Today's case review features a rather unusual case design from GMC called the R-2 Toast.  GMC may not be a familiar name to some readers but they have been making award winning cases for the European market for some time.  Local sound card favorites Auzentech are now a distributer and soon these cases will be found just about everywhere.  Lets take a closer look at the aptly named Toast.

The glossy black Toast design may not look as fancy as some of the cases we have seen lately but it does have one thing going for it, its tiny.  And that's not all.  With a street price of around $60 its also affordable.  

Some of you may be wondering if the square button on the side opens the front to give access to hidden drives and you would be on the right track.  In fact, the button opens the optical drive.  The front of the Toast is removable but it is not a door.  Lets just look at the specs.

Features:

Middle Tower ATX Case

• ATX Form Factor accepts ATX, Micro-ATX, and Full-ATX boards
• Supports the largest graphics cards
• 12 v Power Supply
• 3 Drive Bays
• 7 PCI Card Expansiion Slots

Excellent Thermal Solution

• Up to two (2) 80mm rear fans for maximum cooling
• Air duct and PCI Express air hold in side panel.
• Meets Intel Chassis Air Guide (CAG) 1.1 standard

Front panel function

• Striking stylish blue light for maximum impact
• Front panel eject button, power switch, multiport, and Optical Disk Drive
• Patented front panel vertical Optical Disk Drive

Specifications:

As you may have guessed, the Toast likely gets its name from the vertical mounting of the Optical drive bay.  This vertical setup makes the drive tray rise up like a nicely browned piece of toast from your typical toaster.  This vertical mounting makes for a pretty clean look but it also helps reduce the size.

In addition to the black sample we will be working with, the Toast comes in a wide variety of colors.  GMC is likely to offer the colored Toast models at a slightly higher $69.99 initially.  You are pretty likely to be the only one at the local LAN party with a green one I bet!

The left side is vented  above the card slots and features a ported vent for the processor.  The front panel is also vented for the optical device.  Only the left side has thumb screws as the right side is not removable at all.

In fact, the right side is pretty bare with venting up front to match and an additional vent to help cool the drives.