With the PSU in place, it’s time to start putting the rest of this system together.

Let’s take a look at the list of components being used:

1. XFX 680i Motherboard
2. Intel E6700 Core 2 Duo processor w/ Standard Cooling fan and heatsink
3. Corsair XMS2 Dominator RAM: 2 x 1 GB in Dual Channel Mode
4. PowerColor X1950 Pro PCI Express Graphics Adapter
5. Western Digital Caviar SE 250 GB SATA HDD
6. 2X Seagate 160 GB SATA HDDs
7. Samsung DVD Writer
8. One HDD to demonstrate 5 ¼” bay installation

Installing a HDD is quite easy as the entire bay is removable. Notice the blue rubber grommets for dampening any vibration. These grommets exist on both sides to provide the HDDs a very smooth ride.

Installing an ODD (DVD/CD or other 5 ¼” device is also very easy as shown in the following photos:

Notice the swivel clamp in its various positions for placing the ODD in the above photos. The final position is closed and locked to secure the device in place.

The rest of the components are shown in place in the following photo:

Almost all of the components installed without a hitch and, with lots of room to work with, it was a pleasant experience. But, notice I said, “almost.”

The First Problem Encountered:

When I installed the DVD Writer (ODD) initially into the middle drive bay (as shown above), it created a problem for the push/push hinged bezel for those two drive bays. I couldn’t get the bezel to stay closed because the front of the ODD extended forward just enough to keep the flat door from staying closed. Since there’s no way to adjust the depth of the position of the ODD, I couldn’t resolve this issue. So, I moved the ODD into the very top drive bay and then discovered another problem: The spring-loaded front bezel for this area caused the tray of the ODD to halt when moving in either direction. I would have to manually release the tension placed on the bottom of the ODD tray in order for the tray to either extend out or move back into the drive.

Press Play to Watch the Video Below

I decided that this would be the better location for the ODD, as the front bezel for the other two bays simply would not stay closed if I used those. So, I took a close look at the snap out frame for this area and discovered that the spring-loaded narrow bezel could be very easily removed. I did so in just a few moments. Otherwise, I’m afraid the tension on the ODD tray would cause the mechanism inside the ODD to break down in a short time.

Photo shows spring-loaded bezel removed for unrestricted ODD tray operation.

Making it work:

Once the system was all setup and ready for power, I installed Windows XP Professional SP2 onto the newly formatted Western Digital HDD and proceeded to Update Windows.

Then, I installed and updated the motherboard BIOS and drivers as well as installed the needed program from the CD included with the case to make the VFD operational.

The VFD panel is configurable to allow for System Information – e.g. CPU installed, CPU Speed, Memory Installed and Usage, etc., News Updates, City information from around the world, and even E-mail Notification, among other things. This was easily configured and works flawlessly.

The Front Panel connections for AUDIO, USB and Firewire are conveniently located at the bottom of the chassis with another push/push bezel. Here, also, are the main Power button and the Reset button. The HDD Activity light blinks with a blue LED and the Power button is circled with a blue LED to indicate the system is ON.

The Second Problem:

The Remote Controller is another matter, though. It may be that I don’t have a Media Center OS installed, but the use of the Remote Controller is very limited under the current setup. The only program CD that CoolerMaster provided is for the VFD device. There is no Installation/Program CD for the Remote Controller operation or even its configuration. Although I’ve installed the Microsoft Updates for Remote Controllers, the use is still quite limited. I can navigate and select from Desktop Icons and even start up a program this way. But, there’s no way (that I’ve discovered yet) to switch the focus onto the newly opened program. And, since there’s no option for configuring the Remote Controller to, say, use a CTRL-TAB function, I’m dependent upon using the Keyboard/Mouse in addition to the Remote Controller. Obviously this remote is geared to be used with MCE or perhaps even Vista, so, we won’t count too much against CoolerMaster at this time for the lack of functionality for the Remote Controller. It is something to be aware of however beforehand.