| Case Specs | Materials | Steel, Plastic |
| Colors (interior / Exterior) | Black / Orange | |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 330 x 275 x 330mm | |
| Motherboard Sizes | Mini-ATX, Micro-ATX, ATX | |
| I/O | USB 3.0 x 2, HD Audio | |
| Bays & Expansion | External 5.25″ | 3 |
| Internal 3.5″ | 3 | |
| Internal 2.5″ | 4 (3+1) | |
| PCI Slots | 7 | |
| Cooling System | Front | 120mm x 2 |
| Top | 120mm x 2 (optional) | |
| Bottom | 120mm x 1 (optional) | |
| Rear | 120mm x 1 | |
| Liquid Cooling Support | Top | 120mm x 2 |
The unit came well protected with a massive sized Styrofoam exterior shell (not shown). Raidmax’s art work on the box really stood out and churned up an atmosphere and promise of pure gaming excitement! The flat back paint job accented with bright orange detailing really made a good first impression.
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The side doors of this case are firm and almost inflexible; after all, the material used is steel. A small window on the business side of the case provides a small peak into the interior, and has hexagons lightly etched into the backside for subtle effects.
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The front of the case comes with one 120mm orange led fan pre–installed behind the bottom grill. The top door swings open 90 degrees to reveal three optic bays (5.25″). The rear also comes pre-installed with one standard 120mm fan. What’s really nice is the bottom of the case has two easily removable filters for the power supply and an additional optional 120mm air intake fan.
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This is where the Viper gets it’s name: the top of the case’s unique venting system certainly does look akin to serious scales of the deadly creature! Near the front on the top is the standard headphones / microphone jack and two USB 3.0 jacks. The slot in the middle-top is a hot-swap port for an SSD drive if the need ever arises.
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Where the versatility of this case comes in is under the hood of the plastic shroud. The entire piece can be lifted off to reveal options for either a water-cooling radiator mount, two optional 120mm fans, or both.
Here’s the case stripped (sides and top removed to show everything). All of the wires with the exception of the front fan wire have plenty of length to them. Oddly enough the front fan needed a small extension to attach to the motherboard, but your mileage may vary depending on what motherboard used. The installation configuration is set up for a standard ATX size motherboard; however, a micro-ATX or even mini-ATX motherboard can still be easily installed.
This top down view (without the plastic shroud) shows where the radiator can be bolted in. For this review we are opting to install two optional 120mm led fans on the top for a solid exhaust air-flow.
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The accessories included special bolts for the mounting of a radiator on top, Velcro straps for wire management, and plastic brackets for mounting hard drives without tools.
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The schematic (included in manual) shows a quick overview on the complete breakdown and assembly of the case; just a quick primer before the build section next.
The components listed below where chosen to compliment the theme of the “Gamer ATX” case. Granted not an extreme enthusiasts system for hard-core gaming; yet very respectable for providing a solid 1080p experience (while maintaining a respectable frame rate). The components run fairly hot with constant hours of game play; let’s see how the Viper GX can handle the heat.
| System Test Build | |
| Case | Raidmax Viper GX II |
| CPU | Intel Core I5 3570K Ivy Bridge @ 3.4GHz |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright (6 copper heat pipe / nickel plated) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z77-HD4 |
| RAM | Corsair Vengence 16GB (8x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz |
| GPU | Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670 OC TI (2GB) |
| SSD | Intel 80GB SATA III |
| Hard Drives | Western Digital 160GB / 7200 RPM (x2) |
| PSU | Corsair CX500M |
A slight modification was done with the rear exhaust fan being swapped out with one that matched the front of the case (this was for aesthetics only and did not affect performance). For being a mid-tower ATX case, there was ample space to work with everything installing fairly easily. Wire management (as seen in the second panel) was a bit challenging with the Viper GX II, but the right side cover helped keep everything tidied up and secure.
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Here’s a detailed shot of how the tool-less plastic rails attach to the hard drives: The small pins go into the screw holes prior to dropping the whole assembly into one of the drive receptacles. A solid, resounding and satisfying “click” indicates a locked drive.
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When the Viper GX II received it’s first true taste of power, it burst into life with a roar of fans, settling down into a quiet hiss. With both side panels secured the case was almost completely silent despite a total of five 120mm fans.
Due to the fact that this is from Raidmax and is labeled as a gaming case, it is required to show off some of the elements of why it is called the Viper GX II. The low level light shots on the left depict the top fans without and with the plastic shroud on: Note the fancy venting! The left panel details the warm orange glow behind the front grill. Raidmax also offers an array of colored led 120mm fans at their website.
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Overall the build experience for the Viper GX II was a positive experience and easy to work with. The entire build took approximately three hours.
One of the most important factors of a bonafide gamer case is how it can handle interior temperatures. Depending on how this is addressed is a core factor (water–cooled versus air cooled). With four basic 120mm fans the interior ambient temperature was never higher then 6 degrees Fahrenheit above room temperature. If water-cooling was implemented it would have been even much lower. Keep in mind that this configuration implements a high-performance CPU cooler.
The Viper GX II performed admirably with the two optional 120mm fans added on top. Cooling was a non-issue with the added bonus of how the case handled fan noise. This is partially due to all the steel used (helping with vibrations and cutting down on turbulence issues).
Esthetically speaking, Raidmax categorizes this product as a gamer’s ATX case, and it certainly supports that with the following style factors: contrasting accent colors, a matching led front grill fan, and of course the top slit-shroud giving the Viper GX II it’s name. The Viper’s shroud also hosts all I/O for USB 3.0 (x2), audio, and an optional SSD hot-swap drive (adding even more to basic functionality).
The Raidmax Viper GX II is available online now for $84.99 (Newegg). To be honest at this price point the case should have come loaded with perhaps 1-2 more fans; however, the element of using all steel certainly has an impact on the pricing. If a seriously strong case with decent style is a prerogative in your case choice, the Raidmax Viper GX II should be a strong contender.
Pro’s:
+ Attractive case with smooth lines.
+ Incredibly strong and mostly inflexible.
+ Versatile options concerning cooling.
+ Hot-swap SSD easily accessible.
+ Filters on air intakes on the bottom.
Con’s:
– Very heavy when fully loaded (a trade off for steel).
– Front 120mm fan needs slightly longer wire.
– Wire management could addressed better.
Ratings;
- Performance: 9.25
- Appearance: 9.25
- Construction: 8.75
- Functionality: 8.50
- Value: 7.50
