easy to forget about it being on the front when working with the covers off the case. You just reach up there to get a hold of the case so it doesn't move and then realize that you are about to grab a fan and stop just before you get diced.
Evaluation of cooling:
Well, the cooling this case provides is awesome, however, it is a bit noisy for most peoples tastes. The sound of the fans, however, is not as powerful as that of my 80 mm black label delta on my swifty. When I disconnect that fan, a noticeable decrease in the noise level occurs. This is a case custom designed with a standard, WTX, all to itself for cooling dual processor workstations and it lives up to it. I moved my goods directly over from an Antec SX-1030 with a full complement of fans into this case. Case temp dropped about 6 degrees Fahrenheit and processor temp dropped about 3-4 degrees.
Conclusion:
This case is a dream to work on. Here are the complaints I have about it:
1) Too heavy, this case is a beast to lift whenever you have to do so, however, it does come with wheels, so, usually this is not a problem, don't get this case if you are a LAN gamer, you will definitely not want to be hauling this bad boy around, it weighs in at about 60 pounds for the case alone!
2) WTX is an standard which seems like it might not ever exist again, see www.wtx.org for more info
3) Price, you have to shell out some serious money to get this case. I spent about $450 on mine with all the fans and a 420W power supply.
So, if you want the best you can get in a case for cooling and want something that is a dream to work on, this is the case to get...if you have the money.
The case with the motherboard and drives in it:
(to side of case: 2 x 2 connector rounded IDE cables, 1 x 5 connector 50-pin SCSI cable, and 1 x 2 connector 68 pin U160 SCSI cable, floppy cable is already installed inside case)
A picture showing the case all loaded up with my cables in it:
A close up:
