INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   People on a tight budget may not pay much attention when looking for a PC case but gamers, enthusiasts, overclockers and professionals alike tend to spend countless hours online checking reviews and specifications sheets before they finalize their decision. Ever since the beginning of the 90's when i first started working with personal computers i have used and tested countless towers from entry level budget models and up to ultra-high end ones that cost almost as much as a complete system. However at the end of the day although all of those were designed by a very large list of manufacturers in the market i can't really say that I’ve had the pleasure of cooperating with every single one. Raidmax is amongst the oldest PC Case manufacturers around and although not a complete stranger to me this is the first time after many years that i have one of their latest midi towers called the Viper GX on the photo bench.

 

   Raidmax was founded in 1988 with the mission of providing the best solutions: specifically, meeting your requirements for innovative designs, excellent performance and quality products. In early 2003, Raidmax was the first to debut the design "Scorpio": an alien eye shape on its general front panel. At the time, it was the best ever hit in the gaming case business and almost every factory had owned at least one similar design back in China. Two years later, Raidmax released another cutting-edge design, Samurai, and people who had seen the case itself instantly fell in love. After numerous global feedback, Raidmax is known all over the world. It is said our company is not only a case designer but also the perfect budget keeper. You can simply spend a little but you receive higher quality than you expect. It has been more than 10 years since Raidmax began its work on its unique product lines and market position. The name of Raidmax is synonymous to gaming design and budget cases. In the United States, Raidmax is considered to be the best second tier brand; in Asia, it is said that only Raidmax can offer the budget cases with great designs; in Europe, with almost no brand management, Raidmax' followers are still showing their loyal support in many ways.

 

   Just by taking a quick look at the box of the Viper GX midi tower you know that it's target audience is gamers since it features a pretty weird sci-fi like design (reminds me of vehicle designs found in some PC games) which you will either like or hate, i don't think there's really a middle ground for that. That being said the Viper GX is one of the smallest midi towers I’ve ever come across but that didn't stop the people over at Raidmax from outfitting it with an external hot-swap 2.5" port, three 5.25" bays, seven 3.5" HDD trays (3 of which can also be used with 2.5" drives) and room for up to six 120mm fans for superior airflow levels. So we are basically talking about a great looking midi tower (especially if you happen to be a gamer) with a good number of features and what seems to be a spacious interior so let’s take a closer look and see if that's really the case.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Viper GX arrived inside a black box with a large product picture at the front.

 

 

On the left there's the specifications list right beneath another product picture.

 

 

Several pictures at the rear are used to showcase the various features of the tower.

 

 

The tower is placed inside a cloth cover and between two foam spacers.

 

 

A cardboard box placed inside the tower contains the user’s manual, 8 HDD brackets, 9 cable straps (small/medium/large sizes), mainboard speaker and plastic bag with everything you need to mount your hardware inside the case.

 

 

THE VIPER GX EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know if the Viper GX looks like a viper or a spacecraft, all i know is that it looks great. Both the top and rear of the tower are covered with glossy plastic.

 

 

Raidmax has placed a small clear window on the left side panel.

 

 

Quality-wise the glossy plastic used at the front of the Viper GX could be better but it looks very nice so not all is bad.

 

 

At the top of the fascia we see the 2.5" hot-swap drive port which is covered with a dust cover.

 

 

One slight problem aside quality is that the front door doesn't open all the way which is not very convenient especially if you're sitting on its left.

 

 

All three 5.25" bays feature easy-removable covers.

 

 

A single 120mm LED fan is placed at the bottom right behind lower end of the fascia (you can also use a 2nd one here).

 

 

The I/O is placed at the top and includes the on/off power switch, reset switch, HDD activity LED, power LED, two USB 3.0 ports and the typical headphones and microphone ports.

 

 

Room for two more 120mm fans or a 240mm radiator exists beneath the top cover as you can see from the above picture.

 

 

Another 120mm fan is placed at the rear along with two rubber grommets, 7 PCI expansion slot covers (plastic/removable), two handles attached to the side panels for easier removal and the PSU area.

 

 

Rubber coated thumbscrews keep the side panels secured in place.

 

 

At the bottom we see four round rubber feet, room for yet another 120mm fan and two removable air filters.

 

 

THE VIPER GX INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although quite small the interior of the Viper GX looks quite roomy although the green mainboard tray is what steals the show.

 

 

The 5.25" drive bays are locked with the help of special mechanisms.

 

 

Right beneath we see an empty space capable of holding up to four 3.5" drives and three 3.5/2.5" drive trays.

 

 

You can remove the steel plate that supports the four 3.5" by removing the two thumbscrews at the top and then just sliding towards the front.

 

 

The drive trays are not extremely sturdy but we had no problems with them during this review.

 

 

Although not rubber coated the 3 large holes on the mainboard tray and the very large hole beneath the CPU area should make installation of components easier.

 

 

Unlike the front 120mm LED fan the rear is plain.

 

 

For all 7 PCI expansion slots you will have to use regular screws to secure your cards in place.

 

 

At the PSU area we see four rubber feet and the 120mm spot right next to them.

 

 

From the interior we see that there's plenty of room at the top for a 240mm radiator.

 

 

Plenty of space is also available beneath the mainboard tray especially after taking into account the side panel design.

 

 

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 purely in terms of interior space.

Although certainly not as large as some other midi towers the Viper GX does have a good amount of interior space.

 

 

Plenty of room inside the tower for even the tallest CPU Coolers (up to 165mm).

 

 

By default the Viper GX has room for graphics cards up to around 320mm in length, however if you remove the side of the drive cage you will have space for cards up to 415mm in length.

 

 

You can use even the longest PSU available only if you choose not to mount a 120mm fan at the bottom.

 

 

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 (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The Viper GX midi tower by Raidmax ended up being a very unique PC Case and I’m not really referring just to its design. Sure it looks great and if you're a gamer and you like such designs you will probably like it a lot but the front and top areas don't seem very sturdy while the front door doesn't open all the way towards the left. Of course the pros are much more than the cons so we can't deny that the 2.5" top hot-swap bay is without doubt a very convenient feature whereas the interior has plenty of space especially for people who plan on using long graphics cards and want to route cables behind the mainboard tray. By default airflow levels are not really very good since the two pre-installed 120mm fans are not very fast (on the other hand that's why they are silent) but you can add up to 4 more to make things a lot better not to mention that there's room for a 240mm radiator at the top.

 

   As mentioned in the beginning of this review mainstream and casual users are the two main focus groups of Raidmax and so naturally their products are both developed and priced with that in mind thus currently the Viper GX Midi Tower costs USD79.99 inside the USA (Newegg) and 64.99Euros inside the EU (PC-Cooling.de). Overall the Viper GX may not be the perfect midi tower and the build quality of the exterior is not on par with the rest of the product but it has a good number of features, the noise levels coming from the two pre-installed fans are very low and it's priced just right which is why we are giving it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Overall Quality
- Design (For Some)
- Spacious Interior
- 2.5" External Hot-Swap Bay
- Removable HDD Rack
- Up To 6x120mm Fans
- 240mm Radiator Space
- Noise Levels
- Price (For Some)

 

CONS

- Front And Top Plastic Quality
- Door Doesn't Fully Open