ClearPC, C3 and BeanTech: The Clear Chassis Comparison

ClearPC Construction

The ClearPC was the first case we received, and we were a little surprised at the construction because it is truly like nothing we have ever seen before.  Our case came modified heavily, complete with LED fans, wheels, cleaning solution, and a few other goodies.  We should note that many of these items do not come standard.  However, we came to see that installing components on the ClearPC was not a walk in the park.

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The first disappointment on the ClearPC came because there was no sort of removable motherboard tray.  We have criticized a lot of cases in the past for not having a removable tray, and this should instance should not be an exception.  If we had a single complaint about this case it would be the motherboard installation.  Since there is no removable motherboard tray, and no anchored mounting holes, the motherboard has to be mounted using nuts and bolts.

We spent an excessive amount of time devising a way to properly mount the motherboard on the case.  It turns out it was very difficult to do without two people.  What complicates things the most is that the side panel opening seems to extend about a third up the side of the case.  The bottom two bolts on the motherboard posed a serious problem for us, so we are hoping ClearPC can resolve some of the issues with mounting the motherboard in the next revision of the case.

On the positive side, there are no sharp edges in the case to cut a stray hand on.  This is another golden rule we have at AnandTech, and we are very glad ClearPC was unable to find a way to make molded acrylic dangerous.

The expansion card bay proved to be the second challenge on this case.  The acrylic on the ClearPC cannot be cut thin, so the engineers had to determine a way to hold the expansion cards in the slot using non-traditional methods.  The final result came to be in the form of a second smaller opening over the expansion card bay that houses openings for thumbscrews.  While this idea works in theory, there is very little clearance above the screw to get any leverage on the screws.  This did not please us very much.

PCI Expansion