Beav's Soldam MT2200 Plus Case Review

By Beav - 6/12/02 - Page 2

Another major let down is that the bay covers are screwed to the bezel, instead of being snapped on. However, the front bezel's connection to the chassis is very well done. Instead of using plastic tabs that can easily break off, they deploy plastic snaps that I mentioned earlier on the hinged door. These things won't break off. I believe Lian Li also uses similar tabs.

The plastic tabs on my Enlight bezel concern me every time I pop it off. The snaps that Soldam use will last through years of repeated abuse.

Once the front bezel is finally detached from the case, you will notice the absence of those vicious 5 ¼" razor blades, or any other bay occupier, which are so common on computer enclosures today. I don't see any use for them, and apparently neither does SOLDAM. The 5 ¼" bays have little guide rails to hold your devices in place while you screw them in, but oddly, they are only placed on every other open bay. I don't know why they chose to do this, but it is quite an inconvenience for the user. (If you know of any devices which take up 2 bays, please notify me at beav@procooling.com. I assume there are hot swappable devices which require 2 places). Many manufacturers have been switching to using drive rails. Personally I prefer the plain old screw-in design, as the drive rails transfer a lot of vibration throughout the case.

Installation and Future Mods:

I don't currently have a system to put in this box as it will be used for a later project, but I installed some components to get a feel for the MT2200+. The motherboard tray is superb; however it is attached to the case with 5 screws. SOLDAM should have made these thumbscrews, as tweakers like to swap out processors and motherboards quite frequently. I removed the HD cage on the hinged door, along with the one down near the front intake, as they are wasted space at the moment. I loved the fact that everything slides out, and has handles to grab on to. To install my HD, I slid the front 3-bay 3.5" cage out, put my hard drive in, and then slid it back in. All of the cages have a plastic lining on the rails, to make installation easy.
The motherboard tray uses brass screw-in standoffs, rather than the snap-on standoffs that many manufactures use. Personally, I feel more comfortable with the brass standoffs, as the aluminum snap-on ones feel and look really flimsy. The I/O shield included with the case didn't fit my motherboard and popped painlessly out. One major problem I ran into, was adding in expansion cards. The PCI and AGP slots were difficult to get to when the tray was installed. The hinged door blocked any screwdriver entry when opened, but when closed, there was a comfortable ¾" gap to allow you to screw/unscrew your cards. You could also slide the motherboard tray out an inch or two, and unscrew them that way.

The front plastic bezel, as mentioned earlier, was annoying to detach. Also, the drive bay covers are screwed on, making the user perform an unnecessary task to open up a free bay. The DVD drive slid painlessly in, due to the guide rails, but it still troubles me that they are only there for half of the open bays. The MT2200+ is deep enough to allow full accessibility to even the biggest boards (except for the PCI slots), which comes in handy when you are doing the final connections such as the power button and LEDs. My power supply slid smoothly into its designated spot. Some subtle things that I noticed were that every corner, or edge was bent over or smooth. There is not one place inside this case where you can hurt yourself. Installation was pretty quick and painless, and the amount of room to expand is uncanny.

Future Modifications:

There are so many modding possibilities with a case like this, especially for the watercooling enthusiasts out there. Obviously, a window is pointless with this case, unless you choose not to buy the optional hinged door. I wouldn't feel comfortable cutting into such an expensive case anyway. However, with so much space, there are plenty of places to stash radiators, pumps, reservoirs etc. Here are a few things I plan on doing:

The reservoir can go up where the tertiary HD cage was, the radiator down where the main HD cage was, and the pump can go several places. I was thinking, with the secondary HD cage gone on the hinged door, a pump would mount nicely. I would have to make up a mounting bracket, but it shouldn't be too hard. As for the 4 empty 5 ¼" bays, I was thinking about putting a secondary PSU there, to possibly power a TEC. Who knows, this case has a world of possibilities.

Conclusion -

If there is anything in your computer that you should invest good money into, it is the actual enclosure itself. Video cards, motherboards, processors, soundcards; these all get replaced/upgraded at least twice every year, but the case rarely gets an upgrade. Try to find one that fits your needs and aesthetic appeal. I have worked with lots of cases in my life, from AOpen, to Addtronics, Lian Li, to Coolermaster, (and just recently Enlight). All have their strengths and weaknesses, and different features and reasons for purchase. The new addition to my computer family is the MT2200+ from SOLDAM. I feel this is one of the most feature-filled and robust cases that has ever passed through my hands. However, with all of the things I absolutely love about it, I do have some gripes. Below I have recapped all of the positive and negative things I have encountered and experienced while working with the MT2200+

Pros:
The build quality of this case is exceptional. Entry to the case is tool-less, all drive bays, cages, motherboard trays, and even the PSU rack is removable. The care in packaging is phenomenal. When is the last time a manufacturer has included detailed instructions, a surplus of screws/mounting hardware organized in their own re-sealable bags, installed additional ordered hardware for you, and personally serialized your case? These treats/features, although subtle, are what make this case so appealing. The hinged door adds extra cooling and capacity to the case. There is room for five 5 ¼" devices, as well as fourteen 3.5" devices, not to mention a generous amount of space for your motherboard and additional hardware. The WinDY fans are a very nice addition to the case, providing decent airflow at a comfortable noise level.
The overall design of the case is intuitive, and the physical appearance of the case is extremely slick, yet not overdone. Being constructed out of aluminum, it is quite light, but at the same time, robust, unlike many flimsy aluminum cases. .

Cons:
SOLDAM goes really far to please the user with simplicity to entry and scalability, but they overlooked and left lots of things out that would further propel this case above the rest of the competition. For starters, many more things should have the aluminum thumbscrews. The side panels have them, but what surprised me most was the absence of thumbscrews on the motherboard tray, along with the PSU mounts and PCI/AGP shields. Another major gripe is the fact that all LED's and switches are mounted on the front bezel, instead of the actual chassis itself. This makes it a pain to detach the bezel when it's time to upgrade. The optional hinged door blocks all access to the PCI slots when opened all the way, and the HD cage mounted on the door is really unnecessary. Lastly, the price of this case is quite high, but you get what you pay for.

I have found that optional kit #2, which includes the 5 blue LEDs, aluminum power button, and aluminum feet, is not worth the extra $60, and almost completely unnecessary. The hinged door is all a matter of opinion/preference, and weighs in at an outrageous $150. I find it quite handy in cooling my lower PCI cards, and for its modification possibilities, but the average user can shave a hundred or so bucks by skipping this option. With no optional kits or power supplies, the MT2200+ is still a hefty $310. It isn't really made for the "Average Joe", but more for the business professional who has cash to burn, and needs a quality workstation enclosure, due to its scalability and wide range of functionality. The tweaker/modifier will simply fall in love with a case like this. Ultimately, keep in mind that when purchasing a new box, to put out a little extra cash and invest in a quality enclosure, whatever it may be, as long as it that suits your needs, and fits within your budget

If you have any comments or Questions please email me at Beav@ProCooling.com