A Closer Look - Outside

Taking a look at the Anubis case itself, it does bear some resemblance to the NZXT Tempest at first sight. Luckily general appearance is the only real similarity, as the inside is quite different. The material used is aluminum, but a special kind. It is a "6063 T5 Alloy" which does feel much sturdier than traditional aluminum and also has a different feel to it. According to Hiper's marketing team Lockheed Martin uses this material for the wings of jet fighters.


The front of the case features a very elaborately designed door. While the door does consist of a single piece, the top, which covers the drives is designed completely different than the bottom, which acts as a fan cover. The door opens from left to right, which is what you would expect. The rear does not hold anything out of the ordinary, but is silver and black.


Inside the door, the visual difference between the top and bottom becomes even more apparent. The bottom three drive bays hold the hard drive cage, which is covered by a black fan grill. Above that the external drive bays do not hold anything out of the ordinary.


Each side of the case is held in place by large spring locks. These are silver and do disturb the overall look of the case a bit. It would have been nice if they were black ones instead. The one side is seethrough and covered by a metal mesh. This looks quite similar to that found on cases like the Stacker. Hiper has decided to cover the inside of this mesh with a clear Plexiglas window. This means that no dust can enter the case through this opening, but also means that there is no additional airflow.


Taking a closer look at the rear, there is nothing really out of the ordinary. The bottom holds the expansion slots and its covers are actually welded in place and need to broken out before use. I was surprised that an expensive case like this does not feature removable covers.

Next to the expansion slots are two large openings for water cooling to be routed out the back. The middle area is taken by the 120 mm rear fan grill and the mainboard backplate. This is also where the little plaque with the serial number has been placed. Our sample has the number 6801 - a nice touch. The top is meant for the power supply. It can only be mounted one way, as there are no additional holes besides the four standard ones.


The top holds the one included fan. It blows air out toward the top. The entire upper section looks quite unique with the fins. This is where you will find the I/O in form of two USB 2.0, the usual audio and a FireWire connector.


Hiper went all out with the feet and the underside of the fan as well. It is not completely straight but has indents in it instead. This probably adds to the structural integrity of the entire chassis.