Wired2Fire Hellspawn Gaming PC - Connectivity and Case Insides

Inside the case good impressions continue thanks to rounded edges, tool-free mounting brackets for all drive cages (four 5.25in and seven 3.25in ones) and a motherboard mounting plate to aid cable routing. Before we get further into the PC's insides though, let's check out the Hellspawn's connectivity. At its front the case offers USB ports plus headphone and microphone jacks. Wired2Fire has added a memory card reader that will take standard memory types (SDHC, MS Pro Duo, SMC and CF) while offering a third USB port. Around the back, connectivity is also good. A further eight USB ports, two PS2 ports, eSATA, analogue and digital-optical 10-channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet from the motherboard should cover most needs, while as a member of AMD/ATI's 58XX series the video card provides twin dual-DVIs, HDMI and DisplayPort.

Getting back to the PC's roomy insides, it's a very neat build. Despite a non-modular OCZ 600Watt power supply, Wired2Fire has done a great job of tidying away all the cables, helped by the excellent case. Aside from the front 120mm fan which comes as standard, the assembler has added a second 120mm one at the rear, which combines with the monstrous Prolimatech Megahalem CPU cooler (also utilizing a 120mm fan) to make for a well-ventilated system. As you might have noticed the Hellspawn has fewer fans than most gaming machines we've looked at and, though when under load its subtle hum becomes slightly more audible, it's still one of the quieter gaming PCs we've come across in quite a while.

The optical drive and 1TB Samsung SpinPoint hard drive are both secured using screws rather than the case's tool-free clip system, to ensure that there will be no accidents during transportation. The extra clips are provided in the included motherboard box though, along with all driver and application CDs, spare cables and connectors, and a generic Wired2Fire user manual that provides basic PC installation information like how to hook up a monitor as well as general info like how and why to defrag your hard drive.

Wired2Fire has elected to base its system on Asus' good-looking P7P55D-LE motherboard. Unfortunately it doesn't include the SATA 6Gb/s expansion card that comes with the retail board, though going by our test results with the similarly SATA 6Gb/s-equipped the Asus P7P55D-E Premium that's no great loss. You don't get USB 3.0 either, but at least the attractive looks and features like ExpressGate and Asus' MemOK! switch are still there (the latter is always handy if you add different memory at some future date).