INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   If you've been around PCs for almost as long as i have (or even longer) then you should know that even up until the end of the 90's the only two materials manufacturers used to make cases/towers was steel and plastic. Since weight was an obvious issue that all changed in 2000 thanks to the appearance of a few rather new manufacturers that took a serious gamble by introducing towers in the market made by aluminum, steel and plastic. It wasn't however until 2002-2003 and largely thanks to the input of countless gamers and modders all over the world that the very first cases/towers that featured side panels with large clear acrylic windows made their debut in the market. Well the next obvious step was for manufacturers to use entire pieces of tempered glass as side panels and although that took quite a few years to happen there are finally many such models in the market currently including the brand new P7-C1 (Project 7) by AeroCool which has been with us for slightly over a week.

   AeroCool Advanced Technologies (AAT) was founded in 2001. At the earlier stage of operation we were committed to share our technical expertise and innovative design in providing total-solution for thermal management in industrial and personal computers. Aerocool is one of the market leaders in the "Gaming Market". Our strong brand and product image are well received by gamers and enthusiasts world-wide. We offer a full line of performance products including gaming cases, gaming PSUs, gaming mouse, gaming headsets, gaming keyboard, gaming headsets, Multi-functional panels and fans. Aerocool will continue to innovate and deliver the best user experience to gamers world-wide.

   The P7-C1 (Project 7) is currently available in two colors (black and white) and two versions (with a plain side panel or a tempered glass one) all of which feature a 8-color (white, cyan, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow and green) 4-mode (on, off, breathing and pulsating) LED that surrounds the entire fascia. To further improve on the looks of the P7-C1 (especially for gamers) AeroCool also bundles a LED strip which can be placed anywhere inside the chassis and features the same colors and modes as the LED surrounding the fascia. Other features include an SD/micro SD card reader at the top I/O, bundled PWM fan hub and room for up to two 240/280/360mm radiators (top and front) and/or six 120/140mm fans, six 2.5/3.5" drives, 375mm long graphics cards (400mm without fans/radiator at the front) and 165mm tall CPU coolers. Sure the P7-C1 may be somewhat small but it sure looks promising so let's take a closer look and see what AeroCool has been up to.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The P7-C1 arrived inside a black box (not in the best condition but the case inside was ok) that has the product name and version at the front.

 

 

A few words about the product are placed on the left side right over the color selection.

 

 

You can take a look at the specifications table from the right side of the box.

 

 

AeroCool has placed a product picture at the rear of the box.

 

 

The case is packed inside a plastic bag and two thick foam spacers dressed with cardboard on the sides.

 

 

Contained in two small cardboard boxes placed inside the chassis are the LED strip, PWM fan hub, installation guide, three Velcro straps and 5 small plastic bags with screws and standoffs.

 

 

THE P7-C1 EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Although the design of the P7-C1 is quite simple thanks to the top and bottom vents, the tempered glass side panel and the meshed fascia it actually looks great.

 

 

The tempered glass side panel is held in place with thumbscrews placed over rubber washers (one on each side).

 

 

The interior section of the fascia is perforated and around that we see the white LED area.

 

 

Once again the I/O is located at the top and this time over it includes the dual card reader (SD/micro SD), headphone and microphone 3.5mm ports, color and mode LED buttons, on/off and reset buttons, two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports.

 

 

The top is also perforated and beneath here you can mount either two 120mm fans or a 240mm radiator (unfortunately in our sample removing the top was very hard so instead of damaging the case we decided not to).

 

 

Moving at the rear we see the 120mm exhaust fan, 7 PCI expansion slots (with a single exception all other covers can't be reused), PCI expansion slot cover and the PSU area.

 

 

Although there's plenty of distance between the bottom of the chassis and the floor/desk thanks to the two tall feet/stands i was surprised to see that AeroCool didn't place a removable air-filter for the PSU.

 

 

THE P7-C1 INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Largely thanks to the lack of any 5.25/3.5" bays/trays the interior of the P7-C1 looks quite spacious.

 

 

There's enough room here to place either up to three 120mm fans, two 140mm fans or a 240/280/360mm radiator (however it needs to be a thin radiator model since we tried mounting a 360mm long, 56mm thick one without luck).

 

 

In order to route cables from behind the mainboard AeroCool chose to place a vertical opening instead of several rubber grommets on the tray.

 

 

Much like many other cases released lately the P7-C1 features a dual chamber design and as you can see on the PSU shroud they've placed two 2.5" trays.

 

 

These are made by aluminum and are actually very sturdy.

 

 

Taking a look from the other side we see plenty of space for cable management and two extra 2.5" trays (also made out of aluminum like the front ones).

 

 

At the base of the chassis we see a removable drive cage which contains two 3.5" drive trays.

 

 

These however are made out of plastic and are not exactly as sturdy as the aluminum ones.

 

 

Four rubber feet are placed in the PSU area which can accommodate ATX sized models.

 

 

You can mount either two 120mm fans or a 340mm radiator at the top of the chassis.

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Even an ATX sized mainboard takes most of the available space inside the chassis.

 

 

In case you're wondering the answer is no, the P7-C1 doesn't have room for EATX sized mainboards.

 

 

There's plenty of room inside the chassis for cooling solutions so you can choose to either mount a 240mm radiator at the top and a 240/280/360mm radiator at the front (our 360mm radiator didn't fit) or go with a regular CPU air cooler.

 

 

With enough space for even the longest graphics cards (the GeForce GTX 590 is one of the longest ones to ever be released) you should have no problem mounting a front radiator.

 

 

Unfortunately the PSU area is quite limited but you can always remove the drive cage to install a longer PSU model if you don't have any 3.5" drives.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   When I saw the Project 7 P7-C1 a while back I have to admit that I was impressed with how far AeroCool has progressed. It’s not just the tempered glass side panel but the overall design of the case that won me over including of course the front LED and the bundled LED strip. Is it perfect? Certainly not since it doesn’t have plenty of room inside for a large/thick front 360mm radiator and EATX sized mainboards and it just has 1 preinstalled fan from the factory which although inaudible it offers very little in terms of airflow. On the other hand however it can accommodate two large radiators at the top and front (thin ones but it can), looks great thanks to the 8 colors and 4 modes even during the day, has a SD/micro SD card reader at the top and has room for very long graphics cards (375/400mm), tall CPU coolers (165mm) and for up to 6 drives 4 of which are located on the PSU shroud and behind the mainboard tray.

   The P7-C1 may be one of the prettiest mid-towers in the market today but AeroCool actually follows an aggressive pricing policy since currently it retails for around USD115 in the USA (or it should since the Tempered Glass version is not available while i type these lines) and for just 98Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). At the end of the day we all think the Project 7 marks a new era for AeroCool and if they continue down the same path there’s no doubt in our minds that we’ll see some of the best PC cases ever released by them. Until then however the Project 7 P7-C1 is a great little mid-tower and since it delivers on everything it promises it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Build Quality (Tempered Glass Side Panel)
- Design (Tempered Glass / Front LEDs / LED Strip)
- 8 LED Colors With 4 Modes
- Space For Up To 6 Fans and/or Three 120/240/280/360mm Radiators
- Spacious Interior
- 6 Drive Mounts (4 Aluminum Trays)
- SD / micro SD Card Slot
- Noise Levels
- Bundled PWM Fan Hub
- Price (For Some)

 

CONS

- Single Pre-Installed Fan
- Limited Front Radiator Thickness
- Limited PSU Space
- Fixed Air-Filters (No Removable Ones)