AOpen QF45A Case

[piasabird]

I recently purchased this AOpen brand Case, Model QF45A, from New Egg . I found that is a very nice small computer case. It comes with a 250 or 300 watt A-Open power supply. Mine had a 300w power supply.

See the AOpen Web Site:

AOpen QF45A

Power Supply: 300w (Very Quiet) (AMD/P4 Ready)

5.5 Drive Bays: 3

3.5 Drives 2 External and 1 Internal (Removable)

2 Front USB ports and Sound jacks

2 60mm Exhaust fans (Optional)

7 slots for PCI/AGP cards.

Price $39.99 plus $10.00 for shipping at New Egg Online Store.

The case had a good finish with no burred edges. The metal was coated. The clips on the PCI Slots clipped in with No screws, but they were thick not the cheap aluminum kind. They could also be screwed down.

When you install the drives the method was with Screws, with no slide mounts. When installed all my drives were positioned perfectly flush with the front face of the Case.

The front face of the case is removable, but there is no need to remove it. I took it off just to see if it could be done. It is not as easy as it could be to remove. I saw no reason it had to be removed.

The side panels are fastened with screws on the rear of the case. After removing the screws the side panels can be slid off without removing the front face. This means you can remove both the front and back side without removing the front of the case.

The motherboard mounting plate does not remove. To install a full size Motherboard the 3.5 drive bay must be removed if it has a hard drive in it already. The case is so small that to mount a full size ATX motherboard of size 12.00 inch X 9.60 inch it is a tight fit. I had no problem mounting an Asus A7V266-E motherboard. Recommend you mount the CPU, Cooler, and Memory before you mount the motherboad. Using a motherboard with sideways IDE slots may not be a good idea.

The mounting plate has the holes for mounting a P4 or AMD cooler with bolts that go through the motherboard and mount to the mounting plate. The different holes are marked. The mounting plate has some brass standoffs, of the screw on variety and a bag of screws and bits for use with the case. There are mounting holes for Baby AT, Micro ATX, Flex ATX, and ATX motherboards. I put a Mini-ITX board in the case and it fit fine also. It is a bit large for Mini-ITX, but I did use it for that for a while.

The case comes with 2 cables for the front plate to add 2 USB ports to the front and the 3 standard Audio jacks. The cables also have individual pins that fit on one prong at a time for the USB and Sound headers on a motherboard. I hooked up the USB ports and they work fine. I did not hook up the audio ports yet. The standard Power Supply plug is provided.

Conlusion:
This is a great case. It is lightweight, but it is not flimsy. The metal parts are free of burrs and are coated or painted gray. I feel this case is an excellent value for the price. The acutal side panels are thinner but the frame is very sturdy.

The front is rounded which makes it appear to be larger. At first I did not know if I would like the look of the rounded front face. However, the off-white and blue color is appealing. After I took it out of the box it seemed to look great. The plastic front has a smooth finish that wipes off easily.

After purchasing this item I would consider purchasing this case again or another AOpen Case.