Page 4 - Installation and Conclusion
The overall interior design of the Xigmatek Elysium is spectacular, and frankly put, freaking huge. Although the chassis was made to fit large form factor motherboards (eATX and larger), the chassis is surprisingly ATX friendly. I first installed my Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD5-B3 motherboard in after I re-positioned several standoffs (Yes, the motherboard is really ATX sized in the photo above). Next up, I installed my OCZ ZX Series 850W power supply unit. Both of these steps were quite straightforward, and required no change from the standard method of installation. Since I already had the Thermaltake Jing aftermarket CPU heatsink already installed onto the motherboard, I did not have the opportunity to test out the back motherboard cutout provided on the Elysium. However, as aforementioned, there is certainty large enough area to install most, if not all, aftermarket CPU heatsinks backplates without much effort. This can be verified visually. Also, since the Elysium is such a large chassis, the case is most likely able to hold some of the tallest heatsinks in the market.
As discussed earlier, since all the front port connection wires are already fed through to the back and tied together, it saved me plenty of time, and ensured a very clean cabling job without much effort. As the Elysium does not utilize an internal USB 3.0 connection, I had to route the two USB 3.0 extension cords through the top two pre-fitted water cooling holes.
My Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 1GB OC came up next in my build process, which allowed me to get a feel for the expansion slot system. Although I do not necessarily need tools to remove and install thumbscrews, it is a good idea to keep a screwdriver handy anyway.
One of the best internal features inside the Xigmatek Elysium are the numerous cable routing holes to deal with cable management. These cable holes are positioned to all around the motherboard tray, and are available no matter the size of motherboard. One characteristic of the case that I am not a fan of are the HDD cages. I am not at all against having HDD cages, but would have liked to have a tool-less installation system for the hard drives. As well, supporting 2.5" drives would be a huge convenience as well -- after all, SSDs are becoming more and more popular.
Once it was all setup and plugged in, I pushed the power button with everything working superbly. I was greeted with a nice refined white LED arrangement from the fans. Thankfully, this particular case is not overly enthusiastic with LEDs like cases I have reviewed in the past.
In terms of sound, on a scale from 0.0 to 10.0 where 0.0 is silent and 10.0 is the loudest, the Elysium would come in at 4.0 in my personal opinion. Since we here at APH Networks are fairly sensitive to sound -- where the sound level of a case is quite crucial in our selection of parts -- it is evident to me the Xigmatek Elysium is not designed for score high in this area. If one were to add a second power supply, another CPU heatsink, an addition few graphics cards, and several extra case fans, then I would be afraid to hear just how loud the system would be. But if power and performance is all you care about, and this is the least of your concerns, then one could say there is really nothing to worry about.
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When I Googled the word Elysium, the first result that came up was, "the place at the ends of the earth to which certain favored heroes were conveyed by the gods after death". No word can perfectly match this Xigmatek chassis. Since the Elysium is one of the few cases that can actually fit a Nvidia Classified SR-2 motherboard, it certainly follows a specific segment in the technology market. However, fear not, as this chassis is surprisingly very user friendly for the average ATX user as well. The front panel connections are a splendid array of nifty plug-ins, with an added dust cover feature. The exterior features an exclusive design that fits gamers and minimalists alike. The colossal window will provide accurate sight into your powerful internals. The list goes on with numerous air filters, onboard HDD docking station, tool-less optical drive bay and expansion slot system, several cable management options around the case, top and bottom PSU mounting options, 36/48cm radiator possible, and last but not least, a nifty fan power adapter PCB -- the Elysium has a plethora of great features. There are definitely improvements needed, however. First off, the poorly designed casters are out of position, and cannot make a full 360 degree turn. It would have been more convenient to integrate a tool-less hard drive system inside the HDD cages. The Xigmatek Elysium fails to support 2.5" laptop drives and solid state drives. Also, such a large chassis with so much air cooling potential is definitely bound to attract dust particles, no matter how many air filters are present. Lastly, one of the largest problems I have found on the Elysium would be the huge amount of fan turbulence and sound emanating from the rig. With a MSRP of $219.99 USD during press time, the Elysium is not necessarily the cheapest of chassis. However, with the Elysium being such a large chassis that excels in excellent build quality, exclusive features and many one-of-a-kind designs, Xigmatek is in fact very generous with the set price.
Xigmatek provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that aren't likely going to matter to the end user.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.8/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
The Xigmatek Elysium is one heck of a chassis that keeps quality and design in mind as it packs the largest and most monstrous internals on the market today.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
