Spire Pininfarina

Today I’m taking a look at a PC case designed not by PC geeks but by car guys. Yep, that’s right, the Spire Pininfarina. The Pininfarina isn’t exactly your normal case. The sides are hinged at the bottoms and fold down rather than pulling off and the top, front and rear are hidden under an aluminum facade.

Let’s see what Spire has to say about the Pininfarina shall we?

Pininfarina SP-ATX-PALU/B

"Exclusively designed by world famous designer Pininfarina"

Spire has joined forces world-renowned designer Pininfarina to develop and introduce a truely unique state-of-the-art chassis to tech-enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. Pininfarina, most acclaimed for the Ferrari and Maserati, has fashioned a revolutionary case that has transformed the traditionally vapid pc case into a sophisticated and aerodynamic PC power house.

The exclusive Spire Pininfarina chassis was designed with functionality, creativity and opulent style in mind.

Main Features
• Stylish curved Italian design
• Aluminum Alloy Bezel & Metal SECC Chassis
• Full folded edge, full screen, radiation protected
• Front USB/IEEE1394/SOUND connections
• Removable HDD Cage
• Removable Mainboard Tray / Side-Panel
• Tool-less side panel access for fast and easy upgrade
• 120mm Fan duct system on the side panel for maximum airflow

Packaging Dimension: 522x260x517mm (L x W x H)

Specifications:

Dimensions	495x200x450mm (L x W x H)
Material	Aluminum Alloy Bezel & Metal SECC Galvanized Steel Chassis
Material thickness	Aluminum 6.0mm | SECC 1.0mm
Color	Pitch Black
Mainboard	Extend ATX / Micro ATX / Mini ATX
5.25 Bays	3 visible ~ 1 hidden
3.5 Bays	2 visible ~ 4 hidden
Bracket slots	7 ~ Incl. 3 PCIE/AGP/PCI Stabilizers
Cooling	3x 80x80x25mm fans (rear included, right included, left not included) 1x 120x120x25mm (front included) 1x 120 Fan Duct (left included)
External	USB 2.0 x 2 | MIC x 1 | Earphone jack x 1 |
Connections	IEEE 1394 x 1
Features	Lightweight aluminum & Durable metal frame. Italian Stylish design. Front USB, IEEE1394 & Sound connections. full screen, radiation protected. Side panel access, screw free installation. Optimized internal space design for Highly-efficient airflow.
Packaging	522x260x517mm (L x W x H)
N.W. Weight	13.50 K.G
G.W. Weight	14.50 K.G

This is a nice touch that gives the case a very finished look. Not only that but the thickness of the aluminum is such (8mm) that with the door closed over the optical drives there’s nearly zero noise. As I said earlier the sides fold down. This includes the motherboard tray which is attached to the right side of the case. The top-front of the case is also hinged to hide the front panel USB/firewire/audio ports.

Looking at the above pictures we see more unusual features on the Pininfarina. The fan duct over the CPU is 120mm rather than 80mm or 92mm, there’s a removable brace with an 80mm fan mount on the access side of the case and on the mobo side of the case there’s an 80mm fan located to the forward center of the case. This last point is interesting. This fans purpose is to allow you to use the 3.5" external bays and the HDD mounting above the HDD cage for mounting even more hard drives without the worry of your high RPM drives going nuclear. The power and reset switches are located on the left of the curved front facade and the power and HDD activity LEDs are on the right.