It's difficult to pass judgement on the Mountain Mods  Ascension as there is nothing else quite like it on the market. Few cases can be bought pre modded, tailored to your needs save for alternative Mountain Mods designs. While it may not win any fashion awards, there are no other cases on the market which match the modular nature of the case.

 

The Ascension, much like all other designs from this company, is simply not aimed toward the style conscious, Functionality over form is the order of the day and the Ascension is the chef's special. It has more fan holes (16 to be exact, which can be increased further depending on the panels chosen) than any other case out on the market and thanks to the huge amount of space available, up to four PA120.3 radiators can be fitted to this particular case. No other case can offer this amount of cooling, especially when you consider there is still space for six 5.25 devices and a further four 120mm fans! If watercooling is not to your preference but storage is then you can possibly fit up to 48 hard drives all cooled by 120mm fans! The possibilities really are endless when you consider the amount of space available.

 

That's the attraction of Mountain Mods. They seem to have pulled off the impossible, they are selling fresh air neatly wrapped up in an all aluminium case. How you use that space will depend on what configuration you decide on. Mountain Mods make this decision all the more difficult thanks to the wide array of choices they afford the consumer. The ordering process is simple and straightforward, the hardest part is which configuration to opt for.

 

Delivery times vary. I have a few colleagues who have imported Mountain Mods cases to the UK that have taken just 7 days, others have taken weeks. A lot depends on availability of the parts and the configuration you choose. Price is perhaps the biggest drawback of acquiring a Mountain Mods case. This particular version cost $469 excluding P&P. You also have to factor in the cost of import duty. In short you are looking at the thick end of £300 (exchange rate dependant) which may be enough to make some people baulk. However, one needs to put things into perspective. Take for example a Silverstone TJ-07, a popular case among enthusiasts. Add the cost of powder coating inside and out, laser engraving, the time and money to modify the case to a satisfactory level and the price of a high end off the shelf case soon exceeds that of the Mountain Mods Ascension.

 

Performance of the case cannot currently be evaluated as it's undergoing a full custom water cooling install (see here for Project Angel build log). Anyone who buys the Ascension for anything other than watercooling is missing the point of the case. It was designed from the ground up to provide optimum performance in a watercooled environment and to afford the owner a unique computer case that sets itself apart from the crowd, leading the way by being the ultimate case for the serious PC enthusiast. Mountain Mods have achieved what they set out to do and for that they can only be congratulated on a job well done.

 

- Hyper Modular

- Perfectly aligned panels

- Unrivaled space for components

- Full Aluminium

- Excellent laser etching

 

- No included Blanking plates

- Missing HD plates and PSU cover in our version

- Odd method of supporting the motherboard tray

 

- The price may be too much for some