External Examination:

We'll start our inspection of the m998 by looking at the front bezel. While the bulk of the case is constructed of Aluminum, the front is plastic, and it seems a bit out of place. The Aluminum doesn't have a glossy finish, but it is smooth, and it actually looks darker than the fairly coarse, matte finish of the plastic. Even if they couldn't match materials, they could have probably matched colors a bit better.


As the above left image shows, there are four exposed 5.35" bays and two 3.5" bays. The lower portion of the bezel has vents to allow a 120mm cooling fan to draw air in. On the right of the 5.25" drive bays is the area where the power button, power LED, two LEDs for hard drives, and a reset button can be found. Just below this is a spring loaded door that conceals two USB ports, an eSATA connection, a Firewire port, a microphone jack, and a headphone jack.


Spinning the case around to inspect the backside reveals an extremely high shine. The motherboard tray on this case is removable, and according to the specifications it is made of stainless steel. While I am unsure that stainless was also used on the back plate, it appears the same. Along with the typical expansion slots and a honeycomb perforated opening for a 120mm exhaust, there are a total of 15 thumbscrews back here (two were already removed for this picture). Four hold the sides on, two hold the top of the case on, four more are provided to hold a power supply in place, and the remaining five keep the motherboard tray in place. Of all the cases I have reviewed, it is almost hard to believe that this is the first with a removable motherboard tray!


The far side of the case has a plain black panel, while the more commonly accessed side has a large acrylic window, as seen below. Plastic rivets are used to attach the the Aluminum frame to the window, which has two features of interest. There is a rectangular vent that will be positioned over the expansion slot area, allowing cool air to be drawn in for components like video cards. There is also an 80mm circular vent located about where a processor would be located. This vent has a duct to direct air down to a CPU cooling fan, if you happen to be using something like the stock AMD or Intel cooler. Heatpipe coolers, or anything else with the fan standing upright, will probably require the duct to be removed, which is a simple matter of sliding it off a small stub.