The trend toward smaller computers is finally catching up with a staunch holdout: the DIY desktop gaming PC. PC case makers are creating new small-form-factor (SFF) cases that are dramatically smaller than the typical gaming PC, but capable of holding full-size graphics cards and a modest amount of cooling equipment. We've seen such models from Corsair, Fractal Design, SilverStone, Thermaltake, and others. Builder-gear veteran Enermax, perhaps better known for its power supplies, is taking aim at this market with the Steelwing ECB2010 ($160.99), which boasts plenty of style, as well as support for killer graphics cards.
For years, boutique computer manufacturers have designed small-but-powerful PCs for gamers who travel to LAN events or have space constraints; we've started to see some of the mainstream makers, such as Lenovo and Acer, get into that market too. Because of the size (and heat output) of high-end components, building an SFF gaming PC was a task that many gamers preferred to leave to the pros. But the hardware changes that have reduced the sizes of typical home and business desktops are bleeding into the world of the gaming PC.
Components across the board are smaller, cooler, and more powerful than in years past. When designing a gaming PC, you still have the most freedom when opting for a spacious case. But if you want to put your mark on a powerful small gaming rig, a case like the Steelwing ECB2010 can get you there.
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As with full-size PCs, the motherboard holds the key to a solid build. Enermax designed the Steelwing ECB2010 to support both MicroATX and Mini-ITX motherboards, giving users lots of options in a very small corner of the gaming-motherboard market. Both form factors are available with Intel's new 200 series chipsets, but motherboard makers are emphasizing the MicroATX boards, which are larger than Mini-ITX boards. (MicroATX dimensions are 9.6x9.6 inches, while Mini-ITX dimensions are 6.7x6.7 inches.) The extra space gives motherboard manufacturers more room for PCI Express slots and other features. Prices also tend to be more moderate on the MicroATX boards, ironically, as well.
That MicroATX/Mini-ITX support separates the Steelwing ECB2010 from the other SFF cases we've recently reviewed. We checked out the SilverStone Raven RVZ01-E Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX case and kicked the tires on the Mini-ITX-only NZXT Manta, neither of which support the popular MicroATX standard.
On the other hand, both the Manta and the Raven support typical ATX power-supply units (PSUs). The Manta stores its PSU in a lower compartment, much the way the full-size SilverStone Primera PM01 does, and the Raven gets by with short PSUs in the 140mm-to-150mm range. You may well be able to use a PSU from your old PC when building a new system in one of these cases. But the Enermax Steelwing ECB2010 requires a small-form-factor power supply of the kind known as SFX. Pioneered by SilverStone, the SFX power supply is smaller and thinner than a standard ATX power supply.
SFX power supplies also tend to be more expensive than their ATX counterparts of the same wattage; they have to be more compact and efficient in a given amount of space. If you plan to put a high-end graphics card in your Steelwing ECB2010 and want to pair it with a 550-watt Enermax Revolution SFX ERV550SWT, for example, you'll pay $111.12 at Newegg.com. But a standard 550-watt ATX PSU like the Enermax Triathlor Eco ETL550AWT-M (which won't fit in the Steelwing) will set you back just $64.99. The PSU gets mounted in this chassis directly over the motherboard, limiting CPU-cooler space to about 80mm. So while you can do some impressive things in a small space in this case, you have to select your parts with care.
Design and Features
Enermax likes to punctuate its gamer-friendly case designs with one or two large LED fans, and it does that with the Steelwing ECB2010. A 120mm red (or green, depending on the model) fan sits just behind the front-panel grille.
The fan is bright and is all the more eye-catching because it highlights the Steelwing ECB2010's unusual front-panel design. The case has a row of aluminum fins that give the chassis far more personality than any flat front panel ever could...
The front-panel design also precludes an optical drive bay, which might be a deal-breaker for some users. While we wouldn't worry about the lack of optical drive support on a PC aimed at ordinary use, we can see how gamers, with their libraries of old games on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, might want to have a drive.
A backlit power button sits on the left side of the Steelwing ECB2010's front panel, just above two USB 3.0 ports and headphone/mic jacks. An SD card reader would have been a nice touch here, but case manufacturers seem to be keeping things simple with their SFF chassis designs. We can't fault Enermax for playing by the same rules.
Considering its name, it's not surprising that the right side of the Steelwing ECB2010 is an oversize, eye-catching, red (or green) panel in bold-colored metal. The case's left-side panel, on the other hand, is a 3mm-thick "wing" of tempered glass that covers the entire side of the chassis. The panel is tinted, giving it a smoky look, but it is transparent enough that you can see the components inside, particularly when the case is well-lit. The PSU obscures your view of the motherboard somewhat. Still, you'll have an excellent view of that high-end graphics card that ate up the bulk of your build budget. Large chrome thumbscrews hold both side panels in place.
Inside the case, the front panel I/O PCB sits solidly in place, well out of the way of other components. The cords are long enough to reach any corner of a MicroATX or Mini-ITX motherboard and should have enough slack to make cable routing easy.
Aside from motherboard standoffs and two storage drive brackets, the interior of the case is bare. There's something to be said for an open layout, especially in a cramped case, and we like that Enermax made both of the Steelwing ECB2010's interior brackets removable.
One of the brackets holds a 120mm fan, which you can see at the front of the case, above, and in the image below...
Enermax locks it into place with multiple screws, but you can detach it if you need to—and you will, if you plan to use water cooling. The bracket is designed to support a 120mm radiator directly behind the intake fan. Support for modest liquid cooling is a home run in a case this size, especially considering who the target customers are for cases like the Steelwing ECB2010. Any cooler will chew up space dedicated to the graphics card, however, so keep that in mind when you're planning your system. Enermax indicates that the case supports graphics cards up to 290mm (which means most modern cards), but that depth will be reduced by the presence of a radiator.
Enermax also touts the front bracket's support for a 3.5-inch hard drive, but we think most users won't be willing to give up the 120mm fan that would be replaced by the hard drive. It's the Steelwing ECB2010's only case fan. Pull it, and you're left with only the PSU's internal fan, any fan on a video card you install, and the CPU cooler to move air around the system. On top of that, the PSU's intake fan must face into the system; the tempered-glass side panel doesn't have a fan-grille cutout.
Another bracket, meant for drives, sits at the bottom of the case, and is much easier to detach...
You simply remove the one screw you see to the right, slide the bracket to the side, and lift. Whether you bother using the bracket depends on the type of storage you plan to install. With the bracket in place, the case supports one 3.5-inch drive and a 2.5-inch drive. This is the way to go if you use a full-size hard drive to handle game storage, but it limits you to a single 2.5-inch drive. Still, for most users, a single 2.5-inch drive (most likely, an SSD boot drive) and a mass-storage 3.5-incher is the ideal storage arrangement for a balance of capacity and speed.
Note that this drive bracket is on a height level with the third of the three expansion slots at the back of the case, but that won't be an issue for most users. The bracket is short enough that it won't come into contact with your graphics card.
Your other option is to remove the bracket entirely. Enermax's instruction manual doesn't highlight the eight holes drilled into the floor of the Steelwing ECB2010, but they're there, under the bracket. If you have two 2.5-inch drives (and don't need a 3.5-inch drive), you can pull the bracket and attach them to the floor of the case for a cleaner arrangement.
The Steelwing ECB2010's underside features aluminum front feet, which are molded from the front-panel fins. They have rubber pads to protect the surface of your desk. The rear feet are large rubber pegs with star-head screws, which is the primary screw type in the case. (Typical Phillips head screws hold the brackets in place.)
As we mentioned earlier, Enermax offers two color variants of the Steelwing. The ECB2010R features a red 120mm intake fan and red side panel, while the ECB2010G (shown below, in a press image) has a green fan and a green side panel. The cases are structurally identical. We tested the Steelwing ECB2010R, so we got a good look at the bright-red (almost glittering) side panel. This case will get attention at LAN events and anywhere else you take it.
Enermax ships the Steelwing ECB2010 with few extras. The accessories box includes a bag of screws, motherboard standoffs, washers (for the case thumbscrews) and some Enermax-branded straps for tying down cables for neatness.
Installation and Test Build
Enermax ships the Steelwing ECB2010 PC case with a placemat-style installation guide, rather than a book-like instruction manual. The guide is woefully light on written instructions, but to Enermax's credit, the illustrations do an excellent job of showing first-time builders where to install parts. The guide also walks users through attaching a 120mm liquid cooling radiator to the custom bracket by the front panel, which is worthwhile for a builder with any experience.
As we mentioned earlier, removing the storage-drive bracket at the case bottom is a piece of cake. Remove a single screw, slide the bracket, and lift it right off. We put a 1TB Western Digital Blue 10EZEX hard drive into the 3.5-inch section of the bracket and attached the screws to hold the drive in place. Along the way, we discovered that over-tightening the screws squeezes the bracket to the point that its holes no longer align with the pegs on the floor of the Steelwing ECB2010. Take it easy with the screwdriver, Tex.
We also realized, belatedly, that it's easier to attach the 2.5-inch SSD to the bracket before installing the larger drive. If you install the SSD first, you can reach through the bracket to support the SSD while attaching the screws. Otherwise, you'll need to grip the SSD along its narrow ends to hold it in place, which is awkward.
The lack of dividers or compartments inside the Steelwing ECB2010 meant that we had plenty of room to install a MicroATX board. We installed a Gigabyte GA-X99M-Gaming 5 motherboard, on which we dropped a powerful Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition processor and 16GB of memory from our G.Skill TridentZ F4-3200C16Q-32GTZSK kit. The MicroATX is the largest size that the Steelwing ECB2010 supports, so it filled up the bulk of the motherboard tray, as you'll see below.
Although a dual-video-card Nvidia SLI or AMD CrossFire setup isn't out of the question, a single card is definitely the easiest way to go when building in the Steelwing ECB2010, especially if you are using the storage-drive bracket. For example, the GA-X99M-Gaming 5 motherboard has a PCI Express x1 slot between the first and second PCI Express x16 slots. That layout is good for airflow between two hot cards, but in the Steelwing ECB2010, it means that the storage bracket is too close to the third slot to allow a second graphics card to fit. It's also blocking the fourth slot entirely.
If you stick to one graphics card, you can make use of the storage-drive bracket without any trouble, and we think that's what most users will have in mind. Otherwise, for SLI or CrossFire shenanigans, it has to go, and you'll have to mount drives on the case bottom (2.5-inch drives only, there) or in place of the front fan (in the bracket that takes one 3.5-incher). We'd be rather concerned about the thermals of two close-packed video cards in a case this size with no intake fan up front!
For our sample build, we next we installed our liquid cooler. The space between the fan bracket and the edge of the GA-X99M-Gaming 5 is tight, ruling out a "pull" fan for the radiator. As it turned out, the close quarters also proved too tight for our thick Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro radiator (even after we removed the pull fan), so we turned to a Corsair Hydro Series H60, shown below. The H60 is about 27mm thick and it fit just fine, even giving us enough room to attach SATA cables that jutted out the front edge of the motherboard, parallel to the board.
We removed the front fan bracket by unscrewing the closest side and then lifting the bracket off the pegs on the far wall. Sliding the bracket off the pegs took some effort. Screwing the cooler onto the front fan wasn't difficult.
We had plenty of room to attach the H60's heatsink and our XFX Radeon R7 370 Double Dissipation Black Edition graphics card, thanks again to the open layout. The card extended only as far back as the motherboard did, and we didn't have any trouble with the card and the Corsair H60 radiator.
The last component to go into the Steelwing ECB2010 was a Corsair SFX Series SX600-G power supply, which provides more than enough power for our graphics card. We opted for a modular power supply to reduce the number of cables inside the Steelwing ECB2010. That full-panel window means you have even fewer places to hide cables than usual. What you see below is exactly what you'll see through the glass.
Once we completed the system, we fired it up and basked in the glow of that fire-red intake fan. It provides plenty of interior light, but you could amplify it easily with a light strip along the floor of the case. As you can see, cable management is tricky in a case this small, and you can easily find yourself removing components to attach front-panel cables. As we mentioned, the full-panel window provides few hiding places for excess cables. That said, we're sure DIY builders will find better ways to route the cables for a cleaner interior.
Conclusion
We like the Enermax Steelwing ECB2010 overall, but what we truly love its exterior design. This spunky little SFF case has tons of personality and a giant side-panel window that shows off your carefully-chosen hardware. (Well, most of it, at any rate, and more than most case windows expose.) The included 120mm LED fan is bright enough to send a red glow deep into the system.
The Steelwing ECB2010's interior is necessarily cramped. That's to be expected in an SFF case, but with competing SFFs offering slightly more space (and layouts that let you show off more of your motherboard), we think some users will opt to go with a bigger chassis. Buying a pricey new SFX PSU and then putting it in a location that blocks the view of your motherboard might be a deal-breaker for some appearance-conscious builders. But for other users, the cramped quarters will just be the price to pay for this tiny, edgy little beast of a case. Trade-offs are always the name of the game when you're building a small PC. The other option in design is to split the chassis vertically in twain, with a motherboard section on one side and the power supply and drives on the other, as we've seen in cases from the likes of Corsair. But these chassis are necessarily wider than the Steelwing, because the case must account for the width of both the power supply and any video cards. Here, with the overhanging design, the power supply and the video cards inhabit the same lateral space.
Part of the appeal, the interior design aside, is that the Steelwing ECB2010 boasts quality materials and killer looks. Naturally, it has a hefty price. The case, which has been a little difficult to track down since Enermax released it late in 2016, goes for about $160 through Amazon. That's even pricier than the NZXT Manta, which is slightly larger but supports an ATX power supply (which may drive down the overall build cost, since you won't need an SFX supply). That said, DIY builders who can stomach the price tag will have a showy, durable case in the Steelwing, if they choose their parts with care.
The Steelwing PC case supports MicroATX or Mini-ITX motherboards in a stunning, gamer-friendly design, with a big glass window to show off your full-size graphics card.
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