Streacom has announced the launch of its Alpha case series, which takes its existing designs and recreates them from the ground up with 'not a single part' being re-used between generations.
Although Streacom hasn't gone entirely back to the drawing board for the Alpha series, it claims to have gone through its portfolio of existing designs and reimplemented them from the ground-up. The company describes the process as 'a total reboot' with 'not a single part from any previous case' making the transition - despite each model being near-indistinguishable from their predecessors in exterior design.
The changes, Streacom claims, are more subtle than would be expected. Each model benefits from higher-precision extrusion and CNC machining, resulting in tighter tolerances for all aluminium parts; the anodizing process has been refined with a new surface treatment designed to provide better resistance to dust and fingerprints; the drive trays have been tweaked to make installation easier; models marked 'Optical' now come with a dedicated optical drive tray; venting has been rethought to improve internal airflow; the power buttons have been given an O-ring damper and white power LED; all front and side USB ports are PCB-free USB 3.0 models; integrated heatsinks now enjoy uprated heat pipes and improved mount surfaces for better cooling; the number of visible screws has been reduced; the thickness of the acrylic covering the built-in infra-red receiver has been reduced to increase its sensitivity; and even the packaging has been revised to reduce waste and frustration during unboxing.
As well as these across-the-board modifications, each individual model in the company's case range has received its own tweaks: the FC5's bottom panel has been modified to increase its strength, improve its ventilation and offer more drive mounting options; the F7C now supports a 92mm fan and has larger side venting; the FC8 has 'stealth' top-panel venting with no visible holes and a redesigned heatsink claimed to be easier to clean; both the F7C and FC8 now include single-piece extruded aluminium top panels with improved fit, simplified drive trays and dedicated SSD mounting brackets; the FC5, FC9 and FC10 now include USB ports on both sides, thicker top panel brackets to reduce the chance of thread damage, and new silicon feet pads for better damping and grip; the FC9 and FC10 get improved drive trays with variable-position drive mounting; and the FC10 rounds out the changes with standard-width CPI expansion slots for dual-card support.
More information on the new case designs are available at the Streacom website.
Although Streacom hasn't gone entirely back to the drawing board for the Alpha series, it claims to have gone through its portfolio of existing designs and reimplemented them from the ground-up. The company describes the process as 'a total reboot' with 'not a single part from any previous case' making the transition - despite each model being near-indistinguishable from their predecessors in exterior design.
The changes, Streacom claims, are more subtle than would be expected. Each model benefits from higher-precision extrusion and CNC machining, resulting in tighter tolerances for all aluminium parts; the anodizing process has been refined with a new surface treatment designed to provide better resistance to dust and fingerprints; the drive trays have been tweaked to make installation easier; models marked 'Optical' now come with a dedicated optical drive tray; venting has been rethought to improve internal airflow; the power buttons have been given an O-ring damper and white power LED; all front and side USB ports are PCB-free USB 3.0 models; integrated heatsinks now enjoy uprated heat pipes and improved mount surfaces for better cooling; the number of visible screws has been reduced; the thickness of the acrylic covering the built-in infra-red receiver has been reduced to increase its sensitivity; and even the packaging has been revised to reduce waste and frustration during unboxing.
As well as these across-the-board modifications, each individual model in the company's case range has received its own tweaks: the FC5's bottom panel has been modified to increase its strength, improve its ventilation and offer more drive mounting options; the F7C now supports a 92mm fan and has larger side venting; the FC8 has 'stealth' top-panel venting with no visible holes and a redesigned heatsink claimed to be easier to clean; both the F7C and FC8 now include single-piece extruded aluminium top panels with improved fit, simplified drive trays and dedicated SSD mounting brackets; the FC5, FC9 and FC10 now include USB ports on both sides, thicker top panel brackets to reduce the chance of thread damage, and new silicon feet pads for better damping and grip; the FC9 and FC10 get improved drive trays with variable-position drive mounting; and the FC10 rounds out the changes with standard-width CPI expansion slots for dual-card support.
More information on the new case designs are available at the Streacom website.
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