INTRODUCTION

   Roughly 5 years ago if someone had asked about my opinion regarding the future of PCs I’d never have imagined that 5 years later everything would start to miniaturize for the sake of progress. It's true that up until this day that i type these lines high-end, enthusiast and enterprise-grade systems are not limited in size in any way but from the somewhat recent announcement by Intel stating that they too will focus all their resources in shrinking everything i don't think that time will take long to come and whether or not that "evolution" will turn out to be a good thing only time can tell. However people who wish to have a small PC that can fit even under their TV set need not wait for that time since mini-ITX and micro-ATX mainboards are already half the size of normal ATX ones (and even smaller compared to XL-ATX/EATX) without really lacking much in terms of performance. The only real issue so far has been the limited number of micro-ATX/mini-ITX cases available that can actually take full advantage of what high-end mainboard models have to offer but Cooltek with their latest Coolcube MAXI aims to change that.

   Cooltek offers you high-quality PC cases and accessories at an outstanding price-performance-ratio. Our products meet internationally recognized quality standards and are distinguished by their durability and exceptional value for money. Our main area of expertise are a broad variety of PC cases, ranging from small HTPC-formats- like the award winning Coolcube family - to full-fledged Midi-Tower chassis that offer outstanding features for small costs. Besides our line of PC cases, we offer you selected products from the areas of noise reduction, PC modding, cooling and high-end power supplies. By choosing Cooltek products you opt for innovative technology and leading designs.

   Although Cooltek is not amongst the well-known manufacturers of PC Cases their products have won numerous awards from EU based media and though i can't comment about all of them since obviously we haven't tested them i have to admit that the Coolcube MAXI offers many things that we don't see with the majority of similar micro-ATX/mini-ITX cases in the market. More specifically the Coolcube MAXI has room in its interior for up to three 3.5" drives (or 2x3.5" and 1x2.5"), a total of three 80mm fan mounting spots, space for a full sized PSU and finally a grant total of 4 PCI expansion slots which means you can use up to 2 graphics cards in SLI/CF (or even 4 if you can find single slot ones). How did Cooltek manage to squeeze all those things inside a somewhat tiny case? Well they actually did so by rotating the usual configuration by 90 degrees resulting in a weird but efficient result. Let's move forward with this review to see exactly what we're talking about.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Coolcube MAXI arrived inside a small white box with its features listed at the front in German right next to a drawing of it.

On both sides Cooltek has printed the specifications of the MAXI in three languages right above the color selection (we got the black version but there's also a silver one available).

A drawing of the Coolcube MAXI taken apart is present at the rear of the box and is used to showcase its features.

The Coolcube MAXI is placed between two Styrofoam spacers and inside a plastic bag to protect it during shipping.

Unfortunately much like the case itself the bundle is very "simple" and so aside the Coolcube MAXI itself you will also get 4 round rubber feet, 3 cable ties, user's manual and 2 plastic bags with all the necessary mounting screws.

THE COOLCUBE MAXI EXTERIOR

The Coolcube MAXI is made by brushed aluminum and measures 278mm in height, 238mm in width and 280mm in depth while weighing almost 2kg.

If you choose to mount the included rubber feet the height of the Coolcube MAXI will up to 294mm.

Simple yet quite elegant the only thing that the Coolcube MAXI has at the front is the company logo and the round blue LED power button.

The left side has a large perforated section allowing hot air to exit without the help of fans (the Coolcube comes without any fans preinstalled).

On the opposite side (which is also used as the mainboard tray) we see two USB 3.0 ports and the usual microphone and headphones 3.5mm ports.

Taking a look at the rear clears things a bit since you can easily see how Cooltek uses the right side as the mainboard tray.

All 4 PCI expansion slots are held in place with thumbscrews something which i find crucial especially with such a tiny case.

In order to gain access to the interior of the Coolcube MAXI you need to remove the left side panel which is held in place with 2 screws at the rear and two on the left side (unfortunately due to the design of the case they are all regular ones).

THE COOLCUBE MAXI INTERIOR

Once you remove the left side panel you will understand why the Coolcube MAXI has no fans preinstalled. You see in order to keep both weight and cost low Cooltek has used quite thin aluminum plates for the sides which may not be able to keep noise levels into a minimum (but then again most people i know that use such tiny cases hardly ever install more than 1 or 2 fans).

Right behind the left side panel we see the HDD cage which is perfectly aligned with the perforated section so they can get as much air as possible.

This cage gives you room for up to two 3.5" drives.

There's room however for a third 3.5" (or 2.5") drive at the bottom of the case if the above two are simply not enough.

After taking the cage out of the way we see that the interior of the Coolcube MAXI is quite spacious for its size.

In the above pictures we see the 3 available 80mm fan spots and a small opening right above the PCI expansion slots which can be used with a speed control switch (something that Cooltek may offer in the future).

The PSU area is right above the two 80mm fan spots so i'd probably have those two push air from the interior and the one in the bottom suck air in.

If you want you may also remove the top panel to make it easier for you to install the mainboard.

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

Once again this section is not to build a working system but just to showcase what you can all expect in terms of interior space from the case at hand.

Unfortunately since the mainboard we had requested is still not here we used our A330ION board by ASRock which as you can see can only make use of two slots (when equipped with a dual slot card).

With both the USB ports and power button chips in the way you need to be extremely careful about what graphics card you intent to use in the Coolcube MAXI (260mm in length max).

Although the Coolcube MAXI has plenty of room for a normal sized PSU we recommend using a fully modular one to reduce the amount of cables and thus increase airflow in the interior.

CONCLUSION

   As soon as you take the Coolcube MAXI out of its package you will know that its a simple PC case made by good quality brushed aluminum and no bells and whistles on it something which is reflected by its somewhat low price tag (as stated on the next paragraph). However that doesn't mean it lacks what other far more expensive micro-ATX/mini-ITX cases offer and so you have room for a total of three drives (2x3.5" and 1x2.5" or 3x3.5"), 3 fan mounting spots (3x80mm), full sized PSU area, space for CPU Coolers up to 120mm in height and finally 4 PCI expansion slots that allow you to use graphics cards in SLI/CF. The only issue we were able to spot was the somewhat thin aluminum plates used but to date I’ve only see a handful of m-ATX/m-ITX cases that use thicker ones and neither of those gives you up to 4 PCI expansion slots so in the end it all comes down to what your requirements are.

   If you take a quick look in the market you will see that most micro-ATX/mini-ITX compatible PC Cases with similar features to the Coolcube MAXI (size-wise) carry price tags that come close to USD100/100Euros and although some may have a better overall build quality almost none offers 4 PCI expansion slots and at least for us here this is a huge plus. So with an asking price of 69.99Euros inside the EU (PC-Cooling.de) the Coolcube MAXI by Cooltek offers perhaps the best price/features ratio we've seen with a Micro-ATX/Mini-ITX and because of that it gets our Golden Award with ease. After this we really hope that Cooltek will enter the Full/HTPC tower market soon with similar results (and also for them to make their products available widely).

PROS

- Brushed Aluminum Chassis
- Room For 3 Drives (3x3.5"/2x3.5", 1x.35")
- Space For CPU Coolers 120mm In Height
- Space For Graphics Cards Up To 260mm In Length
- 4 PCI Expansion Slots
- Full Sized PSU Area
- Three 80mm Fan Mounting Spots
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Overall Build Quality (Nice Looking Yet Thin Brushed Aluminum Plates)
- General Availability