Performance Analysis

As expected, the lack of exhaust fan is to the detriment of CPU temperatures, and this is more of a concern in a case like this where all-in-one cooler support is more limited. The front fan does not appear to be a high-performance one, so even though the GPU wasn’t overheating, it was warmer than in a lot of other cases.

There is not a lot of noise produced by the front fan, even at full speed. The tempered glass also helps to hold in system noise, but there are outlets and it's not designed as a low-noise case.

Conclusion

Our opinion at the time of the original Spec-04 review was that while it was a functional case, its £55 launch price was too high and put it in competition with cases that offered considerably more. That case is now below £45, which is more reasonable, but the £60 launch price of this case is again simply too high. While the tempered glass panel is an improvement, the case is sorely lacking in a number of other areas – single USB 3.0 port, no PSU shroud, limited cable routing options, no roof dust filter, and lacklustre cooling performance, to name a few examples. The Antec P8 costs the same but is better on all these fronts, so again the Spec-04 remains too expensive in the face of stiff competition. If the price comes down like the original, it might be worth considering, but for now you can safely give this one a miss.