INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   If you happen to enjoy using full tower PC cases as much as i do you may feel a bit left out lately cause let's face it, most manufacturers focus in the design and manufacture of smaller mid-towers which are far more popular in the market today (primarily because of their size and price). This of course is based on all the press releases that we get from time to time so because i don't happen to have exact numbers in my hands (and also we don't cooperate with every case manufacturer out there) purely out of curiosity i went and checked the page of one of the largest e-tailers in the EU to see just how many full and mid-towers they offer. Well to be honest with all of you i can't say i was surprised to see that listed in their pages currently are roughly 100 full and over 600 mid-towers not to mention over 300 mini ITX cases. Luckily even 100 out of 900 is really not a bad number and with available models like the latest XPredator II by AeroCool we can't really complain.

   AeroCool Advanced Technologies (AAT) was founded in 2001. At the earlier stage of operation we were committed to share our technical expertise and innovative design in providing total-solution for thermal management in industrial and personal computers. Aerocool is one of the market leaders in the "Gaming Market". Our strong brand and product image are well received by gamers and enthusiasts world-wide. We offer a full line of performance products including gaming cases, gaming PSUs, gaming mouse, gaming headsets, gaming keyboard, gaming headsets, Multi-functional panels and fans. Aerocool will continue to innovate and deliver the best user experience to gamers world-wide.

   At first glance the XPredator II seems to have pretty much everything gamers and casual consumers will ever look for in a full tower including room for up to XL-ATX sized mainboards (E-ATX/ATX/Micro-ATX/Mini-ITX are also supported), 10 expansion cards (5 dual slot ones), two 5.25" optical drives, eight 3.5/2.5" disk drives and up to six 120/140mm fans or two 120/240/280mm radiators (120mm rear and 240/280mm top). You can also fit CPU coolers up to 170mm in height, graphics cards up to 342mm long (465mm without the drive cage installed) and power supply units up to 220mm in length (roughly 330mm if you decided not to install a bottom fan). The XPredator II also features top vents which you can open and close at the push of a switch, external 3.5/2.5" dock, air-filters, removable drive cage and a grand total of five 140mm pre-installed fans at its front, top and rear. Time to take a closer look at the AeroCool XPredator II and see if it’s a valid choice for people out looking to get a new full tower.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The XPredator II gets shipped inside a plain cardboard box that has a product drawing at the front along with the main product features and case color.

 

 

A few words about the tower are placed on the left side in 12 languages.

 

 

The specifications table is placed on the right side of the box.

 

 

The case is placed inside a cloth cover and between two thick pieces of foam dressed with cardboard.

 

 

Inside a box placed underneath the bottom drive cage you will find 6 cable ties, plastic bag with all the necessary screws, spacers and washers needed to build a system and the installation guide.

 

 

THE XPREDATOR II EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The aggressively designed XPredator II measures 595mm in height, 232mm in width and 559mm in depth.

 

 

More than half of the left side panel is taken by a clear acrylic window (why AeroCool didn't use a larger one that i don't know).

 

 

The fascia has several mesh panels and three 5.25" optical bays that feature quick-release clips.

 

 

Behind the fascia AeroCool has placed an air-filter (the 5.25" bay covers also feature filters).

 

 

Unlike most towers the two 140mm LED fans placed at the front are secured on a removable filter and not on the chassis.

 

 

Although not listed in the specifications you should be able to mount an 240mm radiator at the front (we will check that later on).

 

 

At the top we see a 3.5/2.5" drive dock, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, power and reset buttons, power and HDD activity LEDs and two low/high speed fan controllers.

 

 

The top is almost entirely taken by 10 vents which you can raise with the help of a switch to allow the exhaust fans inside to push hot air out of the tower.

 

 

Moving at the rear we find 4 rubber grommets at the top, a 140mm exhaust fan, 10 PCI expansion slots and the PSU area.

 

 

A removable air-filter is placed right beneath the PSU area (unfortunately it only gets removed from the rear and doesn't also cover the bottom fan area).

 

 

THE XPREDATOR II INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The XPredator II by AeroCool may not be the largest full tower to reach our lab (to date at least) but it does have a good amount of interior space.

 

 

All four 5.25" optical bays feature thick tool-less lock mechanisms.

 

 

Right beneath them we see two drive cages.

 

 

These cages include tool-less 8 trays ment for both 3.5/2.5" drives.

 

 

The top drive cage can be released by removing the two thumbscrews placed at the top and bottom.

 

 

Unfortunately if you decide for whatever reason to remove the bottom drive cage as well you will also need to remove 4 screws from the front and 4 screws from the base of the chassis.

 

 

Removing both cages leaves you without any room for 3.5/2.5" drives (modders shouldn't have a problem with this) but it gives you enough room to mount a thick 240mm radiator at the front.

 

 

The mainboard tray has a total of 9 holes dressed with rubber for cable management purposes.

 

 

All 10 PCI expansion slots use thumbscrews.

 

 

At the base we find two adjustable feet at the PSU area and another 120/140mm fan mount.

 

 

There's plenty of room behind the mainboard tray to route cables.

 

 

This is an interior view of the top where you can either mount two 120/140mm fans or an 240/280mm radiator (the radiator should use the top unused holes to avoid any clearance issues with mainboard components).

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Since here we have an XL-ATX compatible tower our regular ATX mainboard seems way too small.

 

 

With space for up to 170mm tall CPU coolers you shouldn't have a problem mounting even the largest ones in the market today.

 

 

Do take into consideration that although there's not much space between the mainboard and the top fans if you decide to mount a top radiator you should use the far left mounts as seen in the previous page to avoid any clearance issues.

 

 

Even the 342mm AeroCool gives without removing the center drive cage should be more than enough to install your graphics card(s).

 

 

Much like with most cases in the market using a very long PSU will take the fan area at the bottom of the case (and perhaps even two cable management openings) so a standard sized PSU is recommended.

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Although the XPredator II by AeroCool proved to be a very spacious full tower with a good amount of features and very solid build quality in a market overflowing with PC case manufacturers it’s far from perfect. Take the available radiator mounts for instance. AeroCool practically has just one such mount available at the top for 240/280mm radiators and although a few years ago that would probably be ok today it’s really inconceivable for any full tower to not support at least up to 360mm long radiators at both the top and front. Luckily the XPredator II comes outfitted with five 140mm fans at the front, top and rear (we almost never see more than 3) and has enough room for up to XL-ATX sized mainboards, eight 3.5/2.5” drives, 170mm tall CPU coolers, 342mm long graphics cards and 220mm long PSUs. Just like with the XPredator X3 which we reviewed a while back we liked the top vents since you can close them while the case is not in use thus effectively blocking out dust from the top. Also the two fan controllers that come in the form of switches are not as practical as knobs (the X3 had those) but I guess it’s still better than having no speed-controllers at all.

   Because of their size (and thus larger amount of materials used) full towers usually cost more than their equivalent mid-tower cousins but with a current price tag of 122Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the XPredator II is not really what we’d call expensive (not even close really). Unfortunately AeroCool cases are currently not available in the USA so potential buyers will just have to wait until they resolve that. With that out of the way the XPredator II full tower is ideal for people who have no plans of mounting a larger radiator than the 280mm one supported at the top and although that may be a deal breaker for some people it still features a very good build quality and has enough interior space with a good number of features for us to give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Design
- Spacious Interior (170mm Tall CPU Coolers / 365mm Long GPUs / 220mm PSUs)
- Removable Drive Cage
- 10 PCI Expansion Slots
- 3.5/2.5" Dock Station
- 5 Pre-Installed Fans
- Two Fan Controllers 
- Eight 3.5/2.5" Drive Trays
- Adjustable Flaps

 

CONS

- Single 280mm Radiator Mount