Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570

Gigabyte's name is known more for its motherboards than for its cases. Whilst the company has put a lot of effort into silicon-based products, many people don't know that the chaps there do a decent line in aluminium chassis and watercooling kit. We previously looked at the Aurora case back in 2005, and decided that it was a very nice case, especially for the money.

Today, we have the latest iteration of that case series on test - the 3D Aurora 570. This has many of the same features but with some interesting tweaks. How does it stack up against the legion of other aluminium cases out there? This is what we are on board to find out.

The case is pretty big - definitely one of the biggest tower cases we've seen in a while. It's closer to the size of a Lian Li PC70 than a PC60, and this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it means there's lots of room for high-end kit. On the other hand, it's going to be taking up a lot of room on your desk.

It's all aluminium, and it's got a door on the front - so, if you hate doors, you'll either want to stay away or you'll want to get out the screwdriver and pull it off. As you can see, there is a window of sorts in the side - we'll come back to that.

The front section of the case differs from the original Aurora in that the ports are slap bang in the middle of the fascia. There are headers for USB, Firewire and audio, all of which can be easily hooked up to a suitable motherboard. The power and reset buttons sit underneath the lockable door to prevent anyone fiddling with your machine at LAN parties.

The door is made of pretty thick aluminium, and this reflects the overall build quality throughout, which is excellent. The case feels solid without being bulky, and well-made without being luxurious. The front also features a lighty-uppy logo which is, well, great if you like in-your-face branding. We weren't so keen though.