Enermax Chakra ATX

Examination:

Compared to the Cooler Master WaveMaster or ASUS Vento, there really is not much room for the Enermax Chakra to compete when it comes to appearance. However, it does make up for its appearance in other areas. With the Chakra at the front I/O ports are not only the traditional USB and audio, but Enermax has integrated a single eSATA port. External SATA (eSATA) has begun to grow in popularity with recent motherboards as well as external drive enclosures. The transfer speeds of eSATA are simply unparallel to its competition of USB 2.0 and Firewire. While this front eSATA access will not be immediately beneficial to all users, with times as more devices begin to integrate eSATA interfaces, the benefits will certainly rise. A small panel at the top of the front bezel conceals the front panel ports. Also in this area are the power switches and LEDs. The top two 5.25" external drive bays are concealed with flip-covers to provide a uniform look across the front of the chassis. These flaps are able to bend down for DVD or CD drive trays. The other external drive bays simply possess standard drive covers. At the bottom of the case in the front is a 120mm intake fan slot.

One of the other major features with the Enermax Chakra is its 250mm side fan. Attached to the side panel is this huge fan. The fan cover is black to match with the chassis, and there are no LEDs with this 25cm fan. At the top of the fan is a switch for reversing the fan direction. The rest of the sides are rather bare.

At the rear of the chassis are the standard openings for the I/O ports, power supply, and expansion slots. Also on the end of the case is an exhaust fan mount for 80/92/120mm fans. Opening up the Enermax Chakra, the drive bays are all tool-less, as with much of the case. Included with the tool-less options are the expansion slots. While nothing unique was delivered inside of the case, the case was laid out with no major problems and should boast an easy installation process.