This is going to be a bit of a rant of what this case cannot do, and what it is not. But I think I'll be answering questions others may have. I bought this with a specific use case in mind, but also with a curiosity of expanding that use case. The images aren't clear regarding the amount of (or lack of) space for an expansion card in the one and only PCI(e) slot on these boards. Even without an expansion slot on the back, there's nearly no room at all between where a card would be and the top brace (where the motherboard mounting standoffs are attached) - Some very thin cards could possibly fit, however we're talking about maybe an surface mounted SD Card slot. I did find an NVMe adapter card where the NVMe stick is installed on the "back side" of the card - meaning the NVMe would be on the side toward the CPU - honestly a great idea. I have not purchased one, yet, but am contemplating doing so. Aside from that, the power supply would be in the way for even a standard half height video card size card - there's enough space for a 1.5-1.75" tall expansion card, and that's it. With that said - NO WHERE DOES THE MANUFACTURER STATE AT ALL that the case is compatible with the use of any PCI/PCIe cards, and there is no back slot for such a card either. I knew this going in, and was hoping there was enough space for an NVMe/PCIe adapter card. There is not, at least not for the standard run of the mill adapters. However, I did, as mentioned, find an adapter card with the NVMe slot on the "wrong" side of the card. This may work to add an NVMe drive to the board, however when/if I buy one, i will be adding a layer of plastic to the card to protect it from grounding on the support bracing of the case. Regarding the wrong-side adapter, I'm not positive the images just aren't reversed, but the text on it is correct. YMMV, but here's the adapter for those wanting it: https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Express-Expansion-Support-Compatible/dp/B07JKR5C3Z Oh, one other thing - the motherboard I have, the 8pin PSU connector and CPU fan header are very close to the mounting hole (the one along the same side as the back panel, but furthest from the PCIe slot) - This made installing the motherboard very difficult with the IO shield installed. However, after bending part of the support bracing (same one as above) - I was able to make just enough clearance to install the mobo with the shield. This did move the mounting standoff out of place a bit, but I was able to re-aligh it by squeezing it upward with my thumb. As for the CPU cooling - there's only one Heatsink/fan I found that would fit - and still have headroom for air flow. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SQWT6BV - it does a good enough job with a Ryzen 3 3200G under it. Forget using water cooling, unless you want to drill and cut holes in the case. There's no room inside for the thickness of a radiator (the SATA cables are in the way, though maybe using 90 degree connectors might work - but even then, the 120mm radiator I have is still too wide to fit in the available space (it's 125mm x 140(ish)mm - a 120mm fan fits very snugly. With a motherboard with an NVMe slot, a reverse-sided NVMe PCIe adapter, and the 4 supplied HDD/SDD quick slot bays, there's enough space for up to 6 drives in this case. However, there is the potential for a 7th USB slim-line external drive to be "installed" above the drive bays, in front of the PSU. It's a tight fit, but it can be done. This bring me to another point - there is a little L bracket towards the front of the case where the PSU is installed. This is my first time with a Flex PSU, and assumed it was intended to be attached to the PSU. After a few minutes of fiddling with it - I realized I could just loosen the screw, swing the bracket out of the way, install the PSU and then swing the bracket back against the PSU, putting a bit of pressure on it as I tighten the screw. This held the PSU in place without any of the three exterior screws. This is probably not what it's actually for as it does have a hole for another screw. Perhaps it is intended to hold a 2.5" drive? Seems silly though as I've never seen a manufacturer have only 1 mounting point for a drive. As for the included fan - can't tell you if it works well. I replaced it with a Noctua PWM fan. The included fan is a 2-pin fan, which plugs into the SATA backplane, presumably a constant 100% operation. I'm building this as a VM server with file archiving, and as it will sit idle most of the time, I wanted a fan that wouldn't be running at 100% the entire time. There is no issues with removing the load from the backplane. It does seem like a fairly reasonably well built fan, but again, I have not had it powered on at all. There is a sheet of plastic with 2 strips of adhesive included with the case. After tinkering around a moment, the cutouts align with the 4 mounting standoffs, with the adhesive strips facing the case shell. This should be installed to the inside of the case shell, with the U shaped cutout towards the back and bottom. The protective plastic should be butted up against the flange with the screw hole, and aligned with the edge of the wide flanges at the bottom, which secure the shell to the bottom of the chasis. Basically, just align the plastic with the 4 mounting holes while the adhesive strips are facing outward. The front USB ports seem a little off when inserting a USB thumb drive. This might just be mine. It took a moment of jiggling, removing and reinserting the thumb drive to get it to register, haven't had issues with it since, however. Screw alignment is top notch on everything on this case. From the PSU to the shell, the fan, and motherboard standoffs. I've had inexpensive cases which had either oblong holes to account for lack of precision, or simply couldn't accept a screw because alignment was off that much. Not the case here. The quick release sleds for the drive bays are not self-inserting - meaning you have to press the drive in all the way, and then close the lever. The lever is great for releasing the drive, but does not pull it in. The drive bay cage has some minor issues in design. There is absolutely no drive insertion guidance, and mis-aligning a drive is very easily done. The drive should freely slide into place, and with no pressure until the SATA/power connector mating, which takes minimal pressure. If the drive takes any pressure to insert after the first inch or so, it's not properly in the slots. I've seen better designs, but I've also seen worse. I am, however, a bit spoiled with Dell's constantly improving drive bay sleds. That's one of the differences between a $4500 case and a $65 case. I did not test the sleds with 2.5" devices, however the 4x 3.5" HDDs I installed fit like a glove (no, not OJ's glove, just a well fitting properly sized glove) The screw holes all lined up perfectly as well. Don't try to game with it, don't expect to put any PCIe cards in it (other than very very low outline cards), and I would NOT run a Nuclear Reactor of a CPU in this thing, as all of the airflow comes over the drives. When looking for a CPU cooler, you'll pretty much be relegated to a cooler intended for a 1U rack server. Remember, the fan won't push air if it can't get any air - and even with this 1U cooler I have, airflow will still be choked a bit. Ultimately, for what it is, and is marketed as, this is a great little SFF case. Just try to find a motherboard that isn't crowed around the mounting hole in the (normally) top left corner. There's even a motherboard which I almost purchased for this project with the NVMe slot on the backside - it would had been perfect for this use, as the motherboard is mounted in from the bottom, giving easy access to the NVMe with removing only the shell. This is that motherboard, it also has more space around that troublesome mounting hole I described: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FVVNDFX/ Additionally, if it weren't for the cost, this case is really begging for 90 degree lateral SATA cables, but at $12+ each, that's $50 for all 4 bays. Going down and under the drives, or up and over - either would be sufficient to provide more space in front of the case fan. Here's some cables I was looking at for this: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-18in-Angle-Serial-Cable/dp/B00AKS0YL2 - Even standard 90 degree cables would provide a bit more space, and a bit easier cable management. If at all possible, I highly suggest installing 2.5" drives - either HDD or SDD, as that will allow more air flow into the machine. Ok, rant over. I hope this was helpful to at least someone! Good luck!
