INTRODUCTION

   Just like many of you my very first 80286/80386/80486(DX2) systems were all housed inside horizontal desktop cases (primarily made out of steel) which i also used to place my CRT screens on them to give them more height (most people i know did that since temperatures were not an issue back then) so that's the reason i could never understand why shortly after it was pretty much impossible to find anything but tower cases in the market. Now it goes without saying that in my line of work full towers and open air benches are the best two ways to go since these types make swapping hardware components a lot easier. However for people with space restrictions or people who just want to use a small PC case to blend beneath their TV set these are not really options and although desktop cases are not very easy to come by they are far from extinct (as a matter of fact there are more models available now than 10 years ago). Streacom is among the very few manufacturers of "premium" desktop cases and today we'll be checking out there latest FC10 Alpha model.

   Streacom was founded in 2010 by a small but experienced team that shared a common vision of producing uniquely designed and engineered computer cases. With our head office in Holland and manufacturing base in China, we entered the market by focusing on SFF and passive cooled products all made from premium grade aluminium. This combination of premium quality and compact design has established Streacom as a global player in the PC component market and earned us a reputation for making stylish well-crafted products. With a truly multinational team, we have the perfect balance of European design, Asian manufacturing and Global sales channels. This mix of influences also give us the ability to think outside of the box, pushing the design envelope, finding new and innovative solutions for our products and manufacturing processes, and importantly, allows us to fully understand and support the needs of our customers. Unlike many brands on the market, Streacom directly designs and manufactures all of its cases. Our production facilities don’t produce cases for anyone else which is one of the reasons Streacom cases are truly unique. From our design, engineering and fabrication process right through to end user support, our years of experience ensure a product and service that is unsurpassed.

   Much like the FC8 EVO which we reviewed many years ago the FC10 Alpha is yet another fanless chassis made out of premium grade aluminum (6063 - magnesium/silicon) and is the successor to their award winning FC10 model. It's compatible with mini-ITX, Micro-ATX and ATX sized mainboards and to achieve the fanless feature Streacom has placed 4mm thick aluminum fins on both sides of the chassis which cool 4 interior all-copper heatpipes through convection by natural airflow (this cooling system has a maximum TDP of 95W). The FC10 Alpha also features two USB 3.0 ports and has enough room for a single slim optical drive (available as extra from Streacom), single dual slot graphics card and a total of five 3.5" and four 2.5" drives (when used with an mITX/mATX mainboard). Just like with the FC8 EVO and the FC12C we expect excellent build quality from the FC10 Alpha so all that's left is for us to check its space and features.