X-bit labs

MSI MEGA 865: Hi-Fi Barebone System Review (page 7)

Category: Mobile

by Vasily Melnik

[ 07/08/2004 | 10:42 AM ]

MEGA 865: A Look from the Inside

The dimensions of the case of this barebone put serious limitations on the placement of the internal components. You can’t call this box “spacious” – a few extra centimeters of height and/or width wouldn’t spoil its appearance, but would certainly help the system components to breathe freely. Cabling and attaching was mostly performed at the factory, so the user has only to connect the devices, following the labels.

The drives basket consists of a bay for the optical drive and a 3.5” FDD bay. At the bottom, there’s a third bay, also 3.5”, which is occupied by a card reader in the Deluxe version. To unmount the basket, you undo six screws, but even after that you have to face the daunting task of extracting the basket out of the case.

Regrettably, MSI didn’t include some more trims for the front panel in case the user wanted to use this space for installation of another HDD or a 3.5” floppy drive, although you can remove the card reader’s panel: the whole front panel can be removed and then you can take out the card-reader: