Cubitek HPTX ICE Review: How Far Aluminum Can Go
by Dustin Sklavos on May 11, 2012 1:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Full-Tower
- Cubitek
- HPTX
Conclusion: Very Niche, Needs Polish
Writing negative reviews is really only enjoyable when you block out the fact that people worked hard to engineer and create the product. They can be fun to read if the writer decides to go whole hog for the reader and try to make it as entertaining as possible, but that comes at the expense of the representative that contacted the writer in the first place, the company they represent, and honestly, the relationship with all involved.
Reviewing the Cubitek HPTX ICE is difficult because I just can't find a good reason to recommend it. At this price and with the aluminum build, Cubitek is trying to hang with Lian Li's top shelf hardware, but it's just not as solidly built. We reviewed Lian Li's PC-90 back in February; that enclosure was geared towards getting the HPTX form factor in as small a space as possible, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the case, the performance was certainly there. Expansion isn't as good as the HPTX ICE, but the PC-90 is also just a hair over half the price of the HPTX ICE.
All of this ignores the value proposition of cases like Antec's Eleven Hundred, a case that honestly probably shouldn't be competing with the HPTX ICE. But the comparison was made, and it performs better, and it's quieter, and it's lighter, and it costs a third of what the ICE does. HPTX cases are still fairly rarefied, but I'm not convinced Cubitek's entry is the right way to go even if you must have a case that supports that form factor.
Honestly I feel like a lot of this design needs to be revised. The mounting system for the side panels needs to be replaced entirely, and the chassis itself probably needs to be reinforced with steel to avoid the kind of bowing I ran into when trying to mount the video card. 5.25" drive bay mounting needs to be simplified, and more mounting holes for routing cables behind the motherboard tray would be appreciated. The packing materials desperately need to be improved, too.
Probably the biggest revision that needs to happen is the price. A $359 MSRP on an enclosure is a bitter pill to swallow under even the best of circumstances, but here it simply isn't justified, full stop. At half the price it would at least be competitive with Lian Li (not exactly the cheapest of case vendors). Unfortunately I feel like there are just so many changes that should be made here that it would be next to impossible not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
20 Comments
View All Comments
colonelclaw - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Referring to you photograph of the front of the case http://www.anandtech.com/Gallery/Album/1949#2If I had just spent $359 on anything in the world of computing, and it was put together as poorly as this I would be absolutely horrified. Not one single panel is flush with another and the shut lines are all over the place.
I'm probably overreacting, but to me this looks like a photo of a $50 piece of junk
cjs150 - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
At least based on your assembly picture:1. Looks like there is room for a thin 240 radiator at the top
2. Drop the drive cages, based on your review is not a loss!, and put a 200x200 radiator up front there is still plenty of space at bottom to resite the hard drives
But at $359 I would not bother, silverstone does it far better
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
You can't install a 240mm radiator in the top. The way the two 140mm fan grills are spaced, I think you'd wind up having to modify the case a little to get it into place.cjs150 - Monday, May 14, 2012 - link
A little modification is fine but truthfully I am struggling to think of any reason to buy this case.maybe the smaller versions are better
Flunk - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Lian-Li doesn't need steel reinforcement so it is possible to make a good all aluminum case. This just isn't it, and the price is almost 3x what an equivalent Lian-Li would cost.etamin - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
This is a big assumption to make, but the price and quality of this case makes it seem like the company went way over budget on development and manufacturing costs and is struggling to stay afloat by hoping for inexperienced builders to jump on high price tags.I've seen Cubiteks on SundialMicro for at least a year and the lack of build quality is visible in the stock images. The cases are literally Lian Li and Silverstone knock offs at higher prices. Believe me, I mean no disrespect to the engineers and designers, but this is just the general effect these products give. Cubitek is a pretty new company (started 2010?) and I think it started off too ambitious without a realistic plan.
stren - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
At this price you're almost into the territory of CaseLabs where you'll get some very well designed cases with some unique features and support for real enthusiast builds. When will anandtech look at them?HexiumVII - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Why are all the new cases putting the PS on bottom. You now need 30 inches just to reach the 12v four pin on the top of motherboards.SmCaudata - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
So, out of curiosity I searched for the miniITX version and came across this.http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1922/1/
Normally wouldn't link to an outside site, but it was just a fun idea. The small version is actually a decent looking case.
Stas - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
No, thanks. I'll take the Silverstone.