GMC H-80 ATX Mid-Tower Gaming PC Case Review
Installation and Conclusion
Installing the system into the GMC H-80 was no problem, and it even fit an NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX graphics card with (some) room to spare. The 9800GTX is actually the same length as the just released NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Video Card, so there will be no problem fitting the latest high end graphics card in this case. An ATI Radeon 5870 will be a close call with the shroud around the cooler putting the card at 10.75″ in length, but it might just fit. The lower 5000 series cards (i.e. ATI Radeon 5850 and below) will have no problem fitting in this case. I also didn’t run into any problems with CPU cooler height and the case side panel when using the Zalman 9700 NT CPU cooler.
Motherboard tray cable management tidy holes, tool-less drive rails and good access through the rear panel made installation a pleasant experience and resulted in a reasonably ‘clean’ build in terms of tidiness. I chose to use the built in temperature sensor as a case ambient sensor, but it could be quite easily attached to a heatsink or similar if you wanted to.
Lit up at night the case looks quite pretty with the subtle red glow emanating from the front and side panel fans. The front status LCD panel lights up quite nicely with (left to right) icons for power, temperature (from the built in sensor) and HDD activity.
Conclusion
GMC might have started in this review as being a relatively unknown brand (it’s the first of their products we’ve reviewed here at LR), but to me they’ve come away with a great first impression. The construction of the case is one of quality, the whole case feels very sturdy, and there was practically no give when I tested the rigidity of the side panels.
GMC’s slogan is “Design and Innovate” and their H-80 definitely shows a lot of innovatively designed features. The GMC H-80 is an ATX Mid-Tower case that is solidly built and has plenty of features to make for a great system build. Four included fans provide plenty of airflow to keep even high powered systems running along nice and cool.
There are plenty of great little features on this case, some of them more gimmicky than others, but all of them well implemented. The case has plenty of airflow with its 4 built in stock fans (one of those being a 250mm fan) and didn’t have any trouble keeping the Q6600 test rig installed in it under control.
The GMC H-80 isn’t available to purchase just yet, but GMC has reassured us that it’s coming soon. Their official distributor is Auzentech, and when the H-80 is available you’ll be able to purchase it from them at an MSRP of $139.99. In terms of value for money I think the price is about right for the features you get, but with other popular cases around this price bracket (and some priced slightly below), only time will tell if this case will be a hit with enthusiasts.
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