| Rosewill Blackhawk-Ultra HPTX Computer Case |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by David Ramsey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 09 December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rosewill Blackhawk-Ultra HPTX Computer Case
Manufacturer: Rosewill Inc. Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article was provided by Rosewill Inc. Some pundits see desktop computers as a dying breed (a Dilbert character recently referred to a co-worker's desktop computer as "a grandpa box"), and perhaps they are. Laptop and even tablet computers are now capable of fulfilling most people's needs, and even those who want or need a desktop machine could probably be satisfied with a micro-ATX motherboard in a small form factor case. Then there are those for whom even a full tower case is not enough: they need to install a dozen hard drives, or an elaborate water cooling system, or perhaps an HPTX motherboard. For those select few, Rosewill offers the Blackhawk Ultra computer case, the largest case Benchmark Reviews has ever tested. Rosewill is one of the most product-diverse companies that sells consumer computer parts. In addition to cases, optical drives, power supplies, and other computer-related items, they also sell everything from camera bags to office shredders to medical equipment. They've been around for a while but it's safe to say that they're not the first or even the third thing that system builders looking for a computer case think of. But maybe they should be. The Blackhawk Ultra is Rosewill's largest and most expensive case, designed to accommodate HPTX motherboards. While a standard ATX motherboard is 12" by 9.6", an HPTX motherboard is a whopping 13.6" by 15". As of the time of this writing there has only been one HPTX motherboard ever produced, EVGA's "SR-2". Even Intel's "Skulltrail" motherboard was only 13" by 12"! 
Super Tower Features
Blackhawk Ultra Specifications
Let's take a look at this gigantic case in the next section. Closer Look: ExteriorThe Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra is an immense case. Here I've placed it next to a Cooler Master HAF 932 AMD Edition case, which is a full-tower ATX design, to show its size. Trust me when I say that it looks even larger in person.
The accessories package is minimal: a large bag of screws, two EPS-12V extension cables (many server and some enthusiast motherboards have two EPS-12V sockets), a speaker, four casters, and a folded, single-sheet manual. 
If you prefer function over form, you'll love this case. Its plain black exterior eschews the colored plastics and pseudo-military styling that's become so common in the consumer case arena. There isn't even a "Rosewill" badge or any other branding anywhere on the case. The case is comprised of rather thick black-painted steel panels, with plastic and metal mesh forming the structure of the top and front bezel. Weighing in at 36 pounds empty, this case is going to require help moving it once you've stuffed it with components.
The left side panel is where many manufacturers play with embossing or other styling features. Not Rosewill: a very large and functional mesh panel, equipped with a 230MM fan, is all you'll see. If you prefer the panel can be outfitted with up to nine 120mm fans instead.
The right panel is even plainer, its flat black expanse interrupted only by a mounting point for an optional 80MM fan, presumably to blow air on the under-CPU-socket area of the motherboard.
The unadorned front panel has four bays for 5.25" devices. The lowest 5.25" bay has a knockout for a 3.5" device like a card reader. Directly below are two red-LED lit 230MM intake fans. There's a problem with the front bezel design, though: it extends below the steel bottom of the case (as can be seen in the image above this paragraph), which means that if you try to lift the case by placing one hand under the front bezel, you'll be supporting the weight of a very heavy system on a structure of plastic and thin metal mesh. It would be very easy to damage the lower section of the front bezel this way.
Let's take a closer look at the details of the exterior in the next section. Detailed Exterior FeaturesThe front bezel pops off without any tools required. Once it's off, you can see the four 5.25" device bays and the unfiltered intakes for the two 140mm front intake fans.
Rosewill touts the Blackhawk's "easy to clean PSU filter". However, if you're expecting a pull-out plastic frame with a fine cloth filter, you'll be disappointed: the "PSU filter" is simply a thin, coarse plastic mesh held in place by tabs cut into the material. It won't filter much dust and its tabs will likely break off after a few removals and replacements.
Things look better at the top of the case. There's an external SATA drive dock that can handle 2.5" or 3.5" drives, two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, microphone and headphone jacks, and large, easy-to-press power and reset buttons.
The rear of the case is impressive, too: note top and bottom power supply mounting areas, seven rubber-grommeted hose ports, and ten card slots! This case can obviously handle any system you'd ever care to build in it.
Although they're not visible in this shot, the top of the case houses two internal 230mm exhaust fans in the area behind the SATA drive dock. 
Now let's take a look at the inside of this case. Closer Look: InteriorHere's what you'll see after removing the left side panel: probably the largest case interior you'll ever work with. The Blackhawk Ultra can accommodate ten 3.5" drives, and note that the 3.5" drive bays have 140mm fans on either side. If you're looking for a case that can keep 15,000RPM SAS drives nice and cool, this is it. Of course you can remove the internal drive bay fans should you wish.
The drive caddies are heavy sheet steel items that don't flex at all and can handle 2.5" SSDs or laptop drives as well as 3.5" drives. Since they don't flex, you can't "snap" 3.5" drives into place: they must be secured with screws. This minor inconvenience is mitigated by rubber isolation grommets that should quell any vibration noise.
The four 5.25" device bays have the now-standard slide-to-lock mechanisms.
The bottom power supply area has four rubber pads for your power supply to rest on, as well as a foam rubber gasket around the rear opening. Not visible in this shot is a Velcro strap you can wrap around the power supply to help keep it in place. Obviously there's room for the largest power supplies! If you use the top power supply mounting area instead, you could mount up to three 120mm fans or a 3x120mm radiator here.
Let's take a closer look at some of the interior features of this case in the next section. Detailed Interior FeaturesRosewill provides two "fan power breakout" boards: one at the top of the case and one at the bottom. Each breakout board takes one 4-pin Molex connector and provides six three-pin fan connectors. As delivered, all of the case's fans except the 120mm rear exhaust fan are connected to these breakout boards. 
The bottom 5.25" drive bay comes fitted with a removable 3.5" device adapter. 
This rear interior view shows both power supply mounting areas and the 120mm rear exhaust fan. Note that you'd have to remove the top rear fan to fit a power supply in the upper mounting.
Speaking of those top fans, here's a close-up look. Like the front and side panel panels, they're lit with red LEDs when they're running. You can remove these fans and mount a 3x120mm radiator in their place. 
Let's see what it would be like to build a system in this case. Building a SystemI build complete systems in most of my case reviews: many cases have design flaws or idiosyncrasies that are only obvious when you actually start installing components. However, the immense interior of the Blackhawk Ultra means that nothing less than an HTPX, or at least an XL-ATX, motherboard would elicit any potential problems! Still, I mounted a few components and took some measurements. Below you can see a standard ATX form factor motherboard (an ASUS P8Z68-V Pro) mounted in the case. You can probably tell that fitting a video card will not be a problem, but just in case you're wondering, I measured 16" of clearance between the card slot covers and the cooling fans on the 3.5" drive cage. There's 8" between the motherboard tray and the left side panel, and a whopping 21" from the bottom of the case to the top fans.
Should you feel the need to fine-tune your system's cooling, the included 230mm fan can be mounted in any of five different positions (the four corners or the center) of the mesh panel. Alternatively you can mount up to nine 120mm fans.
You won't have any problem with the clearance for your SATA power and interface cables, either: there's more than an inch of room behind an installed 3.5" drive. 
With no fewer than 13 rubber-grommeted cable routing holes, and plenty of space in the 3.5" drive bay area to stuff extra cables (if you don't use the lower drive bays, anyway), cable management is a snap. 
There's just as much space behind the right side panel as there is elsewhere in the system: a full 1" is available for your cabling needs. I wish more cases would provide this kind of clearance. 
I find it odd that this very plain, no-nonsense case is nonetheless fitted with five LED fans: both front fans, both top fans, and the side panel fan all light up when powered. The LEDs aren't nearly as bright as those in some other cases, though. 
In the next section I'll go into my final thoughts and conclusion about the Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra case. HPTX Super Tower Final ThoughtsRosewill calls the Blackhawk Ultra a "super tower" case, and that's as good a description as any. Its huge size means that it can accommodate virtually any build, and it's by far the least expensive case that EVGA certifies as being able to handle their SR-2 HPTX motherboard. In fact, the price of this case makes it worth your consideration if you want the space of a full tower, even if you just have an ATX motherboard. For just $20 more than many high end full tower cases, you get vastly more room and better cooling, which is something to keep in mind if you're an avid overclocker (even with all the fans going, the case is very quiet). Water cooling enthusiasts have plenty of space for reservoirs and several options for mounting large radiators.
I wish the case had better intake filtering; the only filter on the case is the unimpressive perforated plastic sheet on the bottom. Given the amount of air this case will move with its eight fans, interior dust will be a problem, especially if the case sits on the floor, which is likely given its size. The size also brings another problem: transportation. There are no handles on this large and very heavy case, and even moving the empty case is something that requires both strength and care. A fully loaded system will be very difficult for one person to move, although attaching the supplied casters will at least make it easy to move around on the floor. Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra ConclusionAlthough we strive for objectivity here at Benchmark Reviews, please remember that each author perceives these points differently, and our conclusions and recommendations will necessarily differ from others. Also, prices can fluctuate and designs change after publication, so that the product we review might not have the same price and specifications of a product that's available later. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested, which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary of each of the areas that we rate. The performance of the case was exceptional. It's delivered with eight fans, three of which are giant 230mm units, and you can mount several more. If you like water cooling, your biggest problem will be to choose which of the many possible radiator mounting options you want to use. This is one of the plainest-looking cases I've ever seen, especially in this market segment. There's not even a "Rosewill" badge-- or any other badges or branding-- anywhere on the case. While many current cases take styling to sometimes-silly extremes, the Blackhawk Ultra could use a little more visual distinction. The quality of the case was top-notch. Although Rosewill used plain painted steel for the case structure, it's well made, with all parts fitting easily and all edges rounded or smoothed so there are no sharp places to injure the unwary. This case's functionality derives mostly from the sheer space its size makes available. The fan power breakout boards are a nice touch, as are the plentiful cable routing features. My only real complaints are the lack of intake air filtration (I really can't count the "filter" at the bottom of the case) and the difficulty of moving a fully loaded system. As of December 2011 the Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra costs $199.99 at Newegg, a price that makes this computer case an excellent value, and an obvious choice for anyone actually building an HTPX or XL-ATX based system. It's really a one-trick pony, but all that space is quite a trick. Pros:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments
I think my next build will be in a micro case. We'll see after I get one to review.
Of course for a micro case you need a mATX motherboard.
Otherwise, I think you mentioned in your HAF-X review that there are some cases that are so big as to be impractical ... hmm. This would be only good for somebody that doesn't want to move around a lot.
To be honest though, I'm not sure about who is to buy this case.
1. People who want a mobile case or something small are obviously going to skip
2. People who don't need an HPTX really don't need something like this. If you're getting something like the Asus ROG series XL ATX boards, there are other cases under $250 and many have a better build quality (ex: the power supply dust filter isn't so cheap)
3. People who can afford an HPTX probably can get something a bit ... higher end. At that price point, we're talking a motherboard that costs $600, 2 Xeons, and likely a lot of GPUs.
For that, there's cases like the Lian Li PC-P80N, the PC-V2120, or to go with something like the CaseLabs series of cases.
I guess it's for people that like big cases, but who don't want to (or cannot afford to) spend on something costlier?
Antec Lanboy Air
Of course, some people change around their fan setup. For example, many people install closed-loop water coolers. The manufacturers recommend using them as intake. So, you may find yourself taking what was an exhaust and making it into an intake for a rad like the H100 or H80. If you did that you may be looking for filters again.
There are a few companies that make professional intake filters for various cases. There is one company in South Africa that makes a great filter kit for the Corsair 600T so even if you use the stock top exhaust area as an intake (for the H100) you can still have an easily removable filter. I believe the kit comes with filters for all the fan spots including the side panel mesh that can mount 4 120mm fans.
If you give them dimensions they will custom make filters for just about any case. If you drop by overclock.net you can likely find them by doing a search for South Africa or 600T filters.
Also, the biggest beef in my opinion, only 4 5 1/4" bays on a full tower case? My 600T mid tower has four external bays. A lot of people with water cooling builds (a market this case is obviously aimed at) could fill up those four bays with just two duel bay reservoirs. Many water coolers will have two loops. If they did use two reses, there would be nowhere left for fan controllers, card readers, optical drives or any other 5 1/4 device. Even the Half 932 you showed beside it has more external bays and it's a smaller case.
I really like everything else about this case and I'm sure they will sell many of them to people who don't need the extra external bays.
$200 for this case + $270 for the cheapest 4-way SLI GA-X79-UD3 motherboard + $600 i7 3930k under a $90 phantek cooler overclocked as near to 5ghz as you can + four $600 EVGA GTX 580 Classified Ultra video cards voltage tweaked and overclocked beyond 1 ghz + two $220 Seasonic Platinum 860W PSUs installed in top and bottom and sharing the load + Memory and storage of your choice. Even if there is another case that can accommodate such a build I don't believe it will be as cool or as quite as this case.
Now get your choice of three 120hz 3d displays and hook them up to this rig. Play the newest games on the highest settings in 5760x1080 resolution without sounding like an air jet or exploding. The only item missing is $6,000.
Credit goes to Rosewill for this case. PC cases should do their simple job without asking too much $$$ in return for brand, looks and other stuff that a self-respecting money-earning gamer does not care about. I don't know who the original manufacturer is (some Chinese company) but this case has been licensed as two other models, Enermax Fulmo GT and Xigmatek Elysium but neither had multiple high quality fans as the BlackHawkUltra.
Luay: The PC-P80N is about half the weight and probably also half the noise - my AMD 8 core / Noctua NH14 / Giga UD7 / Corsair 16Gb 2000 Vengeance RAM (minus the insulating cosmetic only "heat sinks")and 950W PSU / 2 * Giga 6770 Silent (no fans!) / Adaptec 51645 / 2* Pioneer Bluray recorders / 16 * 1 Tb Hitachi drives combo is virtually silent (can sleep in the same room), and I can still lift it easily. Mind you, it is a lot dearer - you get what you pay for. Makes a good game machine plus an ERPS server at the same time.
Cheers
Arron
doggrell3000
new york ny
i love the giant size and plain appearance of the rosewill blackhawk ultra . having no brand label on the exterior is ultra cool . one thing though -- i like the red led fans ( and will probably add even more of them ) but is there a relatively easy way to mount a simple on / off switch on the red leds so that i can switch off the red leds without switching off the fans ? sometimes i would like the red glow but sometimes i just want no lights at all . did i notice in your review that there is some kind of fan plug in module ? could that be modded with an on / off switch that only turns off the leds ? i do not want or need multi colored fans - red is just fine with me - and i do not want a fancy fan controller with rheostats . i just want an on / off switch that will turn off the red leds whenever the mood strikes me . besides the omission of a red led light switch the rosewill blackhawk ultra is in my humble opinion the best computer case ever designed for around $150 usd street . thank you for your feedback and suggestions .
doggrell3000
frank doggrell
doggrell
Fans with separately powered LEDs do exist. For example, some are used in the Cooler Master Cosmos II case. But you'd have to buy them separately and mount your own switches somewhere.