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23 January 2006 |
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XG Ninja 2 ATX Case |
Today, I will be reviewing the XG Ninja 2 Computer case. XG is
a division of the MGE Company which strives to make low and high end
gaming cases which are beyond the ordinary look. The XG Ninja case
is a gaming case that is intended to provide both excellent cooling
performance and functionality while providing a unique style and look.
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The Ninja 2 arrived in a large black box. The box shows a good
representation of what the case looks like with the front door open and
closed. With the use of simple mini thumbnail pictures of the
case, the box describes the features of the enclosure in a detailed way.
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This case is a mid size tower composed of four 5.25 inch bays and two
3.5 inch bays. The 5.25 inch bays are ideal for devices such as CD
and DVD drives. The 3.5 inch bays work well with floppy disk
drives and maybe a card reader. As a mid size tower, the case
looked a big longer on the side than I had expected. My previous
mid-size case was shorter on the side. The case has a black and silver
look. The black exterior of the case has a nice glossy look, but
what's nice about it is that smudges and fingerprints don't show up as
easily as you might think. At the lower side of the case, there are 2
USB ports, an audio port, a microphone port, and a firewire port.
These ports are extremely useful since you will not have to plug in your
devices at the back of the computer as often. I would have to say
that the USB ports are the most useful. With these ports on the
right side of the case, you have to be careful not to put the case near
a wall on the right side if you wish to use those ports. Also,
these ports need to be connected to your motherboard in order for them
to work.
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When looking at the front of the case, we begin to see the "ninja"
design of the case. The front of the case is a shiny silver with
the case being labeled at the top with the words "Ninja 2".
A single 5.2 inch bay is left in the open so a device such as a CD/DVD
drive can be accessed easily with having to constantly open the door.
Towards the bottom, there is a small logo in the form of a ninja
shuriken (ninja throwing star). Right below the logo are opposing
slits slanted downward with the lit power and reset buttons in between
one set of slits. The case generally looks good and would seem to
fit well both in a gaming or office setting with is a relatively
conservative look.
In fact, the front of the case looks a bit too conservative. While the "Ninja 2" text
is probably noticed first on the case, the text has a plain and dull
look that could be improved. When the case is powered on though,
the bottom half of the case lights up with the blue LED's. Even
with the LED's lighting up the slits at the front, larger slits would
probably emphasize more on the lighting of the case.
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The back of the case reveals an included 400 Watt power supply at the
top with the usual spaces for ports from the motherboard as well as PCI
devices. There is also an empty space for an extra exhaust fan,
which is not included with the case.
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There is access to the rest of the bays once you open the door from the
right to the left. As mentioned previously, this case has four
large bays and two smaller ones. At the bottom half, there is a clear
plastic covering the LED fan which is where the light shines through.
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Many gaming cases have some sort of window on the side of the case.
In this case, there is a shuriken gently outlined on the side, with a
black circular grille at the center. If you look close through the
grille, you will be able to get a hazy glimpse of the motherboard
inside, but that's it. This grille was intended to provide
additional airflow. By providing additional lighting by using a
cold cathode or something similar, you will be able to see through the
grille much easier.
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The side of the case is secured by two thumbscrews making it easy to
open up the case. With some sliding action, the side panel is
released. This case is intended to hold a micro ATX or full size ATX
motherboard. Even with a full sized ATX motherboard in place,
there was plenty of room to connect components together. The bays
are sturdy, yet simple, making installation of devices fairly easy.
The available slots for placing hard-drives makes the case very
flexible. You can easily place a hard drive at the very bottom of
the case near the intake fan, or it can fit toward the center front of
the case.
As a steel case, I was very impressed with the overall quality and
weight of the product. The use of the thin steel made it feel like
I was working with an aluminum case. Most of the critical edges
have a folded edge to prevent injuries and cuts to your hand.
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Installing the motherboard and components into the case was very simple
and similar to most other cases. I had to punch out the perforated
panel for the motherboard ports as well as the desired slots for your
PCI devices. Once you punch out a panel for a PCI slot, it cannot
be put back in. I punched out more than I expected to use,
therefore, resulting in an open slot. Some people may not like the
idea of not being able to replace the panels for your PCI devices.
Also, as mentioned before, if you wish to take advantage of the external
ports of the case, you will need to connect the internal wires from the
case to your motherboard.
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As a budget gaming case, I was very impressed with the quality of this
case. Even though this is a steel case, the case is very
comparable to the weight of an aluminum case. The large internal
bays in the case, allow flexible positioning of your 3.5 inch hard
drives. Also, with the included 400 Watt power supply, you won't
need to incur the additional hassle and expense of obtaining a power
supply when building your computer. In addition, the glossy paint
of the exterior gives the case a nice finish look that is quite friendly
toward smudges and fingerprints. In my opinion, the look of the
case may make it or break it for some. This case has a slightly
more conservative look compared with MGE's other cases. Other than
that, I would recommend this case to those looking to build their next
computer or are simply looking for another case for their computer. |
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Review by:
ronald@digitalreviews.net |
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