Sunbeam Samurai - Gamers PC Enclosure

     Since the case is modeled for Gamers, the audio and USB ports had to be made as convenient as possible. Since this case already has a door for the drive-bays, making another door for the connectors would be impractical, so they put the connectors on the outside bezel of the front plate. This puts them within easy reach to plug in a gamers headset or USB joystick; are there any other kinds these days? The audio connectors for the front panel are not motherboard headers, but are instead the 1/8 inch male jack that needs to be routed out the backside of the case to your audio card or motherboards Line-out / Microphone jack. This method does allow the user to utilize the front panel audio jacks even if they don't use their motherboards on-board sound. The USB connectors for the front panel ARE the header-style jumpers that will need to connected internally to the motherboard.

     The door that covers the 5.25 inch drive bays leaves me with mixed feelings. It opens to a full 90 degrees, but no further. The door has no detent to hold it in the open position. There are screws that could be removed if you really want to take the door completely off. However, the hinge will still be visible from the outside and the molding on the door itself helps to give the Samurai its looks.

     PC Enclosures are the single most subjective piece of hardware that anyone will buy for their computer. Just about everything else we purchase is based upon benchmark scores, product stability, or some other measurement that can be judged and standardized. Cases get judged on looks alone, and that means that somebody will have to make their own judgment call. Sure, there are the basics that every case should have; proper ventilation, useful front panel connections, and enough drive bays to hold your current while still leaving room to upgrade. Does the Sunbeam Samurai meet this criteria? Yes, and easily so. With an 80mm fan on the front and side panel providing air intake and two 80mm fans pulling exhaust duty in the back, proper airflow should be achieved to keep a system stable enough for HOURS of gaming. The front panel connections are easy to get to and universal enough to fit 99.9% of any system build configuration.

     The overall look and feel of the Samurai is unquiet, but not gaudy. Having a plastic front panel does give the case a bit of a fragile feel, but the steel construction in the chassis takes away any doubt that your hardware will be secure. Utilizing the tool-free drive installation and expansion card retention is top-notch. The less hardware you have to keep track of, the better. Overall - I am very pleased with the Samurai, and feel that it makes a very fine Gamers market enclosure.