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This year's Computex may have seemed a bit stilted in the wake of the ongoing memory crisis, but one thing that didn't fail to deliver was unique case designs. And, surprisingly, I quite like one with a built-in essential oils diffuser.
Our Jacob managed to get a look at the Montech Ten Wood on the show floor, a PC with wooden detailing and a magnetic wooden block that sits just above the exhaust fans to waft its smell around your room. The point here is to add some sort of essential oils or otherwise smelly thing to it, and let the PC do the work.
Now, technically, any PC with its exhaust fans positioned upwards can do this, but the wooden block looks decent in this build and fits naturally in the crevice in the middle. There are three Ten Wood models: the M1, M2, and I3, with the first two supporting both Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX, and the last only supporting Mini-ITX.
Despite being called the "Wood" model, there is relatively little wood on this itty-bitty PC case. You get a small amount at the top and bottom of the front panel and back, plus the wooden diffuser directly in the middle. Personally, I think the wooden case looks pretty neat, and as an enjoyer of essential oils, incense, and all things smelly (positive), I think I'd actually use this case. That is, assuming the exhaust fans really are enough to waft the scent all around the room.
The basic Montech Ten is $70. The Ten Wood model will likely be a small increase on that, so it's still a relatively budget case. We don't yet have a release date, unfortunately. Admittedly, the diffuser is pretty small and fairly niche, but given its form factor and expected price point, it seems more like an extra than a selling point.
This isn't the only odd Montech case we saw at this year's show. It recently unveiled a shuttered PC case, and our Nick can't figure out if he's missing its brilliance or if it truly is pointless. As well as this, we saw a ginormous case from Be Quiet! with room for up to seven HDDs, and a Floatron case from darkFlash that looks like it was yoinked straight from an evil scientist's lair.
None of those got the response from our team that the Corsair Warthog did, though. This military-themed PC case comes with flight control-style buttons and a switch to toggle a light above the rear IO panel.
There are so many great, weird, and wacky cases to choose from. It's just a shame that much of the tech to actually put in them is only getting more expensive.
1. Best overall: Havn HS 420
2. Best budget: Phanteks G400A
3. Best midrange: Lian Li O11 Vision Compact
4. Best budget compact: Thermaltake S100 TG Snow Edition
5. Best high-end: NZXT H9 Flow RGB+
6. Best Mini-ITX: Fractal Design Terra
7. Best Micro-ATX: NZXT H3 Flow
8. Best full-tower: NZXT H7 Flow
9. Best pink: Hyte Y70
10. Best looking: Phanteks Evolv X2
11. Best for beginners: Be Quiet! Shadow Base 800 FX
