Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Review

Installation
We will be installing our Intel X79 system into the Cyclops.  It is comprised of the following components: Intel Core i7-3820 processor, ASUS P9X79 Pro motherboard, Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 graphics card, 16GB G.Skill RipJawsZ memory, FSP Aurum Pro 700W PSU, OCZ Vertex 4 SSD, 1TB Western Digital HDD, Noctua NH-L12 CPU cooler, ASUS Blu-ray drive.

Of course the first thing you are going to want to do is install your motherboard.  Installing the standoffs was pretty easy, although some did not go in correctly and there was no tool included to properly secure them.  One of the biggest problems I found with this case was being able to install my I/O shield.  I actually tried 3 different I/O shields (ASUS P9X79 Pro, Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H, ASRock X79 Extreme6) and each one really took some tinkering to get in place and even when they were in place they did not feel all that secure at all.  So I managed to get my I/O shield in place and I went to install my motherboard.  To my surprise the only hole on my motherboard that actually lined up correctly was the bottom left hold.  All of the other ones were off.  I took my motherboard out and tried to put it back in 3 more times and it was the same result.  I decided the only was I was going to get my motherboard installed was to not use an I/O shield.  Once I removed the I/O shield (which I don’t recommend) I was able to install my motherboard.

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

Next I went to install my solid state drive.  It screws into the bottom of the case.  Installing it took a little time because it is quite hard to line up the holes of the drive, while trying to screw in the screws.  If I would have used a screwdriver with a magnetic end it would have been easier because the screws would not have been falling when I tried to screw them in.  Also the bottom placement of the solid state drive makes it very hard to connect it to your power supply, especially if the cables are thicker.

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

For the 3.5-inch hard drives you will need to install them in one of the three drive adapters.  They go in pretty easily and can be secured with screws.  Then you take the entire adapter and slide it in an open bay at the front of the case.  Using these adapters you cannot use the tool-less locking system because the holes do not line up correctly at all.  Also because of the front intake fan the drive sticks out a bit, which if we would have installed it higher it would have blocked connections on our motherboard.  Since there are only three adapters you can ONLY install three 3.5-inch hard drives.  That just seems a bit limited as most cases have room for at least 4 3.5-inch drives if not more!

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

Installing the optical drive was very easy.  You just slide your optical drive in the front of the case and can lock it into place with the tool-less locking system.  The locking system worked pretty good, I really did not have any issues with it.

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

Next is the power supply.  It goes right in the bottom of the case and can be secured with screws at the back.  Here is where another problem arose, only 1 screw hole on the back lined up with our power supply!  I took the power supply out and put it back in very slowly and the holes still did not line up correctly!  So our power supply was only being held into place with a single screw!  After I installed the power supply I went to run all of the cables and realized a few things.  First when an optical drive is installed in the top bay it blocks almost all of the top cable routing hole.  The actual top bay of the case is completely useless!  It is actually blocked on the front by the power and reset button, but Diablotek even put a tool-less adapter on it making us believe that it could be used.  There is no routing hole above the motherboard to route your CPU power cable so that cable has to be routed in front of your motherboard.  All of the cables from the front of the case were tied together using zip ties and they were tired very tightly.  You would need a knife or pliers handy to cut the zip ties so you could connect these cables.

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

Finally the last thing to install is our video card.  I first thought my card would not fit, but you actually have to angle it down and slide it under the front drive cage to get it in.  It went in without any trouble at all.

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

So this is what our system looks like completely installed in the Cyclops.  Below is also a shot of the backside of the case so you can see the cable routing.

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

So let’s power it on!  When you power on the system the blue LED fans will light up as well as the LED strips on the front of the case.  It definitely gives the case a good look!

Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case Diablotek Cyclops Mid Tower Case

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