14 DAY TRIAL // Those 5.25-inch drive bays on the front of every desktop case are usually taken up by optical drives, but that normally leaves one or more of them empty. Unused. Pointless in their continued existence, if we were to get poetic.
Sure, some people might get a second optical unit, but there isn't much point in doing something like that these days.
Thus, only people with money to spare usually get something to fill the space, which means that only gaming systems and workstations ever become truly full-kitted.
And in order to be full kitted, those 5.25-inch spare bays usually end up holding a water cooling reservoir, or a drive cage of some sort, maybe a fan controller.
Xigmatek has released something more unusual though, something that combines the benefits of several different accessories.
Called Accessor, the product is described as a front-panel utility console, which provide USB ports and multi-format card readers.
There are two Accessor consoles actually, but the second one, Accessor Pro, is made for 3.5-inch drive bays instead.
That said, the 5.25-inch Accessor Ultimate is a product of solid size, with one eSATA port thrown in alongside the two USB 3.0, four USB 2.0/1.1 connectors and, of course, the card reader itself.
The eSATA port is relayed from an internal SATA port, while the card reader can interface with CF, SD, MMC, MS, xD, M2, and micro-SD formats.
Obviously, in addition to the SATA internal connection, the utility console links to the motherboard and PSU through other means. Specifically, a 4-pin Molex plug is used, along with a USB 3.0 standard internal header (for downstream USB 3.0 ports), a USB 2.0/1.1 internal header (for the USB 2.0 hub).
Xigmatek will sell the Accessor Ultimate in black and silver color option, but didn't give a release date or price. The same goes for the Accessor Pro (the same card reader but just a USB 3.0 port).
