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[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

Besides being a well-known power supply manufacturer, Enermax also manufactures cases. Today we are going to take a look at their latest release, Uber Chakra, a 5-bay case featuring a colossal 250 mm fan on the side panel.

Uber Chakra is available in three colors: black (ECA5001-B, which is the model we are going to show you), black with blue details (ECA5001-BL) and black with silver details (ECA5001-BS).

Even though this is a high-end case, it is still made of zinc-coated steel (a.k.a. SECC) and not aluminum. Using aluminum instead of steel would make this case to be lighter – and more expensive.

Figure 1: Enermax Uber Chakra.

Its huge 250 mm (25 cm) side fan immediately catches our eye and we will talk more about it in the next page. This case also features a 120 mm fan on its front panel and a place for installing another 120 mm fan on the rear (the case does not come with this fan). The two fans that come with the case glows blue when the computer is turned on.

Figure 2: Enermax Uber Chakra.

As you can see in Figure 2, it has five 5 ¼” bays and two 3 ½” bays plus six internal 3 ½” bays. What is really good about this case frontal panel is that it uses a dust filter, as you can see in Figure 3. As the frontal fan works on ventilation mode – i.e., blowing air from outside the case to the inside – this filter prevents dust entering the case and also prevents your frontal fan from being dirty, which happens with cases that don’t feature a dust filter.

Figure 3: Dust filter on the frontal panel.

In Figure 4, you can see the connectors, switch and LEDs that are available on the top of the case: power switch, two USB ports, mic in jack, headphone jack, power LED, HDD LED and an eSATA port. Even though it is great to have an eSATA port on the top of the case for connecting external hard drives as newer high-end motherboards are coming with eSATA support, we think this case could have a FireWire port as well.

Figure 4: Power switch, connectors and LEDs on the top of the case.

[nextpage title=”Fans”]

As you already know by now, this case has a huge 25 cm fan attached to its meshed side panel. On the side panel you will find two switches. One for turning the fan blue light on and off and another to select the direction you want the fan to work: exhaustion (blowing air from inside the case to the outside), ventilation (pulling air from outside to inside the case) or to shut the fan off.

Figure 5: 25 cm side fan. Pay attention to the switches on the upper left corner.

This fan rotates at 650 rpm, making it a relatively quiet cooling solution. According to Enermax, it can blow 90 cfm of air.

Figure 6: Other side of the side panel with the 25 cm side fan.

The frontal 120 mm fan also glows blue when turned on, but there is no switch to turn its light off. It is fastened to the case through a plastic frame, not using screws.

Figure 7: Case front panel with its plastic frame removed.

Figure 8: Frontal 120 mm fan.

[nextpage title=”Inside Uber Chakra”]

In Figure 9, you can see Uber Chakra rear panel. As you can see, there is space for seven expansion slots and a place for installing an extra 120 mm fan, which doesn’t come with the case. Another interesting thing to note on this picture is that the power supply is installed some inches away from the top of the case, so there is an empty space between the power supply and the top of the case, probably helping the internal airflow and heat dissipation.

Figure 9: Uber Chakra rear panel.

In Figure 10, you can see inside Uber Chakra case. As you can see, there is enough room for installing even the longest power supplies available on the market (like Enermax Galaxy 1,000 W).

Figure 10: Inside Uber Chakra.

As you already know, this case has five 5 ¼” bays, two 3 ½” bays and six internal 3 ½” bays. As you can see in Figure 11, these internal bays are 90º rotate compared to traditional cases, making it easier to install hard disk drives on this product.

Figure 11: Six internal 3 ½” bays.

In Figure 12, you can see the rear panel from inside the case.

Figure 12: Rear panel.

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

Uber Chakra case main specs include:

• Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one.
• Material: Zinc-coated steel.
• Power supply: Doesn’t come with the case.
• Available colors: Black with black, blue or silver details.
• Size: 21.73” x 8.50” x 21.65” (55.2 cm x 21.6 cm x 55 cm) (H x W x D).
• Weight: N/A
• Bays: Five 5 ¼” bays and two 3 ½” bay plus six 3 ½” internal bays.
• Expansion slots: Seven.
• Fans: One 250 mm fan on the side panel (with fan direction switch and light on/off switch) and one 120 mm fan at the front panel, both glowing blue when the system is turned on.
• Extra features: Dust filter on the front panel.
• More Information: https://www.enermaxusa.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 125.00.

* Researched on Shopping.com on the day we published this First Look article.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

This is a great case if your main concern is cooling. Featuring a giant 25 cm fan on its side panel, you definitely won’t have cooling problems with this case. We also liked the fact that there is a switch for reversing the airflow direction and another one to turn off the fan light.

People with lots of hard disk drives won’t have problems with this case either, as it features six internal hard disk drive bays. That is more than enough even for hard-core gamers with big RAID arrays.

It has an eSATA port on its top, which is great if you have a motherboard with an eSATA port and has an eSATA hard disk drive enclosure – then you will have the ability of carrying an external hard disk drive around keeping the same performance level of an internal HDD. We missed, however, a FireWire port on this case.

The only real problem we can see with this case is its price, too expensive for a steel case – entry-level all-aluminum cases are cheaper than Uber Chakra. But, of course, this is the only case we’ve seen to date featuring a huge 25 cm side fan, so the final buying decision should be made whether you really need this feature or not.