Founded in spring 2010, Cubitek is a relative newcomer to the chassis industry, but that's not stopping it from challenging the biggest names in the business – including veteran Lian Li. Last month, the company unveiled its latest ICE series with five premium models spanning everything from Mini-ITX to HPTX.
The most affordable is the Mini-ICE, which runs $170 and supports Mini-ITX boards. Next up is the $260 Micro-ICE for MicroATX boards. That's followed by the ATX-ICE ($280), which, as you probably guessed, supports ATX boards. Larger still is the EATX-ICE for $320, which handles up to and including EATX.
If that's not big enough for you, Cubitek offers the $360 HPTX-ICE, which stands 559mm (22") tall and 613mm (24") long. All of the ICE series chassis feature a 2.5mm aluminum construction and Cubitek says this makes them stronger than standard aluminum cases while maintaining a thin and light figure.
Given our preference for full tower chassis like Cooler Master's HAF X and Storm Trooper, it should come as little surprise that we're reviewing the heftiest of Cubitek's new arrivals. We're also interested in the largest model as few enclosures support EVGA's HPTX form factor (mostly just Lian Li cases).
Besides, at $360, the HPTX-ICE is among the priciest cases around, so we're expecting good things – though the competition is certainly stiff. Lian Li's PC-V2120 is $350, and it left a strong impression when we reviewed in 2010. Let's move on and see what the HPTX-ICE is made of – literally and figuratively...