Enermax Fulmo GT Review

 

 

Up Close:  and in the Nip!

Stripping the case down to the metal chassis is probably the best way of finding out how well made it is and assessing exactly what can and can’t be done with it.  Whether that be from the viewpoint of cooling options (air and water) or from the viewpoint of how easy it would be to mod.

The good news is this case is sturdy and well built but at the same time comes apart really easily, with the front section simply unclipping from the metal chassis when pulled firmly from the bottom.  The top section requires two screws to be removed from the top rear edge of the case before it can be unclipped.  Both the top and the front utilise cylindrical barbed retention clips to hold them in place.  These clips don’t give the impression of snapping off any time soon through wear and tear or as the result of a bit of general hamfistedness.

      

 

While we’re in the process of stripping down lets take a look at the loom and the top fan filter.  Loom wise, all cables are of a good length, and in a case of this size they’d have to be really wouldn’t they.  However like so many other cases none of them are braided or even black for that matter.  The top filter of the case is removed by simply pulling it away from the rear.  There’s plenty of room in here for up to 3x120mm or 3x140mm fans

    

 

Continuing at the top of the case and with the cover now removed we can see that there’s an abundance of fan mounting holes.  And guess what, they’re correctly spaced for radiator mounting, meaning that we can mount rads not just 120 rads but also 140mm rads, all the way up to a 140.3 (420mm) radiator.  You will of course have to remove the large roof mounted fan to accommodate your rads but If you’re getting your feet wet then this is no great shakes really.  The space allowed on the top cowling rebate (above right) creates the ideal place for the mounting of the fans, although there’s actually plenty of room inside the case for a thick rad with 2 sets of fans in push pull configuration.

       

 

The base of the case is also able to accommodate 120.1 up to 120.3 as well as 140.1 up to 140.3.  As with the roof area, the hex mesh cut outs are protected by filter mesh to reduce the amount of dust ingress.  It’s worth remembering though that the size and chosen location of your PSU will play a part in determining which radiator combination is ultimately adopted.  With an over-sized PSU once you’ve allowed for the wiring loom of the PSU and the connection block of the rad it’s very likely that that you’re not really going to be able to fit much more than a 120 or 140 rad in the bottom.

        

The images below are designed to help show that not only are the mounting holes present and correct but that there’s plenty of room inside the case for the rads.  with single thickness rads being in the region of 30mm deep and dual thickness rads about twice that at 60mm (strange that) we can see that you’re not going to have any problems with motherboard or ram clearances.  In fact with a standard sized ATX mobo it’s more than possible to utilise a push pull config in either location.

       

 

And so with the case now totally devoid ofall it’s outer garments and completely in the nip, and to add a bit of scale I’ve dropped a spare 120.2 rad into the bottom of the case to show just how much space there really is.

        

 

Lets not forget about the front of the case though!  Sure with it’s cowling removed it’s no looker, but it does present us with a large expanse of hex mesh and fan placements.  Although fitted with the 180mm fan Enermax have been good enough to include mountings for  up to 2 of either 120mm or 140mm fans.  Again spaced for radiators.  On this occasion thought there’s no room between the front face and the HDD rack to fit a rad, and with the HDD rack being riveted in place it’ll take a bit of modding if you want to place another rad here.  Still, you can have too much of a good thing, and it doesn’t do any harm at all to have a bit of air passing over the HDDs and and on through the motherboard area.  However, if you’re absolutely intent on adding more rads, then remember that the internal aspect of the HDD rack also has stand offs for 140mm fans!