A-Top Technology Gladiator 2005

Written by Michael Larabel in Enclosures on 5 April 2005 at 01:00 PM EDT. Page 3 of 3. Add A Comment.

Performance:

After we rounded up some of our test components, we began installing them in this chassis. We had installed the following components.

Hardware Components
Processor: AMD Athlon XP Barton 2500+ @ 2.2GHz
Motherboard: Abit NF7-S Revision 2
Memory: 512MB Ultra PC3200
Graphics Card: NVIDIA 5900XT
Hard Drives: Western Digital 80GB IDE
Optical Drives: Lite-On 52x24x52
Power Supply: Enermax Noisetaker EG425P
Software Components
Operating System: FedoraCore3
Linux Kernel: 2.6.10-1.770


The entire installation process of our components was very easy and straightforward. Although the case didn't use as many tool-less features, as we all would like, the installation process still went smooth. During the installation, we found no sharp edges or obstructions to speak of. Below are some pictures of the included A-Top XBlade PSU.



Conclusion:

Our feelings regarding the A-Top Technology Gladiator were rather mixed. The appearance was rather nice although quite similar to other cases we've reviewed in the past, excluding the brushed aluminum front panel. The only tool-less feature with the Gladiator was really just the internal 3.5" drive bay that is a bit unfortunate but nevertheless the installation process remained effortless. The blue LED background lighting towards the front of the case was also very nice touch. At about $90 USD this case is a bit on the expensive side, but an XBlade PSU is included and the build quality is reasonable.



Pros:

· Attractive
· Included PSU
· Easy installation
· Brushed Aluminum Front Panel (w/ Blue LEDs)
· Tool-less internal 3.5" drive bays
· 3 Fan mounts

Cons:

· Somewhat expensive
· Could use more tool-less features

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Michael Larabel

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.