Up close and personal continued...again...

     Cooling is not a problem with this server enclosure as there are three more 120mm fan bays in the rear of the case. Again, Maxtop only provides you one fan in the rear and one in the front. You'll also notice that because the motherboard is mounted on the right side, your PCI and AGP slots are at the top of the case and your I/O ports are on the bottom. The power supply also mounts on the bottom as well.

     Even with a dual MP motherboard and a half dozen hard drives, there is still plenty of room in this baby. Where I was once cramped for space in a full tower, I now am only using a fraction of the space and drive bays in the Maxtop server enclosure. Just look at all that space around the motherboard! The huge motherboard now looks like a mini board...

Testing & Conclusion

      I've had a couple weeks to play around with this server enclosure and I have found a couple minor faults. The biggest fault being the front plastic door and cover. The plastic door though flexible, is just too flexible. Maxtop should reinforce the front doors with metal to give the case a higher quality feel. The rest of the case is top notch and very well built, so having a flimsy door on this case is like putting wagon wheels on a Ferrari. The second problem is the lack of fans included with the case. You definitely want superior cooling in a server enclosure, so making use of every cooling option is a must. Therefore, Maxtop should include all the 120mm fans this case can take. Although it would increase the price of this case, it would also increase the appeal as long as customers knew it came "fully loaded".

     I love the idea of having the optional rack mounting hardware, although I am unable to try it out at this time. I also love the optional wheels that greatly assist in moving the case around. If it wasn't for the wheels, moving the case would definitely be a two person operation, especially with the hardware installed. So is a heavy case a bad thing? No, not in a server enclosure. In my opinion, the heavier built a server case is, the better.

     Overall, I really like my experience with the Maxtop CSF-1630B. However, I wouldn't call this case a "top end" server enclosure. It's more of an entry level enclosure, but ideal for small to medium size businesses. The CSF-1630B retails for about $295 USD.