Enermax has launched a new desktop chassis aimed at gamers and performance buffs alike. Said to be the company's flagship mid-tower case, the "Hoplite" has a solid spec sheet for its $99 asking price. Among the more noteworthy features is two 3.5-inch hotswap drive bays along with an optional top-mounted hotswap drive dock, neither of which is common in a $100 case.
The I/O is home to an eSATA port, audio jacks, and two USB 2.0 ports. In addition to a drive dock, the premium model trades both USB 2.0 ports for USB 3.0. Inside, the Hoplite has a bottom-mounted PSU with a dust filter, cable management cutouts with rubber grommets, extruded side panels so you can stuff wires behind the motherboard tray and a hole below the processor.
Stock cooling includes a 120mm front intake fan with multi-color LED lighting (red/blue) and a 120mm rear exhaust. The side can be outfitted with two 120mm fans or one 200mm fan and the top can take two 120mm or 140mm fans. You can adjust the color and speed of the front intake fan via two controls on the front bezel. There's also two holes with rubber grommets for liquid cooling.
The Hoplite has four 5.25-inch and six 3.5-inch bays with quick release covers and rails for easy drive installation. There's also seven rear expansion slots with clearance for graphics cards measuring up to 315mm long – that's enough space for today's longest consumer card, the Radeon HD 5970. We've seen mixed reports on availability, but it should be on shelves soon if it isn't already.