Gadgetory

it's been a while since the Alpha species was observed in this odd state with fancy new markings to attract curious spectators this is a very unusual sight as this family prepares to feed on the hardware after the evolution of its distinct features this particular alpha is to roam into the wild reflecting anything in its path the species is unlike anything from the only family the bone structure is no longer aluminum and we're about to witness one of the great phenomena with the return of Lee and Lee back into its natural habitat this alpha will need to feed to survive let's study the species to determine its fate right after this choose be quiet to join the silent revolution designed and tested in Germany their meticulous passion for quiet PC components ranges from premium power supplies CPU coolers and fans and innovative PC cases all of which aim to achieve one thing is this thing even on that's right totally quiet power supplies even under load silent Lynx fans deliver awesome airflow with noise that doesn't reach your ears all enclosed in the package designed to be quiet so guys I'm extremely excited to finally check out something different from Liam Lee there are new mid tower cases the Alpha 330 and 550 the price ports are fine considering all the glass and modern interiors but it is strange how there is nothing aluminium on these cases which has been the staple for Lily for so long and despite the good built quality of the frame they feel almost generic but I am so happy they have simplified their naming schemes and not the usual PC - random numbers and letters and I'm hoping this trend will continue now as part of their restructuring of the brand we have a new logo that is recognizable at all it does remind me a little bit of the Fantastic Four but I like the subtle integration of the logo on the front panel and on the interior so the frame when these two is basically identical it's a good direction because buying the cheaper model doesn't mean worse assembly process there's a large bottom dust filter it's removable from the side and it's built into the case feet which is why they look so ugly there are dual vertical PCI brackets which are pretty close to the side panel with no riser card nor mounting accessories included on either model the right side panel is blacked out to hide the power supply area while letting you showcase all those drives and the cable work above and the interiors are identical in every way so what exactly is different so the 550 has extra paneling on the front and the top with side ventilation whereas the 330 doesn't so top radiator options on the smaller version are less ideal for example the 330 has a dust filter up top with triple 120 or dual 140 mm or a fan support which are centered so it's not really good for radiators whereas on the 550 because that additional top panel we have a little bit more height and have a dedicated fan bracket so you can install a 280 millimeter or a 360 moment radiator without interior interference and because the i/o is shifted to the front to triple 140 millimeter fans can be installed here now I say shifted because the i/o on the 330 is right at the top with a type C port that needs to be present on more cases so very happy to see that here with Lea and Lea whereas on the 550 the i/o is hidden behind this front cover making room for that top fan bracket and the cover is angled and doesn't fold all the way down but one of the reasons why I love me a type C port is because of that lower profile motherboard connector now unfortunately Liam Lea got on board with the whole temper glass movement without acknowledging our concerns with air flow and how front glass panels really choke the fans so that's what we have on both cases the spacing between the panel and the fans is way too short and while I appreciate the look of the reflective yet see-through nature of glass I prefer better cooling instead for the front and both cases are actually well equipped for fans so the 550 comes with three 120 millimeter RGB fans mounted on the removable bracket and each case has a black exhaust fan it's like they're trying to get rid of piles of crappy fans because these have molex connectors for power something's not right while the three RGB fans on the 550 are connected to a dedicated controller hub that also requires a molex connection for power with the PWM connector that you need to pull away and route to your motherboard for actual fans control because the hub is only for color granted the illumination is quite nice with many colors and effects but instead of software control we get a remote and so none of the colors match on the color selection so it's best to just cycle until you find something you like now the ambient strip below the i/o is pretty cool but there is no individual LED control so they're all on or there's nothing the fans also have a proprietary connection to the hub which kind of sucks you cannot connect them to your motherboard for example and so because of that I would actually gravitate towards the cheaper 330 and fill it with my own fans and lighting also two of the three stickers are misaligned in the center which really bugs me and I don't know about you guys but the frame on the dust filter is quite distracting it's not really clean with those lines especially more visible on the white model and with regards to that white model I wish they only would go the accent route instead of having the entire frame and white it would help to camouflage those black cables better and I think the best example here is the new h7 100 I from NZXT that still allows that color coordination for your white frame but not just going full white but the interior layout is actually pretty great borrowing many elements from the mainstream like the cable covered the front with the reservoir support there is a pump bracket at the front and there's no 45 millimeters of clearance for a front radiator and a nice long cutout on the shroud for GPU cables that you can maneuver based on the length of your card and more cable cutouts right below the motherboard and storage wise it's excellent with three brackets in the back there are two forces these or hard drives there are two more in the bottom chamber that are completely removable and then there's this a swivel bracket that can house three additional SSDs and actually has secondary purpose to hide cables entering into that main chamber they're also velcro straps available and this bracket is easily removable for drive installation all in all they only has put out a fantastic frame on both sides and so it's time to build all right so first of all the rear section is super wide this is just in case you decide to install those three and a half inch drives on those brackets and this makes cable cleanup super easy with the panel closed you could light up this area for some creative showcase but even with a bit of a cable mess that I've created here it doesn't look terrible I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the interior and I love the light spill from the fans and the multiple entrances on top of the motherboard for cable routing but as usual this is an oversized mid Tower to accommodate water cooling because with this simple setup that I have here it just feels empty I would love a more compact frame like the mesh fic because even with an AO either at the front or the top the case still would feel too long okay so for my conclusion I want to say that I'm pretty happy with leonie's reintroduction into the mainstream I think they have a really fantastic frame on their hands that I hope that they develop a little bit more and evolve the exterior so that we have better air flow options on the exterior so you're not choking the front airflow constantly I want to see more airflow priorities and you know we can lower down the TG sort of addiction from the case manufacturers because I think people want to see more airflow options and not more glass options please now there are GP integration with a 550 feels like an afterthought because everyone's moving towards a software integration and especially tying at the RGB illumination of your case and fans to your motherboard so you can match everything up but with the remote that feels a little bit not as high-quality or premium as you would expect for this price point and I really want to hear what you guys think about my comment about this being just a way too large case for the regular consumer if you're not doing dual radiators then what's the point of having such a large Tower and I would love for companies to start to compact things because it seems like we're ballooning back out this is not a mid Tower this is definitely a full Tower category based on its full support and just the size - I would love to see more compact towers and let me know if you guys agree and so those are my thoughts on the new alpha species from Lee and Lee let me know what you think do you think this will survive in the wild let me know in the comments below thanks much for watching make sure to subscribe for more summer content we'll see you next video