[section_title title=Closer Look & Packaging]
Closer Look & Packaging
Taking a closer look at a case is always the best part of the review, getting to see the case and having all those ideas flow, does it live up to the expectations of the product page. We try to make these sections quite thorough to give you an idea of building in the case, and possibly what you can do with the Xigmatek Octans.
Firstly I wanted to point out how interesting the design is, with its rugged, almost “industrial” looks. Its not something that’s totally over the top like a Coolermaster HAF, but it does have this almost gritty, yet clean feel to it. Its sleek and fashioned like a stealth fighter. I was half expecting the case to fly away whilst testing it, however I mostly like the way it looks given the price range comparing it against my inhouse benchmark case at a similar price range the SG13 looks good, but the Xigmatek Octans is on another level when it comes to aesthetics.
On either side of the case, there is a meshed grill which helps air to flow through without using multiple case fans. This quite common in shuttle case designs, when we want more airflow without compromising on space to install additional fans.
It’s worth noting you get dust filters on the top and bottom which is a nice touch, although they’ve forgotten about the side panels which would have gained a few more points in my books. Although when compared to the SG13 which uses a similar design the dust build up isn’t that bad.
I also loved the design of the front IO panel, the buttons felt well made and I couldn’t see this suffering any problems throughout the lifecycle of the case. Although for shuttle cases I think that a front mounted IO is better due to them most likely ending up on a desk. Moving on I found the general disassembly of the case easy, simply popping off a few screws at the back of the case to completely remove all the panels!
You’ll note that the Xigmatek Octans uses a PSU orientation slightly different to what most people consider normal, with the PSU mounted at the front. I’ve got to give them some SFF points, for using the space at the front of the case behind the sloped front panel to essentially cut down on the length of the PSU stored inside the actual case, but we’ll see how well it works when it comes to building the Xigmatek Octans.
One feature I really liked about the Xigmatek during the tear down was the simplicity to remove all of the panels and get straight to the build. It also means you won’t accidently scratch the case whilst moving it onto different angles to get into those tight to reach spots during the builld.
Generally speaking for the price its a good looking case, with some great features already. You get a mix of screws and feet that you have to stick on the case yourself, so its a very budget “here is a bag of screws” build. Much like the SG13 I recently reviewed with everything bundled together, which I personally don’t mind. But enough talking about what you get in the box, let’s jump into building the Xigmatek Octans as I’m sure you are all eager to see what it looks like.
