Installation Continued:

     Next I turned my attention to the motherboard installation.  Almost immediately I discovered the motherboard tray does not have a 7th slot due to the slanted shape of the case.  On the ABIT Fatal1ty AN9 32X the 7th slot is used for the AudioMax card slot.  I was able to compromise using a Creative Labs Audigy 2 from one of the other lab machines but the lost slot may be a show stopper for many of the motherboards out there.

     With the motherboard components installed I attempted to place the tray back into the case.  To my surprise the EVGA 7800 GTX cards are just slightly too long to fit into the pyramid shaped case.  I removed them and tested the rest of the components.  No surprise but the Ultra ChillTec heatsink needed to be replaced as well. 

     With the OEM cooler back on my AM2 I soldiered on by installing the cards with the motherboard tray pushed past the case frame. Next, I was able to push the tray most of the way in when the lead edge caught on the top of the power supply, some minor flexing provided the solution causing some slight paint damage to the HX620.  I was feeling good about the work arounds when I discovered the second video card was blocked by this little clip.  Some investigation lead me to discover a set of these clips are mounted on each side to hold the optional cold cathode lights.  Great for the lights but bad for the SLI setup on my Fatal1ty!  So the second card was sacrificed before the Audigy card slipped safely into place.

     With the motherboard finally installed and ready to go, I busied myself with finishing up the wiring.  The Luxor design uses a set of plugs that connect to your exterior ports for both the Firewire and sound ports.  The oversized sound plugs shown here are too large to plug into the Creative Labs card without pushing against each other.  The USB leads thankfully plugged directly into the motherboard but each of the leads uses the old style individual pin out design.  It is definitely a mix of compatibility styles that is puzzling in a case at this price point.

     And here is a view of the completed build from the back.  All of this dirty laundry is hidden from view by the back panel with the cabling for things like the monitor and networking running down and out the bottom of the case.  To get the nice clean window views you will probably crave takes a bit of trial and error, but eventually most of the wiring can be hidden from view in the corners or between the windows.

     And the finished product.  The motherboard lighting effects on the Fatal1ty chase merrily around the bottom windows like they were made for it and the case has created a serious amount of whiplash in passers by!  I ran the Luxor all day to see how the shape and cooling would effect the performance.  The system hovered at about 39 C while idle, higher than the 32C temperatures we are used to in the test build.  Much of this additional heat can be attributed the the lack of any direct airflow over the motherboard.  It would be very tempting to run this same setup without any of the acrylic windows to improve airflow to the core components..

     Its with the lights off that all of the puzzling design decisions and frustrating workarounds finally pay off.  The Luxor Pyramid looks awesome.  And that's without the optional 4 cold cathode lights installed.

     The acrylic pyramid top provides a light show all by its self painting bright shapes on the walls and ceiling.  Its probably a good thing you can turn the lights off when you want to escape!  The case runs at a little higher than normal noise level measuring in at a 54 dBA on our simple sound level meter at idle.  Replacing the four fans with thermal controlled aftermarket fans would go along way towards reducing the noise without sacrificing performance.

     The light show is definitely destined to impress.  Try that at your next LAN party or even as the centerpiece in a HTPC setup that doesn't need to hide away in a cabinet.

Conclusion:

     The Luxor Pyramid is probably the most unique case design I have ever seen and simply begs to be shown off.  And that's probably the single biggest reason to invest in a case like this.  Putting this build together required making frequent choices between performance and looks.  Quite simply a case like this can't help but compromise to keep the design functional and attractive without the size growing to an impractical proportion.  And for that reason I cannot recommend this case for your high end build without some serious research into exactly what parts will work in the limited space available.

     Going into a build based in the Luxor Pyramid means accepting the idiosyncrasies the case presents in order to enjoy the finished product.  Even after the build compromises we went through, the finished Luxor Pyramid runs just as good as the same build does in our traditional case.  The defining difference being the additional heat created by the design. There is no denying that this case was never intended for the high performance build.  When we review a product we are forced to consider the target audience and this case is all about looks first and performance second.  Still, if you are looking for a case that steps way out of the box, this is exactly what you need.

I would like to thank Eve at SilverPCs.com for the opportunity to check out this case!

Innovation:	9.5 out of 10
Performance:	6.0 out of 10
Quality:	9.0 out of 10
Stability:	N/A
Overclocking:	N/A
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	7.0 out of 10
Overall Rating 8.0
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	6 out of 10