Xigmatek Aquila Windowed Caseking King Mod Review
Category : Cases
Published by Luca Rocchi on 20.03.15
Aquila is the latest case from Xigmatek, which features a compact form factor as well as space for mATX motherboards. Despite its small dimensions, there is actually enough space for small high-end gaming systems and therefore it might be a case that offers some rather interesting options. Apart from the fact, that there is space for high-end graphics cards you'll also be able to install an all-in-on watercooler. In order to make the case more silent, Caseking supplied and installed high quality noise dampening panels, which promises very silent operation.
Today,
we will be checking out one of the latest cases from Xigmatek, the cube case
Aquila Windowed. This version was sent to us by Caseking and uses a large amount of noise dampening panels placed on each side panel.
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Preview
Specifications
Model: |
Xigmatek Aquila King Mod |
Case Type: |
Cube case |
Dimensions: |
265mm (W) x 403 mm (H) x 390 mm (D) |
Material: |
Steel |
Color: |
Black |
Drive Bay: |
5.25": |
1 |
3.5": |
2 |
2.5": |
2 |
Expansion
slots: |
4 |
Form factors: |
mATX, Mini-ITX |
Cooling: |
Front: |
1x 120/140mm or 1x 200mm (included) |
Rear: |
1x 120mm (included) |
Top: |
2x 120mm |
Bottom: |
/ |
Side: |
/ |
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Bundle
Overview |
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The Xigmatek Aquila Windowed bundle is pretty straight-forward. The actual box is made out of cardboard with all the basic informations printed on it. Inside, we found the
Aquila wrapped up in a plastic bag, and safely placed inside two big pieces of styrofoam, so that even the roughest shipment cannot break it. Along with the case itself, the bundle also includes an instruction manual, which is always helpful, and a few other things like the plastic bag with enough screws needed to assemble your system, a couple of zip-ties which should help you get a better cable management. Since this version belongs to the "King Mod" series of Caseking, inside you will find few noise dampening panels ready to be used.
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Product overview
Overview |
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The Xigmatek Aquila Windowed is
a cube case desinged for mATX motherboards. The case comes with a mesh finish covering the front as well as the top. Both side panels are big, well made and without any mesh or spots for vents. The top panel features
the power button while on right side panel there is the I/O panel with two USB 3.0 ports as well as standard audio jacks. The back panel is pretty standard as
it includes a place for a 120mm fan, the I/O opening for the motherboard, four expansion slots, two rubberized holes for liquid cooling systems and the opening for
a standard ATX PSU. At the bottom you will not find the classic four feet since the Xigmatek Aquila rests on a couple of curved bars placed also on top panel. These bars are screwed to the main chassis with four screws for each bar, made entirely of plastic with black matte finish. |
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Installation
Overview |
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The Xigmatek Aquila Windowed is compatible with mATX and mini-ITX
motherboards. The motherboard itself is placed in a horizontal position, therefore
there should not be any big problems with the installation of large heatsinks. The case
features two levels, where the bottom level is reserved for the PSU and SSDs/HDDs
which can be mounted without any tools thanks to a tool-less 3.5/2.5-inch
system. The second level offers space for the motherboard with a small window for esily installing a backplate. For our system we chose to use
the ASUS Maximus V Gene motherboard with graphics cards of various length. After placing the motherboard in its seat we
had some wiring issues with longer graphics card, since the part of
the graphics card where you need to plug in PCI-Express power connectors was completely covered by
the 2.5-inch
cage. Thankfully, that same cage is removable so it was not a big issue.
As far as the power supply is concerned, we used a standard sized PSU but struggled
to get a good cable management since the small area meant for the PSU is too short and without
a modular PSU you could have some problems.
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Ventilation options
Overview |
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The
cooling part of the Xigmatek Aquila Windowed is decent as there are a few different spots to install fans. The package includes two fans with 3-pin headers, where one measures 200mm in diameter and the other 120mm. Apart from that there is space for two 120 mm fans
at the top and one at the back. In addition to those mounting places,
the Aquila can also house a 200mm fan at the front. As you could have
guessed, this means there should be enough room for a 240mm liquid
cooling radiator at the top. For our test, we used a cooler from be quiet! without encountering any problem as you can see from the image below. |
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Temperatures
Overview |
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As we already mentioned, this case is being equipped with additional noise dampening panels from Caseking and therefore the German distributor and shop sell it as a so called "King Mod" product. To achieve an as efficient as possible noise insulation there are two additional panels included in the delivery, using which you can even cover the front and back. In this case you should be aware that this will have a serious impact on temperatures, since no fresh air is being sucked into the case neither is hot air going to be pushed out of it.
For testing purposes we're using an ASUS P8Z77-I ITX motherboard, an Intel Core i5-2500K CPU, which receives cooling through a be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 cooler as well as a Club3D R9 290X royalAce graphics card. To put the CPU under full load, we're running prime95 for 10 min and in the case of the GPU we use Furmark also for 10 minutes. After these ten minutes, we're going to write down the temperatures. |
All noise dampening panels installed |
Idle (°C) |
Full (°C) |
Intel Core i5-2500K |
33 / 34 / 31 / 33 |
67 / 68 / 65 / 67 |
Club3D R9 290X royalAce |
41 |
92 |
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Less is better |
Front and rear fans installed |
Idle (°C) |
Full (°C) |
Intel Core i5-2500K |
24 / 25 / 25 / 27 |
54 / 52 / 55 / 54 |
Club3D R9 290X royalAce |
32 |
74 |
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Less is better |
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Conclusion
General |
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Xigmatek Aquila
is a sleek little case, which is available in two different colors. Unlike what you might think,
it isn't a small case
at all, and with the right precautions, you should be able to install high-end video cards. The build quality is pretty good and the materials are pleasant to
the touch. |
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- Bundle
- Price
- Noise dampening
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Manufacturing quality / Ergonomics |
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The Aquila is made of SGCC and ABS
where as the basic structure got painted black and and the plastic
panels are available in different colors. Although the side panels are quite light and thin, which is never a good sign, we did not observe
stability issues with this case. Apart from that there are no sharp edges
at all. As for the mounting, we found some problems during the installation of
longer graphics cards as well as with the power supply. These issues are
related to proper cable routing and system from the simple fact, that in
there isn't too much space in this case. Although it is mentioned that
the maximum length for PSUs is 160 millimeter, this makes for a rather
tight fit. In addition, also the dust filter of the PSU is not easy to removed since you have to lift up the case in order to clean that filter. |
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- Build quality
- Tool-less
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- PSU space
- PSU dust filter hard to remove
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Design |
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The design is always a subjective aspect, however, we believe that, with the Aquila, Xigmatek managed to get a sophisticated design created for those who seek silence but are also willing to have a good internal cooling. As mentioned in the previous pages, the space inside the Aquila Windowed is
sufficient but at the same time there also isn't too much space. We particularly enjoyed the upper zone dedicated to the installation of radiators and heatsinks, since it offers plenty of room for both. Regarding cooling,
the bundle includes a 200mm and a 120 mm
fan which are pre-installed with the case and there is space for
two additional 120mm fans at the top. |
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- Design
- Water cooling solutions
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Temperatures |
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Having a closer look at temperatures of the configuration we used for testing, we see that with the front and the rear fan in place, temperatures are on a reasonable level. If we cover the front and the back with noise dampening panels, especially the temperature of the graphics card is going to be very high. Nevertheless, if you do wish a silent case with very effective noise insulation, then putting all noise absorbing panels in place can definitely make sense. But make sure in this case you're not using a graphics card with very high TDP or throttling issues could be the result. |
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- Low noise |
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Recommendation |
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If you are looking for a small case,
which is compatible with mATX motherboards and lets you build rather
powerful gaming systems, then the Aquila from Xigmatek should be considered.
The soundproofing material selected and used by Caseking is excellent and
offers different options to the user. In Casekings online shop the Xigmatek
Aquila Windowed King Mod is available for 79.90 euro excluding shipping costs. |
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Gaming-PC
- Modding
- Price |
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Rating |
The Xigmatek Aquila Windowed gets good
4 out of 5 stars. |
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