Introduction

The Luxo M10 is the latest mid-tower case from Gigabyte, targeted to the average user. It presents an “inverted” design, where the motherboard is installed against the left panel, instead of against the right panel. Let’s see what the Luxo M10 has to offer.

The reviewed case is available in black with two color options for its meshes: black or red. We reviewed the model with red meshes.

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Figure 1: Gigabyte Luxo M10 case

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Figure 2: Gigabyte Luxo M10 case

Because of its “inverted” design, two 120 mm fans are available on the case’s right panel, and not on its left panel. These fans glow in red when turned on and use standard peripheral power connectors, so you can’t install them on your motherboard. No technical specifications for the fans are provided.

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Figure 3: Right panel

The Front and Top Panels

The Gigabyte Luxo M10 has three external 5.25” bays, all protected by meshed covers with air filters. The front panel comes with a 120 mm fan installed, which glows red when turned on. This fan uses a standard peripheral power connector. Even though it also has a three-pin fan power connector, which allows you to install this fan on the motherboard, the fan lacks the speed monitoring wire, so you won’t be able to monitor its speed. No technical specifications for this fan are provided. There is an air filter for this fan.

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Figure 4: Front panel

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Figure 5: Front panel

The top panel of the Gigabyte Luxo M10 case comes with two 120 mm fans. These fans use standard peripheral power connectors, so you can’t install them on your motherboard. No technical specifications for the fans are provided.

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Figure 6: Top panel

You will find two USB 3.0 ports and the traditional audio jacks on the top panel of the case. The USB 3.0 ports use an internal connector.

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Figure 7: Buttons and connectors

The Bottom and Rear Panels

The bottom panel has an air filter for the power supply fan. The rear panel and the interior of the Gigabyte Luxo M10 case are painted in black.

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Figure 8: Bottom panel

The case has seven expansion slots, with disposable covers.

The rear panel comes with a 120 mm fan. This fan uses a standard peripheral power connector. Even though it also has a three-pin fan power connector, which allows you to install this fan on the motherboard, the fan lacks the speed monitoring wire, so you won’t be able to monitor its speed. No technical specifications for this fan are provided.

On the Gigabyte Luxo M10 case, the power supply goes on the bottom part of the case.

There are two holes, protected with rubber covers, for hoses of liquid cooling solutions. They are 0.7” (18 mm) in diameter.

The case has an anti-theft device for cabled peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and headsets.

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Figure 9: Rear panel

Let’s now take a look inside the Gigabyte Luxo M10 case.

Inside the Gigabyte Luxo M10 Case

Both panels are attached to the chassis using black thumbscrews. Because of its “inverted” design, you must remove the right panel to open the case to install components. The motherboard tray has a huge hole for you to access the backplate of the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case, several holes for you to route cables behind it, and several metallic clips for you to fasten cables behind the motherboard tray using cable ties.

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Figure 10: Overall look

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Figure 11: A view behind the motherboard tray

Figure 12 gives you another overall look inside the case. Expansion cards are fastened using regular screws, but at least they are black. The Gigabyte Luxo M10 supports video cards up to 10.2” (260 mm) long.

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Figure 12: Overall look

As already explained, the power supply is installed at the bottom of the case. Note that it can be installed with either its bottom fan facing up or facing down, so you can decide if you want the fan of your power supply pulling air from inside the case or from outside of it. As already shown, there is an air filter for the power supply fan. The Luxo M10 supports power supplies up to 11.8” (300 mm) deep. The case doesn’t support the installation of fans on its bottom panel.

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Figure 13: Power supply compartment

The Disk Drive Bays

The Gigabyte Luxo M10 case has three 5.25” external bays and eight 3.5” internal bays. However, the case only comes with tool-less installation mechanisms for four hard drives. There is no support for 2.5” devices, which is inadmissible nowadays.

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Figure 14: Disk drive bays

Main Specifications

The main specifications for the Gigabyte Luxo M10 case include:

• Style: Mid-tower
• Application: ATX and smaller form factors
• Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC) body
• Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product
• Available colors: Black with black or red meshes
• Side panel: Meshed
• Dimensions: 16.9 x 7.6 x 17.3 inches (430 x 192 x 440 mm) (H x W x D)
• Net weight: 13 Lbs (6 kg)
• Gross weight: 16 Lbs (7.2 kg)
• Bays: Three external 5.25” bays and eight internal 3.5” bays (tool-less mechanisms only on four of them)
• Expansion slots: Seven
• Maximum video card length: 10.2” (260 mm)
• Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
• Fans: One 120 mm fan on the front panel (red LEDs), two 120 mm fans on the top panel, two 120 mm fans on the right panel (red LEDS), and one 120 mm fan on the rear panel
• Optional fans: None
• Extra Features: Anti-theft device for cabled peripherals
• More Information: http://www.gigabyte.us
• Average Price in the U.S.*: USD 79.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.

Conclusions

We can’t understand why some large hardware manufacturers when entering the case (and power supply) market, opt for going with entry-level products that don’t use the best-quality parts, don’t have all the features required, and cost more than they should. We can’t imagine BMW or Porsche releasing a car made of cheap parts and without ABS; this would hurt the brand. But for some reason, some manufacturers don’t understand that you should have good-quality products across the board; otherwise, you jeopardize the value of your brand.

The Luxo M10 looks cheap, doesn’t support SSDs (which is a requirement nowadays), and costs more than it should (there are better products costing the same or even less). These are the main reasons we can’t recommend this case.

Strong Points

• Vented covers with air filters for the external 5.25” bays
• Air filter for the front and power supply fans
• Anti-theft device for cabled peripherals
• Supports a total of eight 3.5” storage devices
• A huge hole in the motherboard tray for accessing the backplate of the CPU cooler
• Holes for routing cables behind the motherboard tray
• Clips for fastening cables behind the motherboard tray

Weak Points

• Has the look and feel of a USD 60 case, yet it costs almost USD 80
• Fans don’t have three-pin connectors (the front and rear fan have them, but they lack the speed monitoring wire)
• No air filter for the side fans
• Slot covers are not reusable
• No support for 2.5” devices
• Comes with tool-less installation mechanisms only on half of the 3.5” bays