 I've received a number of complaints about the practice of teasing upcoming content and frequently resorting to potty humor in the intros of my videos. I wanted to address both of these issues once and for all with an official statement, but instead I opted to remind you guys to make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss our upcoming tour of the Sennheiser factory, which is coming very soon, and to introduce the topic of today's video with an analogy. Open air test benches versus traditional cases are kind of like boxers versus briefs. The pros and cons of the look is open for debate, but we can't deny that while boxers provide more airflow and allow for easier access to key components, they just don't wrap things up in a tight little package the same way briefs do. And the same goes for test benches versus cases. Thanks guys, you've been a terrific audience. The Cooler Master Neptune 240M features an exclusive pump design and their new Silencio fans to provide impressive near silent performance. Click now to learn more. Normally on a case I would look at the inside and the outside, but the DemosTech Mini V1 and EZV3 are open test benches, so there is no outside really. So we're going to do more of like a setup guide thing today than focusing on the Mini V1. Start by taking off the aluminum thumb screws on the sides and sliding out the bottom tray. Screw the rubber feet into the bottom with your hands. Next, assemble the vandal switches for the front by using the included wiring diagram. This was a little jankier than I'd have hoped because the clips aren't really the right size for the nubbins on the back of the switches, but it will work as long as you don't accidentally pull them off. Take off the fastening nuts, put them through the holes in the front, then tighten the nuts from the back. If you want more complete front I.O., the Mini V1 has one empty spot for a USB 3 port and the EZV3 has room for a more complete set, but neither of them includes this accessory by default. The next step involves one of the coolest pieces of case hardware I've seen in a while. The Mini V1 includes these nice tall metal standoffs that lock the board in place with so much strength that you can actually pick up the entire test bench by the motherboard if you really wanted to, but it still allows it to be swapped toollessly. It should be noted that my EZV3 came with more traditional screw mounted standoffs for some reason though. It's jank time again for this next step, the instructions simply say use the special M4 screws and M4 nut to attach the PCI support bracket, and I was like, okay, special, whatever that means. Turns out they meant this one. Then I went to install it, and while DemosTech could have simply put holes for this, instead they went with slits for some reason, you know, just in case your motherboard has its PCI slots in an unusual location or something. It's not a huge deal, but it meant that I had to actually put a graphics card onto the bench for a test fit in order to align it correctly. Next up is the flex fan, and this has to be the most BA snake arm thing I've ever seen on a computer component anyway. The arm screws into either of the two threaded holes that are positioned for easy supplementary airflow over a multi-way graphics card setup or the CPU area. It's strong enough to hold a single 120 millimeter water cooling radiator and fan, which is fortunate, because while the EZV3 features triple 120 or dual 140 radiator mounts on both sides, those are only suitable for a custom loop, so that means that neither of these test benches actually has any other position where a pre-filled dual 120 radiator could be installed. Back to the way most people will be using the flex arm though, especially if they're using a CPU heatsink for a fan, I still think the arm itself is great, but the bracket could use a little work. As it is, it requires a custom screw and nut, when with a wider hole it could have just used standard fan screws, and I think a larger bracket, one with eight screw holes, four for one 40 mil and four for one 20 mil, wouldn't have cost much more, and would have given a lot more flexibility to how it can be used. Drive installation is taken care of by removing the appropriate drive cage, so just undo the thumb screws at the front and slide it forward, then by screwing five and a quarter inch devices in directly, and by putting rubber grommets in place for your three and a half inch devices, then screwing them in with the non-special screws for a nice stable anti-vibrational mount. To mount the power supply, the manual simply says use 632 screws, something that won't be challenging for very experienced builders, but may give pause to newcomers to the computer assembly game, and then once those are in, you're pretty close to done. I initially didn't really like the power supply mount, because it looked like it was just kind of going to end up hanging there, but once you put the bottom tray back in, and then screw that in from the sides, it rests on it, and yeah, there's no flex left in the back of it, so no big deal there. The on-the-fly drive mount position on the left side of the Mini V1 is super handy, just put the appropriately threaded thumb screws into a two and a half inch or three and a half inch drive with a rubber spacer in between, stick it in there, and slide it into place. I wish there were more cable management options that didn't involve running across the top or the front of the bench, especially since the power and reset buttons are right there, but again not a huge deal given it is an open-air bench. Which leads us to the conclusion. DimasTech actually reached out to us not just to do a review, but to ask if we were interested in switching from the high-speed PC tech stations that you guys normally see in our videos to theirs exclusively. And while the Mini V1 and its bigger brother, the EZ V3, are solid, well-built test benches that we will use, it's not such a slam dunk victory that I'm ready to throw my tech stations in the garbage. Let's start with where the high-speed PCs come away with an advantage. Number one is sheer speed. For a bench where motherboard swaps are a daily occurrence, the nylon posts are faster for two reasons. One, they are easier to slide on once the board is in position, and two, they are plastic, so you can move around faster without worrying about scratching the underside of a board, potentially damaging it. Number two is fan mount positioning. If you just want a fan, the FlexFan system is great for pointing it at wherever your hot spots are, but if you want an all-in-one CPU cooler, especially a dual 120 rad one, the DimasTechs fall short. And number three is footprint. Even the Mini takes up more space on a desk than the XL ATX high-speed PC tech station, which I guess leads us into the DimasTech advantages. Number one is if you're using it as an actual case and you're looking to pimp out your bench, they've got a ton of really great accessories. XL ATX adapters for the Mini, drive mounting adapters, a better power supply support, and even their rad X'd shrouds to let you tack more radiators onto your system. Number two is they look a lot better than the ones we normally use in person, and more importantly for us, on camera. So if you want your test hardware to look more presentable, let's say you want to take photos of it for a forum that you're a member of or whatever else, the EZV3 and Mini V1 come away clear winners here. Number three is build quality. Some of our tech stations feel like they're going to come apart when you lift them. They've been in use for a couple of years. Not going to happen ever with the steel construction of these units. And then finally, number four is assembly time. It only takes about 15 minutes, even struggling with the manual a little, to assemble one of these out of the box for an experienced builder, whereas the high-speed PC ones do take quite a while to put together. So in summary, there's room for improvement. Better documentation in particular would be great, and I'd really like to see a better system than a little screw cap container for all the mounting hardware, maybe something that clips onto the bench for easy storage. But all in all, this is a quality product and great as a presentable looking test bench or open-air case for custom water coolers and air coolers. Speaking of presentable looking, you guys may have noticed I've been wearing this shirt lately and wondering where you can get one. Well, for the value price of just $19.95, you can have your very own Keep On Diggin' shirt, just like this one here. So whether it's our brohands at Ubisoft telling us about the cinematic experience of gaming at 30 FPS or really any other company that just seems determined to make everyone hate them, American ISPs, anyone, you'll be ready with encouragement and a pixel art shovel. If we all work together, maybe we can create a network of tunnels through the Earth's core with high-speed heat and pressure-resistant trains that run through them, revolutionizing worldwide travel forever. Or not. Also, guys, so I think that's it. Like this video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, leave a comment if your feelings are more complicated than this, also check the link in the video description. You can buy a cool t-shirt like this one. Ha ha, I kind of already said that. You can give us a monthly contribution straight up or you can change your Amazon bookmark to one with our affiliate code. That kind of stuff helps us out a lot. Thanks again for watching and as always, don't forget to subscribe.