Happy 2012 everyone! Over the holidays, we have been receiving many products for review from multiple manufacturers.  Products starting from new towers, monitors, power supply units, video cards, motherboards, data storage products, and the list do not end here.  Today, I would like to introduce an old Taiwanese company Raidcom Technology, the company has been manufacturing computer towers since 1988.  In 2000, Raidmax was formed as another big brand in the globe, which gained popularity in other countries such as Europe, Germany, Asia, and now the USA.  As Raidmax grows, they have been adding new Power Supply Units and CPU Coolers to the product line.  Parent company Raidcom Technology develops multiple budgeted tower cases around, each uniquely designed for gaming specifications and style.

Raidmax provided a sample to UMLan for a first look and review of the Viper Mid ATX form factor chassis.  At first, I asked myself “What will I do with this case?” my only answer “Gaming!” since it has an aggressive and clean design for the chassis.  This is the perfect case for any beginning gamer because of design and very affordable price.  Most of us have a budget and realistically know how expensive it can be to utilize all the best products out there.  Since most people play BF3 and/or MW3, I have begun creating this computer for my future brother-in-law while he purchases other necessary parts to complete his rig.

About the Product

The following information was provided by Raidmax web site and used for general specifications.

Product Specs:

• MODEL NO. : ATX-321
• COLOR: Black / White / Red
• FRONT BEZEL MATERIAL: Plastic bay covers
• BODY MATERIAL: 0.6mm SECC
• SIDE PANEL: Octagon designed window
• EXTERNAL DRIVE BAYS: 4 X 5.25", 1 X 3.5"
• INTERNAL DRIVE BAYS: 4 X 3.5"
• SYSTEM BOARD: 10” X 12” MAX SIZE ATX FORM FACTOR / MICRO ATX
• EXPANSION SLOTS: STANDARD ATX 7 SLOTS
• I/O PORTS: 1 X USB2.0 + 1 X USB3.0  / 2 x AUDIO
• DIMENSIONS: 521(L) x 185(W) x 445(H)mm
• SYSTEM FAN: 1 x 120mm blue LED fan ( Front )
  • 1 x 120mm black frame with black leaves fan ( Rear )
• 1 x 120mm blue LED fan ( Side ) optional

Key Features:

• Optional side window mounted 120mm Blue LED Fan keeps your system cool and looks great
• Aggressive front panel design
• Water cooling support
• Slide out side panel handle
• Expansion slots mesh design helps ventilation well
• Bottom mounted PSU
• Bottom PSU Fan Filter
• Cable Management
• Tool-Free Installation
• Upgrade to Hi-Speed USB 3.0 *Correction needed: Superspeed*

Now that we got basic information out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the Raidmax Viper.

Closer look

Front Shot		Rear Shot

On the front of the package we see a nice graphic designed package with the actual chassis. The product model name Viper and the Raidmax web address for additional details about the company. Printed on the rear of the package, it contains a complete thorough introduction of the product. We see a empty chassis with a few orange bullet points to guide through the unique features.

Left		Right

On the left side of the package, we can see that the Viper is available in 3 colors and some basic specifications below with the UPC barcode. To the right side of the package, we will see the same specifications below tagged with certifications for inspection when it is being shipped to other countries before selling.

Top		Bottom

On the bottom of the package there is no special printing or graphics in plain white color. There is actual printing on the top though which has the Viper Product name, Company Logo, and Raidmax’s web address.

Opening from the top of the package		What's in the package!?

When we open the top of the package, you will see that the product is nicely cradled and protected by thick Styrofoam and cardboard bumpers, security was thought out thoroughly. Very nice! Pulling out the package was easy too, just flip over and slide the box out.

Opening Side Panels		Removed Left Side Panel

Accessories		Cables

Accessories		Cables

Cables

Opening the case we will find a small brown cardboard box with a Raidmax Users Instruction Manual. A small bag filled with screws and additional accessories. Four wire zip ties and three additional cable twist clamps to permanently hold the cables where they need to be instead of having multiple cables hanging around.

Opening the Front Panel		Front I/O Panel

The front panel I/O comes with 2 x USB 3.0 ports for Superspeed transfers within USB 3.0 data devices making sure it saves time when being productive. The panel also includes a 1.8mm microphone and headphone jack for you gamers.  On the sides of the I/O panel, we have a power and reset button in case your computer freezes or to quickly and safely turn off.

Top of the Product		Front of the Product

Rear		Rear of the Product

When we look from the front panel of the Viper, it shows a clean black and deep orange design with ventilated gills right below the mask for air intake. As we can see from this angle, the top does not have an exhaust which makes it more of a classic design. Opening the front mask, we have four 5.25” bays for your optical drives and one 3.5” bay for your card reader or other component wish to install. Looking at the rear, we can spot out one bright blue 120mm fan and seven blue mesh grills for component card needs.  The layout will be same for all chassis on the current market but we can spot three rubber grummets in case you decide to use liquid cooling components. I also spotted out a new addition, both left and right side of the chassis comes with an easy to pull handle to remove the panels but it blocks the slots and grummets.

Left Side of Product		Right Side of Product

As we look from the left side of the panel, it’s clean and simple with no fancy designs. On the right side panel, we can see an actual window built for a 120mm intake fan. Nice and clean design but no filters to stop the dust from entering.

Top Tool-less Cage Locks		Bottom Tool-less Cage Locks

Right Side Panel		Right Side Panel

Right Side Panel

As we can see, I am missing quite a few tool-less cage locks but it’s not a big issue since I can resort to pulling them from the other side, hopefully I can get Raidmax to resend these out to me for future use. When we look at the motherboard tray, we can see that it perfectly fits standard size ATX boards but anything larger than standard may result in a cabling space issues.

Bottom of the Product		Bottom of the Product

Company Logo

From the bottom view, we can see very stable elongated stands which won’t fall off like the circular screw on versions for other ATX towers. Towards the bottom rear, we can see a dust filter which is definitely needed when there is proper air flow.

Conclusion

Since I am still pending more parts to arrive and complete the installation, I can say, so far, so good.  I will be providing the following parts:

• MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA1155 SATA 6GB/s USB 3.0
• Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous
• Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 3.5” 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s
• Arctic Cooling’s Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler
• Processor - Pending
• Video Card – Pending
• Optical Drive - Pending

Installation		Complete View

After installation of the motherboard and power supply unit, it looks like I will have the perfect amount of space to complete the job.  What I like about the case is that it comes with a tool-less cage lock design for hard drives and optical drives instead of dealing with multiple screws and chance of stripping them.  Even though the layout is more traditional, it still comes with rubber grummets though it really doesn’t seem like I can do too much for cable management behind the motherboard tray.  If I had all the parts with me, I would be able to install the hardware and try to cable manage in about 20 minutes since it’s a Mid ATX tower.

My overall conclusion about the Raidmax Viper Mid ATX Tower is that it is a great entry level case and it is super light which you will not have to lug around also priced at $59.99. It has all the useful features and necessary upgrades from gaming and some productive I/O ports available. Maybe in the future Raidmax can make a version 2 with a 200mm exhaust fan to ensure proper cooling for gamers as well as actual spacing for real cable management behind the motherboard tray. To my knowledge, all or most mid ATX towers have no cable management space in back of the tray. UMLan would like to provide the following score of 8/10 for the following pro’s and con’s listed below.

Some pros we found:

Price
Design
Light weight
USB 3.0 in the Front I/O Panel
Tool-less design cage locks
Side Panel Fan

Some cons we found:

Needs larger exhaust fan for cooling and air flow
No room for cable management