INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is once again live and although our current workload made it impossible for us to attend this year (distance is also a huge factor) we truly hope that any of you who are able to attend (especially the ones who live near Las Vegas) will do so in order to show your support for the industry and all the people working in it. Of course you can expect most manufacturers to introduce many new and innovative products during the show, some in final and others in beta form (you might want to check Occulus Rift), but regardless of the current state of the products unveiled in CES things should be quite exciting especially for professionals, enthusiasts and gamers. As for us well like i said our workload has been quite heavy even during the holidays and so today we are taking a thorough look at the latest Full Tower PC Case by Akasa, the Venom Toxic Black.

 

   Akasa design and manufacture a comprehensive range of high quality technology products including coolers, heatsinks and fans. We work closely with Intel and AMD to ensure our products match the complex demands of CPU and form-factor technology. So when new, advanced technology arrives, Akasa have the products and expertise to make it work for you. Akasa have extensive design and development capability in Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Our thermal engineers are equipped with sophisticated computer modelling software for measuring noise and case vibrations, airflow, static pressure and temperature control. We are specifically developing advanced expertise in energy saving and silent operation technology. New products are subject to rigorous testing before committing them to market. Akasa is 100% dedicated to serving customers with reliable products which provide certainty in use. We never compromise product quality. We use high grade materials sourced from dependable suppliers. All our products are manufactured under strict quality control standards managed from our Taiwan office.

 

   It's been a long time since we've seen anything from Akasa so when they launched the Venom Toxic line (regular and all black model) we just had to take a look and we are quite glad we did not only because it has plenty of interior space since it's a Full Tower (we don't see many of those lately) with good build quality but also because it offers high airflow levels right from the box thanks to its 3 preinstalled fans (2x230mm/1x140mm). However that's not all that makes the Venom Toxic Black special since Akasa has also made it possible for people to add up to 5 extra fans (5x120mm/2x230mm) to increase its already excellent airflow levels and mount an 240mm water cooling radiator at the top making it one of the most versatile PC Cases we've seen lately. Overall the Venom Toxic Black looks great and offers a good range of features so follow us as we showcase each and every single one of them.

 

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Venom Toxic Black arrived inside a black cardboard box with a drawing of the product at the front and rear, the Venom logo and its three main features.

 

 

A list with the features of the unit along with a specifications table is present on both sides.

 

 

Two thick Styrofoam spacers and a plastic bag are keeping the case secured from dust and potential damage during transport.

 

 

Aside the Venom Toxic Black PC Case you are also getting 6 cable ties, user’s manual, bag with all the installation screws and bits needed and an anti-slip rubber pad.

 

 

 

THE VENOM TOXIC BLACK EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Akasa has designed a good looking PC case that can appeal to pretty much every age group out there and much like every Full Tower out there it's quite large measuring 620mm in height, 555mm in depth and 232mm in width with a weight of 13.1kg.

 

 

Looking at the left side panel we see an X shaped meshed section and 3 smaller ones right above that.

 

 

In that X shaped section you have the ability to either install four 120mm fans, one 180mm fan or one 230mm fan.

 

 

The front fascia looks great although I’m not very fond of the hard plastic used.

 

 

There are six 5.25" bays at the front one of which comes ready for use with an 1.44" floppy drive.

 

 

A nice Venom logo is placed on the lower perforated section of the front fascia right above the Akasa logo.

 

 

The I/O is placed on the edge of the top and includes the on/off power button, two speed fan controllers, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, eSATA port, HDD activity LED and the usual headphones/microphone 3.5mm mini-jacks.

 

 

Right above that there's a medium sized storage area (this is where you place the anti-slip rubber pad).

 

 

One 230mm exhaust fan is placed right beneath the large meshed area found at the top of the case. Beneath the same area you can also mount an 240mm radiator (without removing the 230mm fan).

 

 

A large Venom logo is also printed on the right side panel but it's not that easy to spot.

 

 

The rear of the Venom Toxic Black comes with the same black color as the rest of the case.

 

 

There are 4 water cooling grommets and a 140mm exhaust fan (can be replaced with an 140mm/120mm one) at the rear top.

 

 

One thing that really impressed all of us was the 10 PCI expansion slots the Venom Toxic packs.

 

 

Once again the PSU spot is placed at the lower rear end much like most towers in the market today.

 

 

One of the few things we didn't like with the Venom Toxic was the use of normal thumbscrews (not rubber coated ones) which were not very easy to remove.

 

 

Four round feet, an air-filter right beneath the PSU space and a perforated space which you can use to install an extra 120/140mm fan.

 

 

 

THE VENOM TOXIC BLACK INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Venom Toxic Black has a very spacious interior which can fit even XL-ATX mainboards.

 

 

All six 5.25" optical drive bays come with tool-free locking mechanisms.

 

 

You can install up to six 3.5"/2.5" drives in the Venom Toxic Black and thanks to the forward 230mm intake fan they should all get sufficient cooling.

 

 

 

There are 9 cable managed holes on the mainboard tray of the Venom Toxic Black.

 

 

The rear 140mm exhaust fan is perhaps the noisiest of all the three pre-installed ones.

 

 

The locking mechanism used for all 10 PCI expansion slots is one of the sturdiest ones around.

 

 

At the bottom of the case we see 4 rubber feet for the PSU (the front ones are adjustable to accommodate both normal and long power supply units) and an 120/140mm fan spot with an air-filter.

 

 

People who enjoy routing cables behind the mainboard tray will be delighted to hear that the Venom Toxic Black has quite a bit of space between the tray and the right side panel.

 

 

Sometimes when i look at the top fan space from the interior i wonder why manufacturers don't use two top 200mm exhaust fans instead of a single 230mm one (even one 230mm fan however is more than sufficient).

 

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a fully working system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

The Venom Toxic Black dwarfs ATX mainboards and it almost looks like it can also accommodate HPTX ones (not just XL-ATX ones as advertised) but we can't verify that.

 

 

You can use any CPU Cooler your heart desires since the Venom Toxic Black has no restrictions.

 

 

There's also room for up to 330mm long graphics cards.

 

 

If you decide to use a long power supply such as the Huntkey X7 we used you will lose most of the bottom cable routing hole (which is also the largest one).

 

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller.

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Whenever any of us thinks about PC cases i have to admit that Akasa is not amongst the very first manufacturers that come in mind but the Venom Toxic Black is actually so good that to date it's perhaps the only Full Tower PC Case designed and manufactured by Akasa that I’d consider using to house one of my test benches. It looks good, has plenty of interior space (XL-ATX mainboards), comes with 3 preinstalled fans (2x230mm/1x140mm), has room for up to 5 extra fans for extreme airflow levels, features two speed fan control knobs, packs 10 PCI expansion slots, offers space for 330mm long graphics cards, has 4 water cooling grommets and finally comes with space for a top 240mm radiator so what more can one ask? The only thing I’d like to see would be a metal front fascia instead of a hard plastic one but taking into account its price range i doubt this would be possible and in the end it's really not much of a deal.

 

   As far as i can remember Akasa has always followed an aggressive price policy compared to many of the other leading manufacturers so we were very glad to see that they haven't change their ways and so the Venom Toxic Black Full Tower PC Case currently retails for around USD130 inside the USA and at 133Euros inside the EU (Overclockers.co.uk). True as with pretty much everything if you are willing to cross the USD200/200Euros price range you will find many PC Cases with more features and higher build quality than the Venom Toxic Black but that really means nothing. The fact is that the Venom Toxic Black is a good looking quality full tower that offers plenty of space, great airflow levels, many features and all that at a very good price tag which is also why it gets our Golden Award.

 

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (For Some)
- Spacious Interior (XL-ATX Mainboards)
- Airflow Levels (2x230mm/1x140mm)
- Space For Up To 5 Extra Fans
- Speed Fan Control Knobs
- Room For Up To 330mm Long Graphics Cards
- Top 240mm Radiator Space
- 10 PCI Expansion Slots
- Price (For Some) 

 

 

CONS

- Hard Plastic Used
- Current Availability In The USA