In Figure 6, you can see the top panel from Element S, which features a 230 mm fan. This fan glows red when turned on and rotates at 800 rpm. The blades from this fan, however, measure 190 mm so it can be in fact smaller than “smaller” fans than have bigger blades.

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Figure 6: Top panel.

On the top panel we have the traditional audio and USB connectors, and this case comes with one eSATA port, which is great. The two USB ports available are far away from each other, allowing you to install two “fat” USB devices at the same time. A case with this construction quality deserved one FireWire port and two extra USB ports, in our opinion.

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Figure 7: Available connectors.

The rear panel from Element S can be seen in Figure 8. What immediately caught our eye was the fact that it is painted black, giving it a very good appearance. On ElementS the power supply is installed on the bottom of the case. Each side panel is attached to the chassis using three black thumbscrews and there is space for installing two optional 60-mm fans above the expansion slots. This case comes with a rear 140 mm fan that rotates at 1,000 rpm. Another interesting accessory that comes with this case is a cable holder for the mouse and keyboard cables, in order to prevent them from being stolen.

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Figure 8: Rear panel.

Now let’s take a look inside Element S.