With innovation at its heart, 904 mid tower chassis combines aluminium and tempered glass to bring a unique take on computer case design.
Product on Review: 904
Manufacturer and Sponsor: IN WIN
Street Price: £150 GBP / $240 USD
Just lately, IN WIN has been breaking away from the rat race and venturing into the world of innovation. One of this year’s biggest surprises was the launch of Tou, social media sites and community forums around the globe have been inundated with discussion about this exotic computer chassis and it isn’t any wonder why. Today IN WIN are back with another exciting computer chassis called 904.
904 is a mid-tower computer chassis which uses a combination of aluminium, thick tempered glass and a unique feature-set enabling it to break out of the mold of traditional computer case design. IN WIN have made bold moves in the past, how will 904 shape up?
IN WIN on their 904 Case
The In Win 904 Mid Tower Case brings In Wins award winning innovations to another level, with the stylish hairline texture surface design and the ease of use of the case, and great cooling capabilities, with the ability to house any size GPU and cable management that will keep your components looking clean and tidy, and how else would you like to show your awesome gear off with the toughened glass side panel. This is an ultra-premium, Unibody design at a perfect price point.
Technical Specifications
Case Size
Mid Tower Chassis
Material
2mm/4mm Aluminum
5mm Tempered Glass
External Drive Bay
5.25″ x 1
Internal Drive Bay
3.5″ / 2.5″ SATA HDD EZ-Swap Module x 3
2.5″ x 2
M/B Form Factor
ATX / Micro-ATX
Power Supply
ATX 12V, PSII and EPS Up to 180mm
I/O Port
USB3.0 x 4, HD Audio
Expansion Slot
PCI-E / PCI / AGP Slot x 8
GPU Clearance Support
Supports High-end Graphic Card Up to 360mm
Thermal Solution Support
– 90mm Rear Fan x 1
– 140mm Bottom Fan x 1
– 120/140mm Liquid Cooling Radiator
– CPU heatsink up to 145mm
Product Dimensions (H x W x D)
490 x 192 x 490mm
19.3″ x 7.6″ x 19.3″
Mid Tower Chassis
Material
2mm/4mm Aluminum
5mm Tempered Glass
External Drive Bay
5.25″ x 1
Internal Drive Bay
3.5″ / 2.5″ SATA HDD EZ-Swap Module x 3
2.5″ x 2
M/B Form Factor
ATX / Micro-ATX
Power Supply
ATX 12V, PSII and EPS Up to 180mm
I/O Port
USB3.0 x 4, HD Audio
Expansion Slot
PCI-E / PCI / AGP Slot x 8
GPU Clearance Support
Supports High-end Graphic Card Up to 360mm
Thermal Solution Support
– 90mm Rear Fan x 1
– 140mm Bottom Fan x 1
– 120/140mm Liquid Cooling Radiator
– CPU heatsink up to 145mm
Product Dimensions (H x W x D)
490 x 192 x 490mm
19.3″ x 7.6″ x 19.3″
Packaging & First Look
904 arrives in a large white box which is rather non-descript in its appearance with only the technical specifications listed. Inside, the case is covered in a black-fabric bag and there are a number of polystyrene blocks for padding to ensure a safe arrival. Our sample took a little bit of a beating on its journey and we’re pleased to say it still arrived undamaged and intact.
Packaging for 904
IN WIN’s recent product releases have included some distinct and innovative computer cases and 904 is no exception.
Both side panels on 904 feature 5mm tempered glass. Incorporating this into the design of 904 brings superior noise damping and a unique visual appearance. This thick tempered glass is around 80% tinted so it’s quite difficult to see inside the case – especially since the internal layout and features are black. If your hardware has lighting then it will obviously be easier to see.
Either side of 904 are the same, there are no significant features that distinguish one from the other.
Distinct visual appearance
5mm tinted tempered glass for both side panels
Exterior
At the front of 904 there is 2mm/4mm aluminium panel which is actually one piece – running to the underside and top. The brushed texture finish is a classic look which never grows old.
This front panel is fixed and there is no door like a conventional computer case which would have 5.25” drive bay covers and cooling fan outlets.
Around the back there is another aluminium panel but this is detachable. Acting as a cover, this panel features a snowflake grid towards the top for attaching a 120/140mm radiator. IN WIN has engineered gaps at the top, sides and bottom for routing any cabling from the PSU, monitor and other devices to the rear IO.
The front and back of 904
Stepping away from conventional case design, 904 takes its front panel ports to the side of the case on a single strip. IN WIN have integrated 4x USB 3.0 ports – two connectors are required to provide connectivity/power. There are also headphone and microphone jacks and a power button.
The lower section of this particular aspect is hollowed out to allow a single 5.25” drive to be installed. IN WIN has provided a bay underneath the PSU mounting platform and a nicely designed plate covers this bay is held in place with a thumbscrew.
Plenty of USB 3.0 ports
Having no need for clearance at the bottom, there are just two rubber strips on the underside of 904. One at the front and another towards the back of the case. These strips ensure the case does not slide on smooth surfaces.
Rubber strips at bottom
Focusing our attention on the side panelling, as previously mentioned both sides use 5mm tempered glass. Each side uses four oversized thumbscrews in order to fix the large glass panel into place.
As you can see, once removing this panel you discover how substantial the glass really is. Additionally you can see how strongly tinted the glass panel is, you can only just identify the objects behind it.
Large thumbscrews keep glass panels in place
Thick 5mm tempered glass
Interior
Removing the thick, glass side panels we can now clearly see the internal layout and design of 904. The motherboard tray and even the cable braiding is been given a sleek black colour-scheme and while some of 904 retains characteristics to the common computer chassis there are also some subtle alterations – such as HDD cages and cooling fan placement.
There are actually no cooling fans pre-installed and only two locations for attaching such a device. IN WIN has made allocation for a 90mm rear exhaust and a 140mm intake above the FP connectivity. Stock cooling performance is certainly going to have a weakness but even adding in fans may not yield promising results either.
An overview of the internal layout and design
Behind the motherboard tray
Beginning at the bottom of 904, we see there is a platform for placing the PSU. This platform sits above the 5.25” drive bay and unfortunately has no anti-vibration padding or the option for a dust filter – in fact, IN WIN has included a small sticker to instruct installers to mount the PSU with the fan facing the inside of the chassis.
Platform for installing PSU
Moving our way up through the case we see there are a total of eight PCI expansion slot covers, there are no ventilation cut-outs on these covers and just a standard screw is used to secure them so you will need to get out that trusty screwdriver to add/remove.
Multi-GPU support but no thumbscrews
Interior (Continued)
Moving up inside 904, there is allocation for a 90mm rear exhaust fan and an extra cut-out for those wanting to install an AIO CPU cooler – you can feed the cables out and have the radiator fixed to the aluminium grid outside.
Having just a 90mm fan allocation for the rear exhaust alludes to how thin 904 really is and also hints that installing flagship air CPU coolers could be problematic (more on this later).
Allocation for a 90mm rear exhaust fan
Over on the other side, the HDD storage cage is actually placed at the very top of the chassis. This cage features three HDD trays which can house both 3.5” and 2.5” drives. IN WIN has given each tray the SATA ports at the back to bring in hot-swappable functionality – there are respective cables for this.
Below our HDD cage are two brackets which can house 2.5” drives. Each bracket can be easily removed by loosening the thumbscrews. From this viewpoint we can also see the 140mm dust filter and bracket for attaching a cooling fan inside 904.
Hotswappable HDD functionality
Extra support for 2.5” drives
Installation
Transferring kit to 904 can be cumbersome in some regards and in others not so. When installing the motherboard, the 24-pin ATX connector was particularly difficult to plug into the motherboard due to the HDD cage sitting so close to the edge of the motherboard.
The length of your PSU is critical to both the installation of this device and additional cable management. Our FSP PSU is 160mm in length which is the ideal size for having enough clearance to allow the storage of redundant cables and for cables to even route from the PSU itself.
We’re pleased to see that IN WIN provide CPU power and 24-pin ATX extenders and plenty of cable management ties and clips. We had to make use of the CPU power extender since our cable would not reach.
ATX motherboard and system installed
Good cable management with extender cables
To install a storage drive into 904 a HDD tray is used. These trays can house 2.5” and 3.5” drives. A 2.5” drive will have screws attached to the underside while a 3.5” drive (like the one pictured) can sit into the tray without the need of attaching any screws.
Installation of storage
Clearance – CPU Cooler, GPU, Cable Management, WC
Space inside a chassis is essential for system builders as it highlights what components can fit inside and what cannot.
CPU Cooler
Due to 904’s width our test system CPU cooler extended outside of the case. This is rather unfortunate and disappointing – our Noctua NH-U12P is 158mm in height, most flagship offerings are around 160mm so this completely rules any compatibility with these devices out. There is up to 145mm available for coolers.
Limited clearance for air CPU coolers
Graphics Card
Since there are no obstructions in the path of any PCI-E slot, 904 has good clearance for high-end graphics cards. Pictured is XFX 7970 DD which is approximately 10.5” in length – 904 can support up to 13”.
Good graphics card clearance
Cable Management
Behind the motherboard tray there are plenty of channels to arrange cable management. IN WIN provide just over 2cm of space between the back of the motherboard tray and the side panel glass. This is a reasonable amount of space and allows for good cable management practise.
Just over 2cm of clearance behind the motherboard tray
Water Cooling
904 is designed to house water cooling radiators outside of the chassis. The rear aluminium panel has a grid which, when combined with washers and screws can accommodate 120/140mm radiators. IN WIN has designed this especially for AIO type coolers.S
While this may be the only space for mounting such a device, we really like the idea, it transfers heat outside of the chassis and away from the system.
Installing 120mm radiator onto rear aluminium panel
Allocation for 120/140mm radiators externally
Thermal Performance Testing
IN WIN’s 904 has no pre-installed cooling fans and has very little ventilation, so we aren’t expecting great results from this mid-tower. Those of you who have read up to this point in the review will notice our test system CPU cooler extends outside of the case, thus preventing the side panel from being attached – we will therefore be leaving that side panel detached from 904 for the duration of testing.
To discover the thermal performance of 904 we will record idle temperatures after 20 minutes from a cold boot. We will then stress the system and temperatures will again be monitored after 30 minutes have elapsed.
For the purpose of accurate analysis the idle and load temperatures for CPU and GPU will be recorded and the range between idle and load will be calculated to determine how efficient cooling is.
NOTE: Ambient temperature is 20C
System Components
CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz
Motherboard ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Graphics NVIDIA GTX 480 (Different from card pictured)
Memory 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II
PSU FSP AURUM GOLD 650M
Motherboard ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Graphics NVIDIA GTX 480 (Different from card pictured)
Memory 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II
PSU FSP AURUM GOLD 650M
Noise
Since there are no cooling fans attached to the case there are no additional noises!
Conclusion
In the last 12 months IN WIN has been upping the ante by designing and producing stand-out computer cases. Rather than join the rat race, they have chosen to diversify and 904 is a product following this ethic.
The two-tone theme of silver and black are a classic combination and from a visual standpoint 904 not only looks sleek but it also is easily distinguished too. IN WIN has furnished this case with premium materials by using aluminium and tempered glass. Regardless of whether this looks good or bad, there is no denying that 904 has a premium aura about it. Though, choosing to build with expensive materials like aluminium and glass has meant that other features are perhaps absent such as a fan controller.
Lack of cooling fan placements, the absence of even one fan and limited CPU cooler height support hints that this case is really designed for AIO CPU coolers. Especially since the rear aluminium panel can house the radiator externally. This compatibility for liquid coolers still only supports 120/140mm radiators – it would have been sensible for IN WIN to extend the grid pattern to accommodate 240mm radiators, but even so we think this design/feature is very inventive.
The price of £150 GBP / $240 USD is respective of the aluminium and glass construction. 904 fits into a niche and so it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but if you are looking for the specific criteria which this case slots into then it’s an attractive option to go with.
IN WIN, the formidable innovators are back with another adventurous computer case which breaks the mould. While it may not tick all the boxes for some due to it fitting into a niche, 904 is very intriguing. It oozes quality and works great with 120/140mm AIO coolers.
VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV
Pros
+ Pleasing to the eye
+ Innovative and unique
+ Excellent build quality and materials
+ External 120/140mm radiator support
+ Low-noise
Cons
– Limited air CPU cooler clearance
– Lack of cooling fan placements/ventilation
– No cooling fans included
– Poor cooling with air CPU coolers
+ Pleasing to the eye
+ Innovative and unique
+ Excellent build quality and materials
+ External 120/140mm radiator support
+ Low-noise
Cons
– Limited air CPU cooler clearance
– Lack of cooling fan placements/ventilation
– No cooling fans included
– Poor cooling with air CPU coolers
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
