Tech Lobby

In-depth Look

The box design is elegant, but not too busy and in-your-face like a few we’ve seen. It also states that the power supply is 80-Plus certified. The sides of the cases are different, but both basically list a few facts about the contents (80-Plus 350W power supply, 3×80mm TriCool fans, IR receiver). On the rear of the box it explains in greater detail what the 80-Plus Certification means, and displays a three-year warranty sticker, RoHS Compliance sticker, and recyclable sticker.

With the case finally removed from the box, we found all of the accessories inside the case. The remote and the supplied screws were located inside a white box, which was sitting on the manual and driver CD for the remote. All the fans were preinstalled and everything was ready and waiting for our own hardware.

The Micro Fusion 350’s semi-gloss black paint looks great and the silver and black theme works well together. The feet are sturdy and large, the front being metallic, while the back feet are rubber. The feet give the case a good height to allow plenty of room for ventilation. The peripherals included are: CD for remote driver/software, manual, Antec 3 year warranty fold out, standard motherboard backplate, four black linkable air guides, case hardware (various screws, standoffs, etc), remote, and remote battery.

We checked to see if the power supply cables were long enough to reach most motherboard connections and thankfully they were - we even had several inches of slack. Also, the wires were not sleeved, but were coated in a thick, flexible insulation that felt like a good quality material. There are also reusable ties to help with wire management. The 5.25” drive bay slides out easily and requires no tools to do so. The bay should be removed to ease the access to the front panel wires and to also install a drive. There are also four expansion slots which are low profile.

Underneath the drive bay, you will find the front panel audio (which had both high-definition and AC ’97 audio connectors), the front USB headers, SATA to eSATA cable, and restart/power button headers. The blue cables attach directly to the motherboard and the red power cable plugs into the LCD panel. Also included is a USB to 4-pin USB header cable, which is required for the LCD/IR to operate.

Installation was very straightforward and the manual is actually half decent. You do, however, need a careful hand when installing due to the confined space but the edges are rounded so you’re not likely to get cut from them. We would say the only difficult part is dealing with the power supply wires.

The power supply provided appears to be built well for a 350 watt. The heat sinks are as large as some found in power supplies that deliver a higher output. The fan used is an ADDA DC Brushless model 12V, 0.18A with dimensions 80 x 15mm and 29.9cfm airflow. The three case fans are of course Antec TriCool fans with three variable speed settings via switches connected to each fan:

Fan specs [setting/RPM]: Low/1500, Medium/2000, High/2600
Input current: 0.1A, 0.15A, 0.2A
Airflow: 20CFM, 26CFM, 34CFM
Acoustical noise: 18.05dBA, 243.dBA, 30dBA

The included remote is compact, but works well from a distance. It has a power switch to turn on the computer and of course turn it off. All of the other buttons are programmable, although they already work well with MCE. A sliding tray on the bottom of the remote houses the 3V CR2025 battery which is included with the remote.

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