Review Sponsored by Smart2k.com

Developer: Beantech
Release Date: Out Now
RRP: £118.80 exVAT But only £99.00 exVAT From Smart2k.com

Case Modifications are becoming an ever growing passion for many PC users, especially overclocker’s. The additions of fans to increase air supply and circulation which will in effect decrease the internal temperature of the entire system. Then there are the clear side panels, flashing neon lights and glowing fans which turns a PC case into something worth looking at.
 

People have been modifying their cases for years, but as more and more people want to have a flashy case, but don’t have the time to do things themselves. There is now a market for pre-modified cases and this has come apparent due to the vast increase in cases coming fitted with multiple fans, clear side windows and glowing neon lights becoming available from the high street.

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Now imagine a case which is completely clear, I always planned on building my own this past summer, but again never had the time to actually get round to even thinking about building one. Then I discovered the Beantech BT85 Acrylic Case, I was sceptical at first, with it being entirely plastic I imagined that It wouldn’t perform any where near as well as my original steel case. Boy was I wrong!

The Beantech BT85 isn’t just a pretty case; it has many very good and very useful features. The best of which is the removable motherboard tray. This makes building your computer so much easier. Instead of having to fiddle around putting you motherboard and all your cards into a tight space inside the case, the entire panel that the motherboard fixes onto slides completely out of the case. This makes even putting in your CD and hard drives in so much easier to do. The tray isn’t loose and poorly positioned either, the entire case is unbelievably robust although the side panels are a little thin, but we will get to that later.

The cases has four blue LED 80mm fans, two at the front, blowing onto the hard drive bays; one on the side panel and one at the rear below the PSU both drawing air out of the case. This creates a very efficient air flow which really does keep the case cool. In comparison to my previous steel case, (which can be seen in the Chrome Edged Window Kit Review Here) the Beantech BT85 is much better at keeping your system cool. The case had two 120mm fans situated at the front and rear of the case, even with these my system sat at around 34/35 C and the CPU sat at about 55C. Now with the same system in the Beantech BT85 the System sits at about 29C and the CPU is a whole ten degree’s cooler at 45C! It is even quieter as well!

Other little added extras are two USB 2.0 ports and one IEEE 1394 Firewire at the front of the case. The front two fans can be controlled by a silver knob, which doesn’t seem to do much, although the fans are quiet enough (for me) to begin with. In addition to everything else, the hard drive bays have an anti-vibration system which also reduces the noise, especially if you have a Maxtor; I’ve found them to be a bit on the noisy side.
 

Case Specification Completely Transparent Standard ATX Chassis 10mm Front Panel Drive Bays, 4x5.25" 2x External 3.5" 5x3.5" Internal HDD Bays Removable Motherboard Tray 4x Blue LED 80mm Fans USB 2.0x2 + IEEE 1394 Front Access Rotary Fan Speed Control Anti-Vibration System for Internal HDD Bays

Now the downsides, and there aren’t that many. Because it is acrylic the case isn’t as strong as the steel ones, although this case is very well built, it just doesn’t have the durability a steel/aluminium case does, and because of this more care is needed when manoeuvring the case from place to place. The inside isn’t very accessible either, the side panel attaches via four screws which need to be undone every time you want to get into your case. The hard drives aren’t very easy to get to either, the hard drive for me is the most moved item inside my case, and I like to be able to get them in and out easily, which this case doesn’t allow.

That about wraps it up for the Beantech BT85, just one last thing to add, other than it comes with very easy to understand instruction, for someone who has never built a computer before could probably transfer their PC with an increased amount of ease. The best thing about this case though is that you get a pair of white cotton gloves so that you don’t get finger prints on the lovely clear plastic!