Review: Gigabyte Sumo Alpha

Final Thoughts and Rating

Gigabyte is an established name in graphics cards and motherboards, but it hasn't quite had the same impact in the chassis market. The Taiwanese manufacturer continues to offer plenty of choice - its chassis are sorted into at least 20 different product lines - but stand-out solutions remain few and far between.

Continuing that trend, the Sumo Alpha feels like another generic gesture. It's formulaic, doesn't attempt to excel in any particular aspect, and like so many budget enclosures, it relies on three core selling points: gamer-orientated aesthetics, a handful of bundled fans and a sub-£50 price tag.

The Sumo Alpha is best-described as sufficient - it's easy enough to build into and it will cool high-end components perfectly well - but it isn't particularly appealing and there are no compelling reasons to buy one.

Unless you happen to love the way the Sumo Alpha looks, there are better alternatives at around the same price.

The Good

Good out-the-box performance
Includes four fans*
USB 3.0

The Bad

Not the quietest chassis
Looks are an acquired taste
Expansion-slot covers can't be reused
Light switch doesn't turn off all the lights
Tool-free expansion slot fastener is fiddly
Fifth optical bay is redundant

*[Update 7/12/12] Gigabyte has stated that some European Distributors are choosing to ship the Sumo Alpha chassis with just two fans, front and rear. You may want to check with your nearest retailer before making a purchase.

HEXUS Rating

Gigabyte Sumo Alpha

HEXUS Where2Buy

The Gigabyte Sumo Alpha chassis is available to purchase from CCL Computers.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.