Spire is known for their cooling and power supplies, but they also have an excellent line of very stylish PC cases. Today I'll be looking at the Blackfin, a mid-sized ATX case that offers quite a few features, along with style and functionality…
Spire BlackFin Mid-ATX PC Case
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: Spire
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Spire BlackFin Mid-ATX PC Case
Model: SP-7090B
Continuing our evolution of success, Spire is pleased to introduce a new top of the line European design chassis series. The BlackFin chassis is a hot and exceptional computer case in both quality and design. It is made from 0.7mm metal SECC with removable side and top panels that offers tool free access. Designed for a 80mm, a 90mm fan and a 120mm fan the BlackFin provides highly-efficient airflow and ultra-silent operation.
SP-7090B – BlackFin
Middle tower metal pc case
Main Features:
*Durable lightweight metal
*Stylish & sophisticated design
*Front USB & SOUND connections
*120mm Fan duct system on the side panel
*Full folded edge, full screen, radiation protected
*Easy installation, screw free side panel, one manual screw top panel
*Optimized internal space design for easy installation and highly-efficient airflow
Packaging:
Dimension: 490x260x520mm (L x W x H)
Weight: N.W. 7.8 K.G
G.W. 8.3 K.G
Specifications:
Dimensions: 440x190x445mm (L x W x H)
Material: Metal SECC
Front panel: ABS
Colors: Black/Silver
Mainboard: ATX & MICRO ATX
5.25 Bays: 4 ~ 4 visible
3.5 Bays: 6 ~ 1 visible and 5 hidden
Cooling: 1 x 80x80x25mm fans; 1 x 120x120x25mm fan duct on the side panel
Connections: USB 2.0 x 2; MIC x 1; Earphone jack x 1
Features:
Durable lightweight metal. Stylish & sophisticated design. Front USB & SOUND connections. Full folded edge, full screen, radiation protected. Easy installation, screw free side panel, one manual screw top panel. Optimized internal space design for easy installation and Highly-efficient airflow.
A Better Look at Things
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The Spire Blackfin comes on essentially a brown box with blue lettering and the blue Spire logo on it, inside we find the Blackin wrapped in plastic for protection from scratches and further protected by styrofoam.
The Spire Blackfin sort of deviates from the flashy looking cases we see today, but it is still stylish and sleek looking with quite a few features as well.
One of the main features that I found very cool was the side fan, at first I thought it was just a vent with a fan behind it, but upon further inspection it is actually an opening and closing vent system. The silver button in the center opens and closes the vents while turning the fan on and off as well.
Spire includes one 'stealth' cover for your optical drive so it matches the rest of the case.
The texture of the front bezel is interesting, it's almost has a leather like feel to it. There is a main power button and reset button located under it, along with LEDs for power and HDD activity below the buttons. The entire button/LED setup is accented with a faux chrome plastic giving it a bit of a stylish presentation.
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Directly below the power and reset buttons is a door, behind which is the USB ports and audio jacks.
The side panels of the Spire Blackfin have another great feature on them, handles, but not any handles these handles actually lock and unlock the sides of the case. The handles themselves are nicely made of thick plastic so you won't have to worry about them breaking from use. To open the case you just need to pull out on the handle, it is spring loaded and pops back into place.
The bottom of the Spire Blackfin is nothing fancy, there are a couple ventilation openings there and four rubber feet as well. I found that the feet come off very easily if you slide the case…
On the back of the Spire Blackfin we find the usual things, a spot of your PSU, I/O plate, exhaust fan, PCI slots and another set of ventilation holes. You'll notice also that the side panels are held on with larger than standard thumbscrews, and I'm missing one actually….
Of course getting inside the case is very easy with the use of the handles, once the side door is off we can get a better look at the fan and locking mechanism. Spire includes a funnel type air guide that I found to be a bit too big to use with larger CPU coolers.
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Once the side panel is off we can see it is rather tight looking in terms of overall space, but we have to remember this is a Mid-ATX sized case, so space is at a minimum.
On the bottom of the case we find a nice little diagram for installation of your system along with how the locking mechanisms work for the hard drives.
Also found inside the case was a pack with User Manual, 'universal' I/O plate, and a bag of mounting hardware. Of course we also have the standard motherboard connectors that include audio and USB to the front of the case.
In the Blackfin we have room for four 5.25” devices externally, and one 3.5” device externally.
The hard drive cage does come out, and it can hold four drives, oddly though only two of them are tool less…
On the back of the case we find an 80mm Spire branded exhaust fan and tool less PCI slots and the tool less locks actually work well to hold you card in place unlike other tool less systems I've seen.
The motherboard tray is not removable, but it does has quite a few holes in it for ventilation and wire routing if need be.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
I installed my AMD based system with a micro ATX motherboard, I found more than enough room for my setup in there.
You can see from this picture though that space is very limited and I could have did a better job at my wire management…
The 120mm fan on the side panel does a very good job of cooling the system, since there is no front intake fan I wasn't quite sure how well the Blackfin would keep my system cool, but this system works very well at keeping everything inside cool.
I did run into a small problem where the power LED in the case does not work, but no big deal really, I can hear it when it's on and the HDD activity light worked fine.
I did have my much larger ATI X1800GTO video card installed in the Blackfin and found that it was a tight fit actually, so larger video card might have a tough time fitting in this case.
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Overall though the Blackfin is very aesthetically pleasing, I do like the textured front bezel a lot. The entire case is very well made and seems to be sturdy, I found no sharp edges where wires might be, and the installation process was pretty easy. The handles for the side panels are a welcome addition, as is the interesting side vent system where you can just push the button to turn the fan on or off, which opens and closes the vent as well.
Turning the side fan on does add a little bit of noise to your system but not that much, I've heard much louder fans in my time…
As I mentioned earlier the tool less PCI locks actually work very well, I've encountered quite a few cases with tool less PCI locks that are just plain worthless, but these work very well.
Summary:
The pros outweigh the cons for the Spire Blackfin case, it is overall well designed with a little room for improvement. The Blackfin is constructed well, and has quite a few features that most system builders can appreciate.
The Blackfin is a very nice mid-sized case for those looking for a smaller, yet stylish chassis for their system.
DragonSteelMods gives the Spire Blackfin a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Very nicely designed
-Useful side handles
-Interesting ventilation system that works well
-Aesthetically pleasing, subtle yet stylish
-Removable HDD rack
-Working tool less PCI locks
-Keeps system cool
Cons:
-Large CPU coolers will not fit
-Large video cards might not fit
-Feet not firmly attached
-Power LED not working
I would like to thank Spire for the chance to review the Blackfin and for their continued support of DSM.
review#223