GELID Solutions Darkforce PC Case Review

Gelid Enters The Case Market w/ DarkForce

Introduction

In 2008 a company was founded in Hong Kong: GELID Solutions. The founders come from an extensive PC cooling and IT background. Makes sense the name GELID was chosen, meaning icy! A Swiss management team is in place running operations. This makes me excited to see what GELID Solutions has put in their first mid-tower case, DARKFORCE . I hope it has the fun of an early Jackie Chan movie and the precision of a Swiss time piece.

The DARKFORCE mid-tower comes into a saturated field of mid-towers made for PC gamers and enthusiasts. Gelid Solution will need to take a unique approach to find ways to distinguish itself from the competitions at the entry price of $120 in the US market. After an overview of the specifications, it looks like Gelid Solutions has used its past experiences to put something a little different into this product. Cooling versatility is certainly at the forefront, as you will see in this review. A group of Hong Kong Modifiers called DIY Forces also get an assist in helping Gelid Solution with the DARKFORCE.

We as PS builders always want peace of mind when purchasing our next components. Gelid Solutions has a nice two year warranty in place with the DARKFORCE. Gelid Solutions support has stated that the warranty will cover RMA and defective parts for this model. The steel frame case with plastic exterior and a clear acrylic window comes in at 20lbs. It shipped to me fully boxed at 22 lbs.

Specifications and Details

• MicroATX and Full ATX Motherboard compatible
• Dimensions (LxWxH): 530 x 207 x 505 mm / 20.9 x 8.1 x 19.9 inch
• Material: 0.7mm SECC Steel Body; Acrylic Side Window; Plastic Bezel with Metal Mesh
• completely black painted 0.7mm steel tower
• Acrylic Window: 361.5 X 280 mm Visible Area with 3mm Thickness
• Two silent 120mm fans (Rear and Front) are preinstalled in the case
• Enables an 80mm or 120mm fan with a max. 15mm thickness to be installed onto the side panel
• Net Weight: 9.2KG / 20.08LBS
• Supports a 120mm or 240mm radiator at the bottom of the case
• Offers 8+1 slots for extra connection of peripheral devices
• 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 and an eSATA port
• Top I/O bay for Hotswap 3.5″ or 2.5″ hard disk or SSD at the top of the case
• Hot-Swap Harddisk Dock: 1 (Recommend Enabling AHCI Hard Drive Mode)
• 5.25″ to 3.5″ drive bay converter for any optional 3.5 device
• Extra large transparent acrylic side panel for the best view of the exclusive components inside the case
• 6 individual HDD trays and a removable HDD cage for extra-long VGA cards (up to 410mm
• Enough space for large size CPU coolers (up to 165mm height)
• Tool free optical drive mounting concept
• 2 internal fan extension PCBs
• Built-in base dust filter
• Intelligent Sleeved Cable Management