INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   One of the many things we should all love about the entire computer industry is that regardless of the already very large number of companies/manufacturers present in the market there's always room for the introduction of new ones (let’s not forget that competition is always good for consumers and usually results to better quality products at lower prices). Of course we mostly see new storage and cooling related manufacturers but from time to time there are some who dare enter the PC case market as their sole focus. One such company is Anidees a brand new PC Case manufacturer based in the Netherlands and although I did have the chance to test their quite impressive and high quality AI-06B (Black) midi tower in the past today on our photo bench we have their latest AI-06W (White) midi tower.

 

   The story of Brand name anidees was from English first "an idea" but we play it to plural and it turns to "an ideas" but since the most idea we collected for our product are from Europe thus we change idea to idee (German ,Dutch, France), with plural form it turns to "anidees". Anidees is actually a design company, focus on product design and provide value add items to customers. Our slogan is "Ideas from you". Our aim is to be a brand/Company that listens to users and makes "simple, elegant, with Quality" products to our customers.

 

   We really don’t see many manufacturers take their name from actual every day words and even less ones that originate from ancient Greek (although countless words do) so the two times I received an product manufactured by Anidees I got the strange feeling that they felt right at home. Regardless however of my opinion surrounding their brand name having already reviewed the AI-06B midi tower slightly over a year ago I knew right from the start the level of quality I should expect and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. My only concern is the color which may partially turn to yellow after a while (white tends to do that) but when you get a white device I think you know that’s a very large possibility. Finally the AI-06W just got released so as you will notice from the specifications sheet it’s not yet listed on their website but don't worry since it's already available on quite a few online stores inside the EU.

 

  

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On both sides of the box we see the anidees logo and the product line name.

 

 

The product specifications table is present on the right side.

 

 

A product description in several languages along with the exact model type, weight and serial number are placed on the left side of the box.

 

 

The unit arrives wrapped inside a plastic bag and between two Styrofoam spacers.

 

 

Inside the box you will find the user’s manual, two fan extension cables, mainboard speaker, rear wire holder, several cable ties and 6 bags with all the necessary installation screws and mainboard standoffs.

 

  

THE AI-06W EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like the AI-06B the AI-06W is an elegant PC Case lacking corners corners and with a center brushed aluminum stripe passing from the front fascia and up to the rear top end.

 

 

Although our version has standard side panels the AI-06W is also available in two other versions, one with a side window and one featuring a special noise-absorbing coating behind each panel.

 

 

The anidees brand name can only be found on the lower right of the right side panel.

 

 

The front fascia just like with the top features a think surface of brushed aluminum.

 

 

There are several intake holes around the brushed aluminum area as you can see from the above picture.

 

 

By default the front door opens from right to left but since there are holes on the opposite side you can change that.

 

 

Three easy removable 5.25" mesh drive bay covers are present at the front.

 

 

Behind this large mesh cover anidees has placed a single 140mm intake fan and has also placed room for a second one in case you need more airflow.

 

 

The I/O panel is placed at the top right above the front door and includes the power on/off button, reset button, power/HDD activity LEDs, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports and the usual headphones and microphone mini ports.

 

 

 

There are ventilation several holes at the left and right side of the top cover since anidees has placed room for either two 140mm/120mm exhaust fans or a 240mm radiator.

 

 

The rear of the tower is also white (as expected).

 

 

Starting from the top we see three water cooling grommets and an single 120mm exhaust fan.

 

 

Just like the black version the white has a total of 9 PCI expansion slots all perforated (8 horizontal and 1 vertical).

 

 

The PSU space is as always located at the bottom of the tower.

 

 

The entire unit features a tool-less design with the help of regular thumbscrews, unfortunately not rubber coated.

 

 

At the base of the AI-06W we see two large removable meshed covers that double as air filters.

 

 

  

THE AI-06W INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither of the two side panels comes with noise isolating material in the normal version (the Ai-06WS however does).

 

 

The interior is also white and looks quite a bit spacious, for a midi tower.

 

 

All of the 5.25" drive bays are secured via normal thumbscrews while one of them has a preinstalled 5.25" to 3.5" tray.

 

 

You can install up to seven 3.5”/2.5" drives inside the 3 separate drive cages. Two out of three drive cages (6 trays) are removable but in order to remove them you need to remove a total of 6 thumbscrews placed both at the front and rear.

 

 

Removing the two drive cages (leaving room for only two 3.5" drives) is only necessary for people who intent on using more than a single mGPU card over 280mm in length or a 240mm radiator where the cages used to be.

 

 

By removing the two drive trays you also gain access to the front 140mm fan and the empty fan space.

 

 

The aluminum 2.5/3.5" drive trays may not look much but they are very sturdy.

 

 

Aside the very large CPU cutout the mainboard tray comes with most standoffs preinstalled and has a total of 5 grommets for cable management.

 

 

Much like its predecessor the AI-06W has two built-in fan headers with a total of 8 fan spots.

 

 

Routing cables behind the mainboard tray shouldn’t be hard but there isn’t much space available.

 

 

There’s no protective grille in front of the rear 120mm exhaust fan so be extra cautious when placing cables around it.

 

 

All of the expansion slots are held in place with regular thumbscrews.

 

 

The PSU space features 4 small round rubber feet and a Velcro strap for increased stability. You can also mount two more 140/120mm fans but to do that you will once again need to remove the hard plastic used to mount the bottom drive cage.

 

 

There’s plenty of room at the top for a 240/280mm radiator or two 120/140mm fans.

 

 

  

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 AI-06W has room for up to full ATX sized mainboards (some EATX may fit as well).

 

 

You can use pretty much any CPU Cooler out there since the AI-06W has room up to 177mm in height.

 

 

Without removing the drive cages you can use any graphics card up to 280mm in length. If you do decide to remove the cages you will have a total of 428mm free.

 

 

There's also plenty of room for even the largest PSUs.

 

 

However if you decide to use a really long PSU you may have a small issue with the fan header (and you will also lose one of the cable management holes).

 

 

  

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Much like BitFenix and Fractal Design before them Anidees has also proven to us that you don’t need to count many years in the market and have massive experience in order to know what consumers want and manufacture a great product according to that. So just like the AI-06B the AI-06W offers very good quality levels coupled with plenty of features such as removable cages, room for top/bottom 280/240mm radiators, built-in fan headers for up to 8 fans and room for up to 8 2.5/3.5" drives. As usual however things are not perfect and so the front door/fascia may have a nice brushed aluminum piece on it but the rest of the plastic is not on par with the rest of the tower so I really hope Anidees improves that on later models.

 

   Unfortunately since anidees is a new brand and since they are based in the Netherlands it may take a while for their products to reach the USA but at least for now the AI-06W retails for just 115Euros inside the EU (Overclockers.co.uk). Availability issues aside the AI-06W is not really expensive not for a high quality PC case with plenty of features and a very good design. True the front door could be better and the thumbscrews should be rubber coated to make it easier for people to remove them but these are two very tiny issues. So if you live inside the EU and you are looking to buy an midi tower then do take a look at the AI-06W since it did manage to get our Golden Award.

 

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Room For 8 2.5/3.5" Drives
- Space For Top/Bottom Radiators.
- Removable Drive Cages
- Room For Up To 7 Fans
- 6 Top USB Ports (2 USB 3.0/ 4 USB 2.0)
- Built-In 8 Fan Header
- 9 PCI Expansion Slots
- Near Silent Running
- Price (For Some) 

 

 

CONS

- Availability
- Thumbscrews Are Hard To Remove By Hand
- Front Door Quality (Plastic Part)