Chieftec Dragon Series DA-01W Review

Good Points
Huge interior, fittings for up to 6 case fans, lockable door

Bad Points
Fan holes are constrictive to airflow, mine is beige (yuck!)

General Comments
I decided that after years of using stock midi AT/ATX cases that I should turn my hand to a bit of modding. Being none too rich I finally decided on this steel Chieftec Dragon Series DA-01W (the one without the front bay door for convenience). The case is large, but that means plenty of inner space which is always a good thing. It has 6x5 " bays, 2x3 " (1 external floppy), and 6x3 " internal bays using 2 removable cages (each with an 80mm fan mounting bracket). At the rear is one 92mm fan mounting point above the PSU slot and two 80mm brackets level with the I/O shield, plus another 80mm below the two front cages. The first thing I did was remove the metal fan grilles which form part of the case. These consist of thick strips and, along with producing wind noise, allow roughly 70% of maximum airflow. Since Chieftec use proprietory fan mountings (plastic fittings that clip to the case) adding wire grilles is unbelievably difficult. Thankfully, this is only an problem should you cut out the originals. I have had to ask a friend with access to industrial machining tools to make me a bespoke twin 80mm fan backplate just so that i can now use standard grilles. Another minor gripe was the PSU mounting plate was solid, so I cut out a large section out of it in order to ease airflow into the PSU extractor fan. Eight drive mounting brackets are supplied (enough for four units) which simplify CD drive removal/installation. Overall, it's a fine case, but a number of minor issues have lowered my opinion of it.