AZZA Solano 1000 CSAZ-1000 Full Tower Case (Black)

Looks Killer, Great Cable Management, Lots of Space. That's where the good ended for me.

I bought this mainly to fit an Antec Kuhler 920, should have done my research before hand though, because you can't install the side panel with the 230mm fan when the 920's Fan/Radiator assembly is installed in the rear 120mm exhaust fan slot. But I don't blame the case, I should have thought of this problem before I bought the case. I was able to install the 920 with the Radiator assembly on the floor of the case, but it really gets in the way of the cables and the hoses just barely reach.

My main problem with this case is how much work I had to do with a screw driver. Everything is screwed shut. It probably took me 3 times longer to install my hardware it this case than it took me to remove it from my original case, and build a new machine in that case. The drive bays are a HUGE pain to access, you have to remove the front and both side panels (4 Screws). The bays are held in with 8 screws each (+16) before you can slide the entire bay out and then mount your drives (+4x2). So 32 screws out then back in to install 2 drives. The best part was when I finally had everything installed and went to plug power into the drives and found that I was about 1/3 of an inch short of my power cable being able to reach, so I had to take EVERYTHING back apart to move the drive up one slot. ARG!

The concept for cable management is good but there isn't enough space in the cable "hiding" area, especially for the main Power cable. Getting the right side panel back on was pretty tricky and took 2 people, one adjusting all the cables and holding them steady while a second puts the panel back on.

The next issue was that once I got it all together and powered up, the top 230mm fan is half DOA. By half I mean that the red L.E.D.s turn on but the fan does not spin. There is a 3 speed switch for this fan but it never started to work no matter what I set it at. According to Azza's RMA page I either have to pull this fan out and send it in and wait 5 business days to receive a new one, or send the entire case. I did call Azza customer service and they said if I would send an email explaining the situation and a copy of my invoice that they would send a replacement first and I could send the defective one after I receive the new one, so +1 for good customer service.

Anyway, overall I'm not in love with this case, can't decide if I want to bother with RMA for the fan or just exchange this for a new case.

The Azza Solano is what I would consider a good budget case for those who plan on moving alot of air to cool their components. 10 drive bays on the front side allow for customization and individual configuration. The case comes standard with a total of 5 fans already installed! The large 230mm intake on the side, for gpu cooling, a large 200mm top of case for heat exhaust, as well as a rear firing 140mm at the top of case for additional heat exhaust. Two 140mm front intake which fit nicely in the hdd racks act as front intake, and additonal gpu/memory/cpu cooling. A few issues I ran into were:
1. The supplied blue led front intake fans are the absolute cheapest made. They didn't even last 2 weeks before starting to make noise, and eventually locking up at 3 weeks. This is unacceptable performance for any fan. This wasn't a big issue for me, as I replaced the front fans with the fans supplied with my corsair H70 cooler. Much more reliable and they move alot more air.
2. No cutout behind the cpu socket. This should be standard issue in todays case design, with more and more people needing to access the rear of the mobo tray for aftermarket cooling solutions. Again, not a huge issue, as I simply dremelled a cutout, and applied some automotive molding to the cutout for safety.
3. Just not quite enough room for neatly routing the power cords neccessary for todays multiple graphics cards configurations.
4. The side fans is wired to the electrical. This makes removing the side panel a bit of a pita. Would have been better to install electrical contacts, instead.
What this case does offer is:
-Versatility for running water cooling setups with built in tubing grommets.
-Plenty of room to get inside and work, even for big hands.
-A built in fan switch to adjust airflow and case lights to your taste.
-A very large side window to show off components.
-A good quality all black paint job inside and out, from the factory.
-The capability to truly "air cool" your components with massive air flow.
I also appreciate the included front mesh inserts. You can run all 10 if you choose, and have an all mesh case front. I can comfortably recommend this case, as it has been mostly a pleasure to work with.