Present your case.

Manufactured and Marketed by: Addtronics
'Net price: $110 6890; $130 6896
Rating: 4.5 woo-hoo's! (93%-96%)

About the time the hardware geek's world was rushing headlong into Celeron overclocking, Caesar's review of the Supermicro SC-750A burst onto the scene. For the hardware enthusiast, this case had it all--loads of space, multiple cooling fan capabilities, PS options--you name it. It looked like it could meet the needs of any enthusiast. Despite that fact, we, like Dr. Evil, went looking for an alternative to the SC750. We didn't have to go far, though.  Readers may remember that Caesar mentioned the a company named "Addtronics" in his review, the company that is the OEM supplier to SuperMicro for the 750A (among others).  In fact, every time you read "SC-750A," you should also think of the Addtronics 789x line.  

Starting there, we found an alternative, alright.  In fact, we found two. What started out as one review ended up as two--how's that for a deal?

Why find an alternative to the biggest, mostest case, the one named Playcase of the Year by Maximum PC? The one given much laudation by Caesar (who's only one of 5 Ars guys who own that case)?  In a phrase, "fit"--the fit between the enthusiast buyers' lascivious hardware wants and their actual needs.

Fact one: my systems tend not to be configured to do all and be all in one case. Resources where I work are spread out somewhat to reduce risk. The Office-Training LAN I use, administer and enhance has five or six computers on it. Some are configured as workstations oriented to a single purpose and some for server use; all are re-configurable for different OS systems in training exercises.

Fact two: In this office layout, the SC-750A's size is a liability. Desktops here, for the most part, are set for 26" clearance under the desktop--and the casters option on the Addtronics site caught my eye. The SC-750A actually would only fit in only one location in the office, and all of its features surely weren't needed.

BUT THE NEXT SIZE DOWN WOULD FIT. Addtronics makes what they call a "full tower line," the 689x series. Just over 21" tall, it would fit handily, even allowing room on top for an external modem or parallel ZIP. The quality and durability would be appreciated. That case had to be checked out.

In late January, two 6890s were ordered out from Addtronics. Two Celeron overclockers were about to be built for a client, and this client was flexible enough on delivery that we could really scrutinize these cases. As it turned out, those Celeron projects were set aside for while. Then, when we returned to them and to writing this review, we found--well, we found a variant of the 6890, the 6896, at the Addtronics site. With a three-fan lower section, the 6896 obviously had improved cooling characteristics, and looked to be perfect for another client specification (not to mention my own office server tower replacement-hehe). Some e-mailing around produced another likely buyer, and another order was made.  Let's take a look at the specs:

The 689x size appears to be descended from the original AT case specifications: if you're old enough to know or have used one of those IBM ATs in the mid-to-late eighties, you will know the Addtronics 689x immediately--just lay it on its side on your desk. (Yes, we used to work that way. For about $30.00--$45.00 in 1999 dollars--and up, you could even buy racks or a box heavy duty enough to put UNDER the full-AT case and your 14" EGA monitor sitting on top of it for keyboard storage.)

Next: the 6896 arrives