The bays and bits

And here we have... forced air intake ;)

The Mars' hard drive cage sits on custom-fitted rails that anchor the cage to the case. These rails line up with pins that allow the user to mount the cage with the hard drive connectors facing out or toward the motherboard tray, providing a unique layer of flexibility.

The cleverly designed, dual-position hard drive cage

The top plate has two more pins that plug into two of the four soft washers attached to the cage, locking it in either position with thumb screws. The cage's simple design works well enough, but I found that that the cage can be difficult to slide into place. I'd also like to see Gigabyte's use of sound-dampening materials on the top of the cage extended to the bottom.

Parallel wiring gives all the 120 mm fans the same voltage through a single connector

Unlike most cases I've seen, where the wiring comes from various places and is bundled together with a rubber band somewhere toward the front of the case, Gigabyte takes the time to route wires for the Mars' larger fans along grooves that keep them out of the way of the rest of the build.

The semi-hidden fan wiring continues to the rear fans, as well as the front

The case's two 80 mm hard-drive fans have their own 3-pin power connectors, but all three 120 mm fans are wired in parallel to one 3-pin connector. This arrangement reduces cable clutter not only by keeping the fan wiring cleaner, but also by simply requiring fewer fan connectors in total. Note that Gigabyte provides additional connectors close to each fan, so more customized wiring is still easily accessible for the ambitious enthusiast.

A fan filter resides behind the hefty front plate

You don't have to take off the front bezel when installing 5.25" drives in the Mars, but it makes things much easier since there are pop-outs in both the removable bezel and the front face of the chassis. The front 120 mm fan can only be accessed by removing the bezel, as well, even if you just want to change the filter. Removing the bezel is as simple as releasing the six tabs that hold it in place.

Hidden bling

To give the blue LEDs in the case's front fan a more dramatic effect on the case's appearance, Gigabyte puts highly-reflective material on the inside of the front cover between the vents.

The front fan is the same as the ones in the rear, and it's positioned snugly in a compartment behind the front bezel. My initial feeling is that it's not a good idea to put a grill right behind the fan, since it will block some airflow, but at least the grill protects the fingers of those working inside the case. Few enthusiasts are likely to swap hard drives while their systems are running, but Serial ATA does allow for hot-swapping.