CONCLUSION

   Streacom may not be one of the largest or most popular manufacturers of PC cases in the market today but through the years they’ve released some of the most high-quality desktop chassis money can buy and the FC10 Alpha is no exception to that. Ontop of that they have released several models with passive cooling and although these aren’t aimed towards (a CPU with a TDP of 65W is recommended for the FC10 Alpha) overclockers casual consumers and even enthusiasts will definitely enjoy the zero noise levels emanating from it. Unfortunately unlike some larger models the FC10 Alpha doesn’t have room for long graphics cards (and not more than just one for that matter) but still it’s a definite improvement over several others in the market that can’t be fitted with a dual slot solution and certainly don’t have enough room for as many drives. The same can be said about the power supply since the NANO (up to 160W) and ZF240 (up to 240W) models are your only choices but on one hand you will probably not need anything more powerful while on the other using an external PSU means you are getting a smaller chassis for your desk.

   Using top quality materials and adding extra features are two things that cost quite a bit especially a small manufacturer like Streacom so their desktop cases don’t come cheap (at least not as cheap as many people would like). That being said as we speak the FC10 Alpha fanless chassis (optical slot version) retails for USD325 inside the USA (QuietPC) and for 316.27Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) so yes it costs quite a bit and is definitely not ment for people on a tight budget (if you add the NANO PSU, HT4 Riser and PCI Riser the cost actually gets even higher). Still if you want the premium quality offered by the FC10 Alpha along with its passive CPU cooling and room for a full ATX mainboard and up to 9 drives this might be the right chassis for you. Personally although I’m not much into such cases the FC10 Alpha is one of the very few out in the market now that I’d actually use and that’s why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality (Aluminium 6063)
- mATX/mITX/ATX Compatible
- Drive Mounts (Up To 5x2.5" and 4x3.5" drives)
- Passive Cooling (0dBA)
- Slim Optical Drive Slot
- Dual PCI Slot
- Two USB 3.0 Ports
- Optional IR-Receiver

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Extras Required (NANO PSU/PCI Riser Cable/HT4 CPU Cooler Riser)