PC Case designs have come a long way from the beige boxes from the previous century. Thanks to the modding and gaming scenes, manufacturers try to lure in new customers with sleek and innovative designs that not only allow your computer to perform its best, but inspire envy at LAN parties. Most PC cases are intended for either full-fledged ATX cases, or small form factor PCs, but not much attention has been paid for Mini-ATX motherboards.
In Win has a new mid-range PC case, dubbed the Dragon Slayer, which accomodates a micro-ATX mainboard. Most micro-ATX cases were aimed at the home theater segment, as these motherboards were usually not considered powerful enough for an enthusiast-level gaming rig. Times have changed, apparently, as this case is equipped to tame even the most monstrous heat-producing equipment, but we’ll get into that on the next page.
The Dragon Slayer’s design is influenced by medieval knights, and there is a heavy application of Modder’s Mesh (e.g. chain mail) to prove it. There are three different types of mesh used, and they are sometimes layered to act as air filters.
Specifications
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Dragon Slayer, the new mATX chassis from In Win is small in size and huge in potential. Covered by metallic medieval chain armor like bezel and supported by sturdy dark metal structure this case is built to keep all components unharmed, while providing excellent airflow. Powerful as a giant, Dragon Slayer is capable to accommodate two full-length graphic cards up to 320mm. Extreme ventilation and a cable routing system make this chassis a great knight to fight by your side during any gaming battle. Equipped with anti-vibration pads aside of side panel and water-cooling holes, Dragon Slayer is ready to satisfy the strictest enthusiast.
On the next page we open the box and take a look at what this case has to offer…
The In Win Dragon Slayer Case is made of standard SECC steel that has been painted with a durable black finish. The front panel looks rather impressive and detailed and is made from molded plastic. Included in the box is the case itself, which is wrapped in a plastic bag and two styrofoam end pieces. A small installation booklet is also included, and additional hardware (screws and rails) is tied in the interior of the case.
The front
The front of the case is molded plastic, but has several design elements made from metal mesh (look at some of our mesh projects here). The top has a 5.25″ drive bay, followed beneach by a single 3.5″ drive bay, which are both easily removed by pinching the sides of thier corresponding bezels. Below this is a line of I/O ports: a microphone jack, headphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, and a single USB 3.0 port (the port is colored blue to denote the difference).
Below the front I/O section is a oblong power button with power and hard drive activity lights. Below this is another mesh design with a light-up “In Win” logo, which serves to hide an interior 120mm intake fan. Below this center section are two more 5.25″ drive plates. Behind this section is a removable drive cage with built-in cooling fan for your hard drives, but you can choose to remove this cage and mount an optical drive to the bottom of the column, which is certainly unusual.
The sides and top
In Win takes a different approach to the windowed case. Instead of a huge acrylic window (which can be easily scratched) or a single large fan, In Win incorporates a pressed dual-mesh “window” with built-in fan mounts. The two different types of mesh create an optical illusion, which makes an funky geometric pattern that shifts as the observer moves. The installer can choose to either make the case see-through, or he can attach up to four 120mm fans to help cool your components. The disadvantage to this system is that it allows dust in, which negates the other “dust proof” features of the case. Additionally it will be difficult to silence a PC that has such an open side.
The other side is practically featureless, except for a stamped meshed chevron design. When this side is removed allows access to the motherboard’s underside (and the right side of any installed drives).
The top has the “In Win” logo stamped in, and behind that (near the rear of the case) is a stamped mech guard to accomodate a 92mm or 120mm fan (a 120mm is pre-installed). This could be a good place for water-cooling equipment, depending on your hardware.
The rear
The rear of the case has more than you would expect from a mid-range case. The top of the case has three self-closing rubber gaskets. Two of these are inteded for inflow and outflow of a watercooling reservoir, while the third allows a “cable bridge” between the inside and rear of the case, such as the USB 3.0 port on the front (e.g USB 3.0 cards do not currently have internal headers). Kudos to In Win for literally “thinking outside the box”.
Below the rubber gaskets is a single 80mm exhaust fan, and below that is a standard rectangular motherboard I/O panel. To the right of this are five option card slot covers. Mini-ATX motherboards usually only have four slots, but a fifth one is provided to allow for options that are tethered to other components (like an additional VGA header, SPDIF connector, USB ports and such). Below the card slots is an opening for a standard computer power supply.
The left side of the rear panel has a loop for a standard Kensington-style PC lock, for those who like to lock down their PC. There are four easy-to-grip thumbscrews which secure the left and right panels into place.
The bottom of the case has an area stamped out to allow for air intake, as many enthusiast-level PSUs have a 92 or 120mm cooling fan rather than a wimpy (and noisy) 80mm rear exhaust fan. Again, kudos to In Win for elegantly simple design.
On the next page we open her up and take a look inside…
There is a lot to the inside of the case, as well. Upon first opening the side panel, the user is greeted with several standard cables, including the front panel motherboard connectors, standard USB 2.0 internal headers, a blue USB 3.0 cable, and four different fan leads. Three of the fans use large 4-pin Molex connectors as their power source, while the rear 80mm fan has a normal 3-pin fan lead.
I cannot stress enough how much I loathe Molex fan headers. I can understand that case manufacturers try to make everything accessible, but most computer users (not just enthusiasts) have enough fan headers on their motherboards. Molex connectors are messy and cannot be easily managed (especially the “pass-through” connectors supplied on these fans). A good compromise would have been to use 3-pin fan headers, but include a Molex adapter. If a user really wants these many fans in their system, then they usually use a fan bus of some kind. Whenever I see a Molex header, I either replace the fan, or re-wire the header. It’s really a pitty, because the fans included with the Dragon Slayer case have a nice look to them.
Interior features
Aside from my personal dislike for the fan headers, there are many other things to like about the interior. Being a smaller case, there is not a full-length column of drive cages in the front. Instead, there are three drive bays at the top and two at the bottom. At the top is a forward-facing 5.25″ and 3.5″ drive bay (most likely for use with an optical drive and card reader (or you could mount 2 laptop or SSD drives in a single floppy bay like we’ve done with this). Below the floppy drive cage are prongs to internally attach a 2.5″ solid-state (SSD) drive.
There is a lot of open room in the center front of the case, and is a perfect place to mount and route cables, In this desolate area is a pre-installed 120mm fan, which can provide additional positive pressure to your case’s airflow strategy.
The bottom cage
The bottom front of the case has a dual 5.25″ drive cage. This cage has an interior sub-cage with a 60mm fan, intended to blow air across your hard drives. This sub-cage is held in place with two tooless mounting mechanisms, whose knobs are easily identified with their bright neon-yellow color. The fan’s cable is smartly routed through a groove in the cage. The cage can be easily removed from the front by removing the bottom two panel covers. Using this method, you could choose to install one or more optical drives in this lower section, which is a change of pace for most PC installations.
The rear of the interior has the three self-closing gaskets we mentioned on the previous page, which can be helpful with cables that need access to the rear of your computer. There are also two gaskets for use with watercooling equipment, for those who have external reservoirs.
The case employs are tooless card-mounting mechanism, whose levers are are made of bright neon yellow plastic for easy identification. These mechanisms work better than other “tooless” designs I’ve seen, as they are easily gripped, latch securely and do not come loose.
A power supply can be mounted in the bottom rear of this case. There is an air intake vent which accomodates the airflow of modern PSU design (like the Thermaltake TR RX2 reviewed here and Corsair TX 720 reviewed here).
On the next page we render our conclusion…
As mentioned previously, there is a lot to like about the In Win Dragon Slayer case. It has a flexible air-flow strategy that is practially a case made out of fans, and as such is meant to be a gamer’s performance case and not to be used in a silent home-theater environment. The dual-mesh designs in front of the fans act as a dust filter, which will certainly capture dust within all its nooks and crannies, so you should be vigilant with the compressed air. The flexible installation allows the installation of one or several optical drives in the top or bottom of the case, and has support for water-cooling and solid-state drives. There are other thoughtful nods for modern hardware like support for SSDs, USB 3.0, and airflow for bottom-mounted PSUs.
While I have nothing against “tooless” PC installations, I have never felt completely satisfied with their mounting methods. Tooless drive installations usually only secure one side of the unit, which makes it prone to vibration and a tendancy to rattle. Even though anti-vibration pads are incorporated, any installed drives aren’t as secure as they would be if screwed in tight. Tooless methods might be preferrable for quick removal, but honestly how often is anyone changing out their optical or hard drives?
The front panel looks really killer, but it must be remembered that it is mostly plastic, and the mounting tabs could snap (as was the case with the beefy-looking yet ultimately wimpy Ultra m998 case). The drive cage panels look amazing with its dual-toned hexagonal mesh, which is an absolute shame to replace it with a dull-looking optical drive. It would have been great if one of these panels incorporated a stealth design that fit in front of a standard optical drive. That way the Dragon Slayer case would keep its aesthetic integrity.
These thoughtful design features make for easy installation of your PC, even if you have multiple video cards. It should be noted that this is not a case for those who need support for RAID 5 or other disk-hungry applications, as there are only a few bays available for hard drives. A typical user can easily accomodate two hard drives, a card reader, an SSD, and an optical drive. There’s even support for two (or even three) optical drives and 3 SSDs (if you use a 2.5″ to 3.5″ drive bay cage like this one).
These caveats are really minor issues and shouldn’t deter away a PC gamer. The In Win Dragon Slayer case has a lot of features, has support for your latest hardware, keeps your system cool, and (most importantly) looks stunning.
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