Nanoxia CoolForce 2 Review

Up Close:  Interior

The CoolForce 2 will accept Motherboards from M-ITX all the way up to XL-ATX.  At first view the interior does look cramped, but this is mainly due to the panel that covers the anterior quarter of the case.  As you can see in the image below left, this panel is home to no less than 3×2.5″ drive mounts.  The CPU cut it is on the small side and may not mate up with all motherboard formats out there, however on the plus side there are loads of rubber grommeted cable management holes.  The holes are well spaced and cater for large and small motherboards alike, and with the 200mm width of the case allowing for coolers up to 185mm tall, the world’s your oyster when it comes to tower CPU coolers.

       

 

With more of an eye to water cooling than optical drives, Nanoxia have included a pair of 5.25″ bays.  These of course can be used for single or double height bay reservoirs.  Nanoxia have also blanked off the tool-free mechanisms with a rubber grommet bearing the Nanoxia logo.  We’re a little perplexed as to why Nanoxia should go to the trouble of doing this, or for that matter positioning the 2.5″ drive mounts so as to be able to show them off, when the window in the case doesn’t extend nearly far enough to see them.  We think if we had this case the first thing we’d do is enlarge the window so all our expensive kit could be seen.

       

 

Remember the ModuWand?  Well here it is.  Basically it’s a removable vertical panel that by design can accept either a pair of 2.5″ or 3.5″ drives or if you’re more of an eye for cooling, either a pair of 120mm or 140mm fans.  As the body of the ModuWand is slotted it also makes it ideal for mounting reservoirs and pumps either on the front of reverse side, depending on weather you want to show them off or hide them, and if you want to hide them, then the grommeted cut out in the middle of the ModuWand will also come in handy.  The side panel housing the other three 2.5″ drives can also be removed, as can the 5.25″ bays and the 2×3.5″ rack at the bottom of the case.  With that lot out you can then get up a 240 or 280mm rad in the front, and basically go as thick as you want in push pull bearing in mind you’ll be reducing the max GPU length.  With the ModuWand in place you can still use up to 300mm long GPUs, with this rising to 430mm with the wall removed.  So the ModuWand, great idea, really silly name.

     

 

The entirety of the floor posterior to the MuduWand is vented and has a placement for either a 120mm or 140mm fan.  The case can take full length PSUs, with them siting on nice thick pyramidal rubber pads.  The PSU cut out also benefits from a foam rubber isolation strip all of which help to minimise the noise and vibration from the PSU.

       

 

The rear of the case has eight vented PCI slot covers as well as a 140mm fan in trademark Nanoxia acid green.  This Green may be ok for you, and I appreciate that it’s a Nanoxia thing, but too me it also looks the same colour of green that’s usually associated with everything “Zombie” and so feels a little immature in a case that’s otherwise very mature in its design.  Up in the roof we can again see the ventilation and slots for 120mm and 140mm fans.  We’re a little worried by what appears to be a very small off-set away from the motherboard, We already know the roof won’t take 140mm based Radiators, so let’s just hope it’s enough to easily mount the 120s that are claimed will fit.