Layout, design and features exterior …
The Arctic Xtender Case is a PC case that falls somewhere between a mid-tower and a full-tower in size. With external dimensions of 529 x 529 x 231 mm and a volume of 64 liters, it is large but not excessively so. Despite its considerable dimensions, you should still thoroughly review Arctic’s compatibility lists before building your PC to avoid encountering assembly issues later on. We’ll go into more detail about the important points to consider later. Externally, the Xtender Case presents itself as a simple, elegant cuboid with straight edges, free of embellishments or other eye-catching contours. Its empty weight of over 15 kg also indicates that a substantial amount of steel has been used in its construction, providing a solid foundation for a high-quality PC build.
Our review unit is the Xtender VG (with vertical graphics card mounting) in black. It features dark-tinted glass panels on the front and sides. The Mirror-Black variant, on the other hand, features mirrored glass panels that reveal the interior only when the lighting is activated, and as a third option, Arctic offers the Xtender case in white with clear glass and white fans. In designing the Xtender Case, Arctic placed particular emphasis on ensuring good airflow for cooling the components while simultaneously showcasing the installed hardware to its best advantage. To provide an unobstructed view of the PC’s interior from two sides, Arctic has therefore converted the front I/O panel into a top I/O panel. The arrangement of the two Type-A ports, the Type-C USB port, the combo jack, and the illuminated power button along the rear side panel certainly takes some getting used to, but it serves to maximize the view of the PC’s interior. The top and rear ventilation grilles feature large, square openings, which is why fine-mesh panels have been installed behind them for dust filtration.
To prevent the hard drives in the HDD cage from overheating, the opening in the rear side panel covers not only the intake vents but also the HDD cage. In addition, the power supply draws in fresh air through this opening, since the Xtender Case has a solid bottom panel without ventilation openings.
To ensure that the fine dust filters can be thoroughly cleaned, they can be easily removed from the panels and reinserted thanks to their magnetic fasteners.
The Xtender Case is designed and optimized primarily for use with 140mm fans, which makes perfect sense given the size of the case. By including optional mounting rails for 120mm fans, Arctic enables both 140mm and 120mm fans to operate without restriction.
Unlike many other cases, the Xtender Case features two pre-installed 120mm fans on the back that expel warm air from the case. These two rear fans significantly enhance continuous airflow throughout the entire case, which is particularly beneficial when using high-performance graphics cards and/or processors. Additionally, ventilation grilles with large openings on the rear panel support unobstructed airflow. The power supply is also installed via the rear panel.
So far, the Xtender PC case has been impressive. The build quality is excellent, and the design details are also functionally sound. We’ll reveal on the next page whether this continues inside the case.
Arctic Xtender VG Layout, design and features interior …