INTRODUCTION

   The arrival of tempered glass and RGB lighting a few years back may have changed the landscape in regards to PC cases/towers but today the vast majority of models tend to look a lot like each other. On top of that if you've been around computers for over 3 decades like i have it's very difficult to get impressed by something new and yes, that also includes PC cases. As a matter of fact, i can't remember when the last time was that i was genuinely impressed by a PC case (that was probably The Tower 900 by Thermaltake well over 3 years ago). Still this year alone I’ve had not one but three PC cases arrive in the lab that really stood out compared to everything else in the market currently and the very first of those is no other than the brand new ELITE SHARK CA700 by Sharkoon.

   Since 2003, Sharkoon has been developing “Designed in Germany” gaming products, which are popular in the worldwide gaming community due to an exceptional combination of high-performance and affordability. Stylish PC cases, precision keyboards or mice and comfortable gaming chairs – all these represent an elegant blend of high-quality design and modern technology. Numerous awards from the international trade press underscore the performance and quality of the Sharkoon brand.

   The ELITE SHARK CA700 is basically an open air/frame type mid-tower which at least in my eyes looks a lot like a racing bike. To date I’ve seen some PC cases in the market following similar designs but Sharkoon did a better job than most (the case can even be tilted from its base), minus the color at least (since at the time of my review the CA700 is only available in a white and black color combination). It comes ready with five 120mm SHARK Blades ARGB fans (up to 8 fans and/or two 240/360 radiators are supported) complete with their very own ARGB hub (8 fan ports with 20 available effects - compatible with all the leading motherboard sync technologies like ASUS Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light, GIGABYTE Fusion and ASRock Polychrome) and it's got enough room for ATX sized motherboards, 6 drives (2x3.5" or 6x2.5"), 475mm long graphics cards (dual and triple slot vertical mounting brackets with PCIe riser cable are included), 165mm tall CPU coolers and 195mm long power supplies. So let’s get close and personal with this quite unique PC case.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The ELITE SHARK CA700 is packed in a very large box that has the product name and company logo at the front and rear.

On the right side we find a product picture right between the company logo and the product name and its serial number and barcode.

A second box is placed inside for extra protection during transport.

Several pieces of black foam are placed around the various pieces.

The top and front white covers are placed in a black piece of foam located inside the case.

So, inside the box you'll find the CA700 frame, 2 white covers, left side panel, right side tempered glass panel, 2 PCI expansion frames, 2 GPU mounting brackets (dual/triple slot cards), PCIe riser cable, 2 fan y-splitters, 6 cable straps, Allen key, 3 bags of screws, congratulations paper and the user manual.

THE ELITE SHARK CA700 EXTERIOR

Even though the CA700 is a mid-tower due to its large frame it weighs just over 17Kg and measures no less than 670mm in height, 632mm in length and 250mm in width.

The entire right side is covered by a tempered glass side panel (not mounted by default).

On the lower front you can also see the tilt screw with the 4 available spots.

Two of the five 120mm SHARK ARGB fans are located at the front (since the CA700 is an open air/frame model it obviously comes with no air-filters).

At the front top we find the I/O which includes the on/off, rest and ARGB mode buttons, two USB 3.2 type-A ports, USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-C port and the usual headphone and microphone jacks.

Three more 120mm SHARK ARGB fans are located at the top of the CA700.

THE ELITE SHARK CA700 INTERIOR

The PSU area inside the CA700 has two long rubber feet and can accommodate units up to 195mm in length.

At the front bottom we find a bracket which can accommodate either an 2.5" drive or a water cooling pump/reservoir combo.

I was glad to see that Sharkoon has placed 4 large rubber grommets on the motherboard tray.

At the front of the motherboard tray, we find an area where you can either mount a 240/360mm radiator, three 120mm fans, three 2.5" drives or another water cooling pump/reservoir combo (for the radiator and the fans you will need to remove this removable drive tray).

Turning the case around we see the same mounting area (you can mount drives at the rear if you don't want them to be seen), 8-port ARGB fan hub and another removable drive tray on which you can mount two 3.5" or 2.5" drives.

Attaching the top and front white covers is very easy since Sharkoon has basically used thumbscrews.

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

Since i will be needing a high-end gaming rig soon (for some of my projects) i decided to make a real system this time over by mounting the Z590 DARK motherboard by EVGA (together with an Intel Core I9-11900k), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080Ti OC Lab Edition graphics card by HOF, Elite Aurum 360 D-RGB AIO liquid cooler by EK Water Blocks, Dark Power Pro 1200 power supply unit by be quiet!, Sound Blaster AE-9 Hi-Res sound card by Creative, Rocket 4 Plus M.2 NVMe SSD by Sabrent, PREDATOR Apollo 32GB 4GHz DDR4 RAM kit by Acer and the MX500 4TB SATA III SSD by Crucial inside the ELITE SHARK CA700 by Sharkoon.

Obviously i started my build by mounting the PCI expansion slots mount and the vertical GPU mount.

The EVGA Z590 DARK is more like an E-ATX motherboard which means that the rubber grommets are almost useless (Sharkoon should had made this case 4-5cm longer).

Then i mounted the EK Water Blocks Elite Aurum 360 D-RGB which as you can all see even with 6 fans in push and pull leaves just enough space for the motherboard and the RAM modules (you can put a radiator up to 70mm in thickness up there).

Mounting the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 1200 and the HOF GeForce RTX 3080Ti was next and as you can see there's also plenty of room left afterwards.

Unfortunately, by using the vertical GPU brackets you can't use any other tall cards other than the GPU itself so since i also needed to install the Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 i had to use the classic spot instead (a short video of the complete system should already be up in both YouTube and TikTok).

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 on top 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 (if the case doesn't have one, i use my very own).

CONCLUSION

   When Sharkoon first showed me their ELITE SHARK CA700 late last year I was very impressed with what they had done. Sure, the design was not exactly unique (there had been some similarly designed cases in the market already) but build quality was obviously very good, space was even better and the tilt function was not used by the competition. Unfortunately, white is not exactly my color (not to mention my photo bench is also white) and so since Sharkoon said they may introduce more colors later on I decided to wait a bit. Well, I obviously wasn’t able to wait for longer and so since the case is not entirely white, I went ahead and asked for a sample. With that out of the way even though the ELITE SHARK CA700 is a very good open air/frame case it’s also clear that Sharkoon should had made it compatible with E-ATX motherboards, if anything just so end users can use its rubber grommets. This didn’t end up being a huge deal for my build but for people who may want an even cleaner interior those rubber grommets may prove very useful. It’s also clear that just like every other open air/frame case in the market the interior of the CA700 needs to be cleaned a lot more often compared to regular cases. On the other hand, the ability to mount 240/360mm radiators at the top and the right side is a nice touch (especially since the top radiator can be up to 70mm in thickness and the right one up to 90mm) but I’d also like to see compatibility with 280/420mm radiators (that’s clearly nitpicking on my part but still it would be nice to have the extra room).

   So, how much are you required to spend to get your hands on an ELITE SHARK CA700? Well, currently Sharkoon has It for sale inside the EU for 277Euros (Amazon.de) a price tag which is not bad, not for one such case that is (was unable to find it on the other side of the Atlantic). Certainly, even at that it’s not exactly affordable but it’s priced well compared to its competition and that’s what matters in the end. All said and done I don’t have any serious complaints about the ELITE SHARK CA700, sure it would be nice to have slightly more room inside and more colors would be welcome but overall, it’s a very good case well worth the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Sturdy Construction)
- Futuristic Design
- 5 SHARK 120mm ARGB Fans
- Open Air/Frame (Airflow Levels)
- Tiltable Base
- 8 ARGB Fan Hub (20 Effects)
- Room For 8 Fans Or Two 240/360mm Radiators (70mm/90mm)
- Compatible With Up To 475mm Long Graphics Cards
- Horizontal & Vertical GPU Placement
- Dual & Triple Vertical GPU Mounts Bundle (PCIe Riser Cable Included)
- Two Pump/Reservoir Mounts

CONS

- Only Available in White & Black Color Combination
- ATX Case (E-ATX Motherboards Cover The Rubber Grommets)
- Open Air/Frame Case (Interior Dust)
- Overall Availability