Instead of a god of the sea, Gigabyte’s midtower Poseidon 310 chassis is a petite prince. But that’s merely a reflection of this case’s size, not its prowess. It clocks in at 7.75”x17”x20”—small enough to fit into that nook in your desk or the space under your bed.

The LED fan on the Poseidon lends the case’s interior a subtle blue glow that’s further softened by the case’s grilled side panel.

Even given its small size, the Poseidon supports up to five 5.25-inch devices. We’re unsure why this case—or any case, for that matter—still bothers with multiple external 3.5-inch bays. You get two helpings of them on the Poseidon. We would have rather sacrificed these and an additional 5.25-inch bay in favor of more internal hard drive space. Though we’re not complaining about what we get for internal storage: three hard drive bays with included rails.

The Poseidon’s tool-free approach elevates this case above those that attempt to save on production costs by using screws. All of the rig’s key parts can be modified in a very short amount of time. Want to install a new optical drive? Pop off the front grill, slide it in, and use Gigabyte’s locking mechanism to secure it in place. Need to replace your videocard? Don’t reach for the screwdriver. Just unhook the locking tab, swap the cards, and secure the new one in place. The fact that we never had to remove both side panels to modify our rig’s insides makes us squeal with glee.

We also appreciate the Poseidon’s two blue 12cm fans. One pushes air over the drives, the other whisks it out of the case’s rear.  Additionally, the case’s grilled side panel diffuses the fans’ light into a pleasant glow, but depending on your vantage point, this panel can actually obscure the case’s inner light completely.

The Poseidon 310 does suffer from a few imperfections. The front-panel support is a touch anemic with two USB ports and one FireWire 400 connector. The case’s smaller size becomes apparent when you try to stuff a larger videocard into its bowels. An 8800 GTX­–size monster will fit, but you aren’t left with much room for cables on the card’s sides. A lack of motherboard tray cable-management holes exacerbates the issue.

As a whole, the Poseidon 310 is a fine chassis. Only a few missteps keep it from ascending to the Mount Olympus of cases, but we wouldn’t scoff at a lesser god.

Gigabyte Poseidon 310

Titan Quest

Almost completely tool-free; hard-drive-bay cooling; rubberized water-cooling holes.

Kid Icarus

Slightly cramped on the inside; no cable management options; few front-panel connections.

www.gigabyte.com.tw