Cubitek’s a new outfit to Atomican shores. Distributed locally by e-tailer M-wave, we’ve just started seeing some of the company’s kit, and so far it’s looking like a solid, if a touch unimaginative, entry into the PC case market. We’ll be slowly working our way through the entire Tank range, and this month we’re kicking off with the largest – the XL-Tank (detailed gallery here).
Built from solid and imposing black brushed aluminium, the Xl-Tank’s design is almost a statement in itself. There are no side-window panels or fancy moulding – this is case design cut from the Lian Li cloth. The only thing that breaks up the clean design of the top fascia is a drilled mesh exhaust, and the power and IO ports – of which there are the standard audio, an e-SATA and two USB3 ports that do the usual annoying pass-through trick. The power and reset buttons feel good and solid though, which is usually a sign of a solid build-quality throughout the case.
The rear panel is untreated metal, which is bit of shame, but the front fascia is quite interesting. It features more drilled mesh, and the usual facing plates for drive bays, but what we really like are the small hex-nuts securing it all together. Part of the kit of bits that comes with the case is an allen key, so that you can really tear the case apart. It’s nice touch for anyone who wants to get to grips with detailing modding of the case, or even anyone who just wants access to the entirety of the interior during installs and cabling.
The chassis itself is supported on four hi-fi-style rounded metal feet, adding a touch of almost wood-panelled class to the design.
The interior is as untreated as the backplate, but all very well finished. However, there’s one issue worth noting that’s not immediately apparent. We had to be sent two Tanks for review, because some parts, like filter material on the intakes (which is advertised on the product website), were missing from our case. This was chalked up to the case being a review sample, not a retail box. We were then sent a retail version, but... the same filter material was missing. It’s only a small oversight, but if filtering is important to you – and it is to us – it’s an annoying one.
Everything else is pretty much as you’d expect at the price point. There are a lot of cutouts for routing PSU and drive cabling through, another generous cutout on the mobo plate for dealing with heatsinks. The PSU sits up on two rubber coated rails, which will help dampen vibration, while similar service is performed by chunky little rubber grommets that fit onto your drives and then slide into an outward facing drive enclosure. The expansion slots use old fashioned thumb screws, which we always prefer if you’re going to be installing monster video cards. And speaking of which, the case boasts room enough for even the biggest, and support bracket to boot.
It’s a breezy little number, too. A nice big 23mm fan at the front sucks air in while two 140mm fans on the top and single 140mm fan at the rear suck it out. The front fan passes air over the HDD bays, too, so they should be kept nice and ventilated by the arrangement.
Apart from the whole ‘missing filter material’ issue, the XL-Tank’s a great choice for those looking for a case that’s more sturdy than fancy. It might be lacking in stylish touches, but not everyone wants that. If you’re in the more austere camp when it comes to case design, this is a good option for you, with excellent cooling out of the box.
