Enermax Fulmo GT Review

Enermax Fulmo GT Review

Manufacturer: Enermax
UK price (as reviewed): £183.34 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $209.99 (ex tax)

Enermax might be better known for its keenly priced power supplies and fans than for its cases, which border on the uniform and unadventurous. That might have been true in the past, but the same definitely can’t be said of its latest design. The gigantic Fulmo GT is squarely aimed at the high-end market, with a full tower design big enough to hold HPTX motherboards like the ridiculous EVGA SR2.


We've seen several oversized cases from Silverstone and Lian-Li in the past, but at £190 the Fulmo GT is one of the cheapest we’ve seen with enough room for an HPTX motherboard. There a few similarly priced alternatives for SR2 owners, with the closest competition undoubtedly being the £140 Xigmatek Elysium. Both cases share a similar internal layout, so we were keen to see whether the Fulmo GT could justify its higher price in other areas.

On first glance, the modest black steel and brushed aluminium finish looks fairly attractive. The entire roof and front of the case is covered in a honeycombed mesh, accented with strips of silver plastic. On closer inspection, these strips feel a little cheap, but there wasn’t any significant flex or bend in any of the panels. Enermax installs one 230mm fan in the roof, but there’s room for a second if you need extra cooling. A dust filter helps keep the interior clean, and is easily removable.

The front of the case is dominated by the mesh panel hiding a 180mm intake fan. This, along with the two fans pre-installed in the side panel, is illuminated with blue LEDs and is programmed with several different lighting modes. There are four external 5.25in drive bays above, with the I/O panel mounted in the roof.


It’s well equipped, with four USB3 ports, one eSATA and two 3.5mm audio jacks, as well as a single hot-swap caddy for a hard disk or SSD. The USB ports connect to two internal motherboard headers, although there are adapters in the box if you don’t have USB3 headers on your board. There’s also a dial to control the speed of any fans connected to the internal controller, and a button which alternates between the five different fan LED modes – this is great if you like your flashing lights, but we preferred solid light over the distracting patterns.

At the back, PSU cut-outs in the top and bottom of the backing plate are the first indication of how much room is inside the case – there’s a blanking plate installed in the upper chamber, so you won’t have to worry about covering it up if you decide not to invest in a second PSU. There’s a single, non-LED 140mm fan installed as an exhaust, plus seven water-cooling holes, a clear indication that Enermax has at least given liquid cooling some degree of thought.


Finally, the side panel has a huge mesh cut-out with two pre-installed 180mm fans. There’s room for a further two 180mm fans if you need extra cooling. There’s also a 90mm/120mm fan mount drilled into the right side panel, which can help cool the motherboard rear.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 235 x 674 x 640mm (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel
  
• Available colours Black
  
• Weight 15.2kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 4 x USB 3, 1x eSATA, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 4 x external 5.25in drive bays, 9 x internal 3.5in/2.5in drive bays.
  
• Form factor(s) HPTX, E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX
  
• Cooling 1 x 180mm front mounts (fan supplied), 4 x 180mm left side mounts (2x fans supplied), 1x 120mm right side mounts (fan not included), 2x 320mm top fan mounts (1x fan included), 1x 140mm rear fan mount (fan supplied), 2x 140mm/1x 230mm bottom fan mounts (fans not supplied), 2x 140mm internal fan mounts (fans not supplied)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 190mm (170mm with side fans)
  
• Maximum graphics card length 425mm
  
• Extras sot-swap hard disk caddy, fan controller, lighting controls