Xigmatek Aquila Micro ATX PC Chassis Review

SYSTEM INSTALLATION – CONT’D

Looking at the back side of the Aquila you can see there wasn’t much room for cable management. I had to stuff everything next to the PSU and under the SSD to get it all to fit and not look like total crap. I suppose that the GPU will cover things from the window side for the most part though. Also the wiring going up to the DVD drive looks out of place. My vote would have been to put the 5.25″ bay on teh bottom with the fan/rad mounts above it.

The combo LED was bright enough to be noticed but not over bearing at all. It’s always on blue when the PC is on and blinks red for HDD activity.

CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY

Xigmatek did pretty good with the Aquila. It’s a unique take on the small form factor market and has styling that sets it apart from the rest. Some may or may not like the tilted design but it’s there for a reason – to give more room for taller CPU coolers and longer graphics cards. Storage options are limited with the Aquila, especially if you put a radiator in the front. The PSU mount could be greatly improved by adding an extension plate similar to what the Cooler Master HAF XB and Elite cases have where the PSU protrudes out the back about 1/2″.

This would give more clearance for larger PSU’s like the one we tested with.  The fact that you can hold a Micro-ATX board with two powerhouse GPU’s in a case this small says something though. I’m not sure if it’ll be a BitFenix Prodigy M killer or not but it’s a good shot. The Xigmatek Aquila will be available in December with a ~$106 price tag for the windowed version and a ~$99 price tag for the non-windowed version.

Watch For Pricing of the Xigmatek Aquila at Amazon.