Exclusive: First Look at Latest Chieftec Chassis That Will Be Launching in UK Market

eTeknix exclusive: Earlier today we brought you the exclusive news that legendary chassis and PSU manufacturer Chieftec will be return to UK shores. After an eight year long departure of what used to be one of the biggest brands in the UK market, it’s great to see them making a return. Of course it’s not like the company went bust, they’ve been going strong ever since and were unfortunate to run into distribution troubles all those years ago. Now that they have the great team at Target Components on their side as their distributor for the UK market, the chassis and PSU products from Chieftec are now being prepared to start shipping to resellers and system integrators in the UK once again.

Earlier today I stopped by Target Components to meet with the team at Target and Chieftec representative Roger Oka, where I got an exclusive first look at the products they’ll be bringing to the UK market. There isn’t anything really new here from the brand right now, most of these products have been reviewed internationally and are already available in the US and Asian markets, but this is the first time they’ve landed in the UK.

First up we have this gorgeous white mini-ITX chassis, ideal for those with limited space, but the sleek front panel design will also lend well to HTPC solutions.

“FI-01W-U3 – Vertically or horizontally? It is up to your convenience to decide how to place CHIEFTEC’s new ITX case. The FI-01W-U3 comes with a preinstalled 250W TFX power supply and can comfortably accommodate lowprofile cards. With its “glossy” finishing, it spreads an aura of Life style in your home and/or office.”

One of the smaller cases offers plenty of ventilation and extra fan mounts, with dual USB 3.0, dual 5.25″ drive bays, plenty of room for drive expansion and more. It’s not the most exciting looking case ever, but it does offer a lot of practical design that will no doubt appeal to the business market.

“BD-02B-B-U3 – Maximising functionality in a small space is what CHIEFTEC’s Mini Tower offers. It has several front panels for choices and its interior space has more than you would expect. With its additional depth of 21mm, the installation of standard ATX power supplies is no problem at all.”

A budget friendly model here will be tailored to those building gaming rigs or rendering rigs; it comes with dual USB 3.0 and plenty of connectivity options. It’s real benefit is in fan mountings at it features dual 120mm fan mounts on the side, a filtered fan mount on the front and two 80mm fan mounts on the back. It may not look terribly exciting, but you can get a powerful rig in here without too much concern over airflow.

“BM-02B-U3 – The M-Chassis was developed for price-conscious users, who look for top-of-the-art quality and easy-to-use functions. Besides it offers 5 different front panels with USB/HD Audio connectors to meet individual demand. It proves that functionality and design can be affordable with reasonable price.”

The next model up features a similar design to the one above, but its design is a little more consumer friendly thanks to a better designed from panel.

Next up we have their midi tower GIGA series, this features four full 5.25″ drive bays, plenty of storage and slide out drive trays on the interior, flip-off front panel cover with dust filter for front fans and plenty of extra fan mounts / ventilation on the back and left side panel.

“DF-02B-U3 – The exterior and the interior of the DF-02B-B are fully designed in elegant black. The mesh front contributes to an optimized air flow through the chassis leading to a noticeable cool down. The users will appreciate the typical tool-free installation of ODDs and HDDs, as well as the intelligent positioning of the PSU at the bottom of the chassis.”

This is one of my favourites of the bunch. A very heavy-duty looking design that is mostly targeted to the professional market. It features locking front and side panels for extra security.

“LBX-02B-U3 –The medium tower with 540mm depth perfectly suits the installation of EATX server mainboard. It has enough space for up to 12x ODDs and HDDs. An optimal cooling design effectively prevents a possible overheating. The interior of the chassis has been split into two separate cooling zones, enabling the HDDs to be cooled in an area separate from the
CPU/GPU.”

The interior features quick release bay covers and tool free drive installation.

Support for everything from mini-ITX to eATX motherboards.

Clip-on rails for 3.5″ drives and adaptors for 2.5″ drive installation.

Metal quick release clips and extra mounting screws secured on the interior for easy access.

Large top rail mount for PSU means you can get a huge PSU installed in here, or even a second redundant PSU.

It also features extra ventilation on the sides for the storage bays and expansion card area, making this an interesting choice for small to mid size network / NAS solutions or rendering rigs.

Their gaming range is also exciting, offering a pretty aggressive design that is focused on high-end airflow and water cooling.

“DX-02B –An unpredicted story of success continues with Chieftec’s new model DX-02B. A whole generation of gamers and modders will remember the legendary CS-601, better known as the Dragon DX. Hundreds of thousands of people have grown up with this case in the last decade. With the DX-02B you are receiving a case, which convinces with its design, and its highend quality finishing. Besides the integrated fan controller, the case also has an elegantly conceived Hot-Swap solution for hard drives.”

Full EATX motherboard support and room for a multi-GPU setup.

Extra wide CPU cooler cut-out and dual vertical cable routing.

Front access drive trays with hot swap capability.

Dual front panel fans with snap-on filters.

Extra clearance for water cooling setups.

Funky right side panel design, a welcome break from all the blank panels we normally see here and it’s got a large recess to allow extra cable routing space.

Fixed position fin-style top ventilation.

Dual 200mm fans pre-installed in the top and a single 120mm pre-installed in the back.

Dual slide out dust filters on the base and four large and very durable feet.

Built in three speed fan controller switchs.

There are even more products, as well as their range of PSUs coming to market, so stay tuned for more news and upcoming review on these in the very near future.

Thank you Chieftec and Target for inviting us to come down and check out these products.