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[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

The Strike-X is a mid-tower case from Aerocool with interesting looks and features, including an exclusive fan mounting for each hard drive. Let’s take a look at it.

This case is available with two different colors for the venting meshes, black or red. We are reviewing the black model, which still carries a several parts in red.

Figure 1: Aerocool Strike-X case

Figure 2: Aerocool Strike-X case

The left-side panel of the Strike-X is meshed, making the letter “X.” It comes with a 120 mm sleeve bearing fan (Dongguan Zhan Yu Industrial Co AV12025, 1,200 rpm, 25.5 cfm, 20.9 dBA) on the upper left corner that glows red when turned on. This fan is attached to a standard peripheral power plug and to a three-pin fan power connector, so you can choose between installing it directly on your power supply or on your motherboard.

Figure 3: The left-side panel

[nextpage title=”The Front Panel”]

The front panel of the Aerocool Strike-X can be seen in Figure 4. It has nine 5.25” bays, all with meshed covers and air filters. The two accent lights available glow red when the system is on, if you connect them to the power supply, of course.

Figure 4: Front panel

The most incredible feature of this case is that you can configure the nine 5.25” bays behind the front panel the way you want. You can use them as 5.25” bays, as 3.5” bays through adapters (seven of them are included) or you can use the same adapters to install 120 mm fans on the front panel. You can install up to three fans on the front panel and, if you install one or two fans, you can choose exactly where you want them installed, providing a great configuration flexibility for the front fans. Since each fan bracket doubles as a 3.5” hard drive bay, you can also install a 120 mm fan under each one of your hard drives. We will explore this possibility later. In Figure 5, we show how the case comes, with one 120 mm fan bracket installed.

Figure 5: Front panel

[nextpage title=”The Top, Bottom, and Rear Panels”]

In Figure 6, you can see the top panel of the Strike-X, which also has an X-shaped mesh. It comes with a 140 mm sleeve bearing fan (Dongguan Zhan Yu Industrial Co AV14025, 1,200 rpm, 45 cfm, 25 dBA) that also glows red when turned on.

Figure 6: Top panel

The buttons and connectors are located on the top panel, and the case comes with only two USB 2.0 ports and the traditional audio jacks.

Figure 7: Buttons and connectors

The bottom panel, seen in Figure 8, has a big mesh. Unfortunately this mesh doesn’t have an air filter. All feet rotate 180°, so you can move them to the exact position you want them to stay.

Figure 8: Bottom panel

The rear panel and the interior of the Aerocool Strike-X are painted black, with the motherboard tray painted red. The power supply is installed on the bottom part of the case, and it comes with seven expansion slots. The slot covers are from the kind that you need to break and toss away. There are two holes with rubber covers for passing hoses of liquid cooling solutions. The rear fan is identical to the one used on the left panel.

Figure 9: Rear panel

The Strike-X features a very interesting set of handles to pull each side panel, shown in Figure 10. They proved to be very convenient.

Figure 10: Handle

Let’s now take a look inside the Aerocool Strike-X.[nextpage title=”Inside the Aerocool Strike-X”]

Both panels of the Strike-X are fastened to the case using black thumbscrews. As mentioned before, the interior is painted black, but the motherboard tray is painted red, making the product to have a very unique looks. The motherboard tray has a hole for you to access the backplate of the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case.

The motherboard tray doesn’t have holes for you to route cables behind it, but the motherboard compartment comes with a series of seven cable organizers.

Figure 11: Overall look

Figure 12: A view behind the motherboard tray

In Figure 13, you have another overall look inside the case. Expansion cards are fastened to the case using individual plastic tool-less mechanisms. The Strike-X supports video cards up to 11.6” (295 mm) long.

Figure 13: Overall look

Note that the power supply can be installed with either its bottom fan facing up or facing down, so you can decide if you want the fan of your power supply pulling air from inside the case or from outside of it.

The case supports an optional 120 or 140 mm fan on its bottom panel.

Figure 14: Power supply compartment

[nextpage title=”The Disk Drive Bays”]

The Aerocool Strike-X is one of the most unique cases we’ve ever seen. As explained, it comes with nine 5.25” bays, and these bays can be configured in several different ways. You can use them as 5.25” bays or you can convert them into 3.5” bays using the seven adapters that come with the case. You also can have one external 3.5” device, since the case comes with one bezel to convert the original 5.25” bay cover into a 3.5” bay cover, and one internal 2.5” device, like an SSD or a laptop hard drive.

Figure 15: Disk drive bays

Figure 16: 2.5” bay

The hard drive adapter, shown in Figure 17, is also used as a 120 mm fan bracket. You can use this adapter to install fans on the front panel or to install 3.5” hard drives, and since the hard drive doesn’t cover the fan holes, you can install a 120 mm fan to each of your hard drives, if you want.

Figure 17: Adapter

Although the 5.25” bays come with a tool-less installation mechanisms, there are nine bays but only seven sets of mechanisms. Also, hard drives and fans are installed on the adapters using regular screws.[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

The main specs for the Aerocool Strike-X case include:

• Style: Mid-tower
• Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one
• Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC)
• Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product
• Available colors: Black with black or red meshes
• Side panel: Meshed
• Dimensions: 18.6 x 7.7 x 19.9 inches (472 x 195 x 505 mm) (H x W x D)
• Net weight: 14.5 lbs (6.6 kg)
• Gross weight: 18 lbs (8 kg)
• Bays: Nine external 5.25” bays and one internal 2.5” bay; seven internal 3.5” bays converted from the 5.25” bays, one external 3.5” bay converted from the 5.25” bays
• Expansion slots: Seven
• Maximum video card length: 11.6” (295 mm)
• Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
• Fans: One 120 mm fan on the left panel (1,200 rpm, 25.5 cfm, 20.9 dBA, glowing red), one 140 mm fan on the top panel (1,200 rpm, 45 cfm, 25 dBA, glowing red), and one 120 mm fan on the rear panel (1,200 rpm, 25.5 cfm, 20.9 dBA, glowing red)
• Optional fans: Three 120 mm fans on the front panel, one 120 or 140 mm fan on the bottom panel
• More Information: https://www.aerocool.com.tw
• Average price in the US: We couldn’t find this case being sold in the US; in the UK it is sold for the equivalent of USD 78.00

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

We liked a lot the fan/hard drive flexibility of the Aerocool Strike-X. It also has a very nice looks, making it a very interesting option.

Strong Points

• The 5.25” bay covers are meshed featuring air filters
• Supports one 2.5” device
• Supports seven hard drives
• Cable organizers on the motherboard tray
• Tool-less mechanisms for installing expansion cards
• Supports three fans on the front panel
• You can install a 120 mm fan under each hard drive
• Handles to slide the side panels

Weak Points

• No air filter on the bottom or left panel meshes
• No vented slot covers
• Missing two tool-less installation mechanisms on the 5.25” bays
• Paint job is not the best (the paint of one of the side panels chipped when we were reviewing the case)