AI7 appears to be quite an interesting case that is made of industry’s standard materials – steel (0.7mm), plastic and mesh bezel. Physical dimension are (W/H/D) 288 x 380 x 380mm and the case looks slightly like a cube. Weighing at 6.35 kg it is light, compact and Anidees state on their website that the volume of the case is 41, 5 liters. AI7 comes in at 4 different configurations – Black, Black Window, White and White Window. The windowed versions feature left side acrylic window that covers most of the steel panel. Interior paint is black on all of the versions.
Front panel looks like to be mostly made of honeycomb mesh grill and looks flat, giving the case an overall sleek look. ODD bay is present above the mesh grill as well as the usual standard connectivity ports on the I/O panel – USB 3.0 x 2, USB 2.0 x 2, Audio and Mic jacks. Power and Reset buttons are located on the left and right of the ports.
What is unique about AI7 is the dual chamber design to allow better heat dissipation, separating the heat producing components from each other, effectively increasing the cooling capabilities of the case. This is a feature many will find useful as the heat is the most common problem when speaking of small form factor cases.
Anidees don’t seem to make a huge fuss about the dual chamber design, however it is really an important, in not the most important feature of the case. Motherboard, CPU and GPU are located at one portion of the case, whereas the PSU and the HDD are in the other compartment. That way the components interfere with each other less resulting in better thermals overall.
M-ITX,M-ATX and ATX motherboards are compatible with the case, along with 310mm of space for GPU. The maximum allowance for CPU cooler height is 174mm.Cable management behind the motherboard tray is 95mm, so plenty of room to work with. Supported PSU is up to 200mm (ATX PS2). Drive bays are not neglected at all in this compact case and we have 1 x 5.25″ drive bay, 4 x 3.5″ drive bays that are hidden and 5 x 2.5″ drive bays (4 come from 3.5″ HDD tray). Expansion slots are seven, the same amount you may find in most middle tower cases.
On the cooling side the AI7 offers quite a punch also, delivering excellent cooling capabilities out of the box with the amount of fans is can equip. From the factory the case has been pre-installed with 4 x 120mm white LED fans and one 120mm in the rear. Other options are as follows:
[wpsm_list type=”arrow”]
- Front: 120mm white LED fan x 4 (inlcuded) or 140mm fan x 2(optional) or 200mm fan x 1 (optional)
- Rear: 120mm x 1 (included), 90mm x 1 (optional)
- Top: 140/120mm x 2 (optional)
- Bottom: 120mm x 1 (optional)
[/wpsm_list]
Cooling-wise the case should really be performing very, very well. To help protect all of the internals from dust Anidees has included dust filters at the top, front and bottom of the AI7. Removable top panel is preset to help with the maintenance and usability of the case.
