In Win have released a new full tower gamer’s case that will allow for e-ATX motherboard installation and lots more.
Product on Review: In Win Dragon Rider
Manufacturer and Sponsor: In Win
RRP: £100 Inc. VAT
A great deal of enthusiasts may not have heard of In Win before, they are a Taiwanese based company that specialise in chassis/case manufacture. We have taken a look at some of their storage products in times past via the NA and AMMO. I took a look at the In Win Griffin, which as highlighted in the article had some major flaws in the design. Determined to find some improvement in In Win’s case design, I am today looking at the Dragon Rider which is In Win’s first full tower case. In fact, this case can accommodate E-ATX motherboards – so as you will appreciate the interior is extremely roomy. We can also expect tool-less mechanisms for attaching drives and cards and there are some alternative cooling solutions inside which look very intriguing. Everyone loves an under-dog, so lets begin our analysis of the Dragon Rider.
In Win’s Take:
With elegance, power and control firmly in its grasp, the Dragon Rider is designed to protect and cool even the most demanding of components. Enveloped totally in black, the dark design is only punctuated with bolts of striking yellow to create a subtle but distinct appearance. The unique side panel shield design creates the necessary space for tidy cable routing and multiple fan mounting points for up to 11x 120mm fans make it the ultimate chassis for cooling customization. Pre-fitted with a large 220mm side fan for effective graphics card cooling, the Dragon Rider also features additional front, top and rear fans for fantastic cooling potential. With the latest eSATA and USB 3.0 front panel ports, a back-supported CPU cooler removal hole, anti-vibration hard drive rails and tool-free installation, the large E-ATX Dragon Rider is packed with the latest enthusiast-class case features.
Specifications
Case Size
– Full Tower
Material
– 1.0~0.8mm SECC Steel
Dimension(HxWxD)
– 556 x 239 x 578mm (21.9” x 9.4” x 22.8”)
Power Supply
– 1. ATX 12V
– 2. PSⅡ Size and EPS
I/O Expansion Slots
– 8 x PCI-E/PCI/AGP Slot
Thermal Solution
– Rear 12cm Fan x 1
-Front:12cm Fan x 1
– Top:12cm Fan x 1 (Maximum Supports 12cm Fan x 2)
– Side:22cm LED Fan with switch x 1 (Maximum Supports 12cm Fan x 6)
– Water-Cooling Hole Ready
– 12cm LED Side Fan
M/B Form Factor
– E-ATX(12″X13"
– ATX
– Micro-ATX
Drive Bays
– External 5.25” x 5
– Includes FDD Cage x1(5.25” converted into 3.5”)
– Internal 3.5”x6
– 2.5” x 1
Front I/O (Ports)
– e-SATA×2
– IEEE 1394A×1(FireWire)
– USB 2.0 x 2
– HD/AC’97 Audio
– USB 3.0 x 2
Packaging & First Look
The Dragon Rider comes packaged within a large box which is suitably arranged with nice graphics on the front and back along with the specifications and features – customary to most case packaging. Inside, the case is wrapped inside a clear plastic sheet and held in place with polystyrene pillars for protection.
In Win Dragon Rider packaging
Taking the case out of the packaging we are met with a rather aggressively styled enclosure. The Dragon Rider is definitely targeted for the gamer, the styling and LED outlets at the front and sides are clear indicators of this.
On the prominent side panel there is a large 220mm LED fan mounted on perforated mesh panelling. This mesh panel can actually host up to 6 x 120mm fans by swapping out the beefy 220mm fan that is pre-mounted.
Around the other side there is an interesting design and shapes going on. In Win have moulded this side panel to feature concaved linings around the main region that cables are fed through from the other side. This should help enormously with cable management – we will find out later on. From the below photograph you will see that there is an area marked out that is again perforated mesh. Behind this we have a 120mm fan and this will provide additional cooling to the underside of the CPU socket and VRM section. A rather innovative idea, I don’t recall seeing anything like this on another case so it should be interesting to see whether or not this does have an impact on overall system temperature reduction.
The right side featuring a massive 220mm fan
Concaved design for cable management w/ 120mm fan – CPU/VRM cooling
Exterior
We can now go in for a closer look. The Dragon Rider in the below front and back shot looks fantastic. Even if you don’t appreciate gamer style cases, you have to admit that the front of this case looks really ferocious. The front features 5 x 5.25″ drive bays which have little latches on either side to extract the front cover. We also have a bay cover at the very bottom of the Dragon Rider which is simply there to allow you to get at 2 screws for removing the front 120mm intake fan which is behind the HDD cage. In the centre we have the In Win insignia which, when powered up will illuminate blue. In Win have really upped the anti with their case design since I last encountered their products and its good to see that things are improving.
Moving to the rear, from the bottom to the top we have an opening for a bottom mounted PSU. A total of 8 expansion slot covers, each bearing a perforated design to assist with heat dissipation. Above this we have a 120mm rear exhaust fan in a lime green colour and finally at the very top 4 rubber grommets for feeding cables or tubing should you need to.
On that rear shot of the case you can see the profile of the Dragon Rider, to the left side the concaved design that protrudes for assistance with cable management.
Front and rear of the Dragon Rider. A solid looking case
Moving to the top of the Dragon Rider we have a superbly crafted front panel control unit that gives us plenty of options such as mic/headpone sockets, 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x firewire, 2 x eSATA, plus the power and reset buttons.
The front panel has lots of functionality
Further down the case to the rear we have 2 openings for 120mm fans to be mounted. Inside you can see that there is already a pre-installed 120mm fan. It’s strange and uncommon to see 120mm fans being used at the top of the case – with most cases today the choice of size is usually upwards of 200mm.
Incidentally you can fit a 240mm radiator at the top of the case if you want to go down the water-cooling route.
2 x 120mm for top mounted cooling
Interior
Removing the prominent side panel via 2 thumbscrews we get our first glimpse of the inside of the Dragon Rider. This case is well laid out, and presents you with lots of options both in terms of cable management, space and tool-less mechanisms. You can see the cut-out for the CPU cooler backplate – which with the other side panel on, shows the 120mm fan that will blow cool air onto the back of the CPU socket and VRM. As I previously mentioned, I’ve not seen this idea implemented on a case before, and its a very intriguing decision.
Prominent side panel off. showing lots of room
Alternate side panel off
I thought it would be useful to show the inside of the side panel with the 220mm fan attached. The side panel actually has foam attached which In Win have used to aid noise damping, which is odd because there are lots of holes through out the case that do not do it any favours in this regard.
Inside of side panel, showing 220mm fan and foam padding
Inside, we have a PSU mounting area that features 4 soft rubber mounts for anti-vibration and scratch prevention. In the centre is a removable dust filter that can be cleaned/washed if required.
PSU mounting with dust filter
Above this we have each of the 8 expansion slots that come with integrated tool-less mechanisms. Its quite a simple design, and one that you may have seen on other cases too. All that needs to be done is a movement of the level to remove/install a card.
Expansion card quick release mechanism
Interior (Continued)
With regards to cooling inside the Dragon Rider we have a 120mm rear exhaust fan, a top mounted 120mm fan, a space next to this for another 120mm fan and behind the motherboard CPU cooler cut-out another 120mm fan which is attached to the side panel. So there are plenty of angles in which cooling will be utilised.
Lots of air cooling
Inside the lower 5.25″ bay there is a rack that contains a number of tool-less brackets to attach to both 5.25″ and 3.5″ devices. This unit is removable, but I had great trouble trying to remove it from the case so in the end I just left it attached. You can still take the brackets away as and when needed. It actually makes more sense to keep it within the case so that you know where the brackets are and can quickly and easily use them.
Handy internal drive bracket rack
Underneath the tool rack, there is a tray which slides out and reveals accommodation for 2.5″ devices. The device here fits flush to the cage. So if you have a 2.5″ SSD for example, you can slot this into the tray.
Housing for 2.5″ drives
Installation
Getting your kit into the Dragon Rider is mostly trouble-free. There was one difficulty with getting a tall tower style CPU cooler into the case with the 220mm side fan attached but we will discuss this later on in this section.
As you can see from the below picture, there is lots of space inside the Dragon Rider due to it being able to cater for e-ATX (extended ATX) motherboards. It actually makes my ASUS M4A89TD PRO look rather small! arranging cables inside the case is very easy thanks to the contours of the side panel behind the motherboard tray.
Installation complete
Bundled with the Dragon Rider is an accessories kit that includes screws, grip ties, e-atx cable extenders and a very informative instructions manual showing you all of the features and how to install your kit into the Dragon Rider.
Items bundled with the Dragon Rider
Installing devices such as 3.5″ HDDs inside the Dragon Rider is very easy. All you have to do is attach the provided brackets and slide into a bay of your choice. The brackets are rubberized, thus providing good anti-vibration characteristics.
Tool-less installation for devices
Due to the room inside the Dragon Rider there are no problems getting graphics cards to fit. Installed within the case we have the NVIDIA GTX 480 which is 10.5″. There you can see at least 2 inches additional clearance between the card and the HDD cage.
The Dragon Rider can accommodate all graphics cards currently on the market
Behind the motherboard tray we have just 1.5 cm to play with. Remember though, the side panel behind the motherboard tray has a concaved design, so thicker cables like the 24-pin ATX power can be fed around the back without any troubles at all.
2 cm clearance behind the motherboard tray
The only difficulty came when I tried to secure the side panel onto the case. Installed within the case is the Noctua NH-U12P CPU cooler which stands tall at 158mm. Sadly, whilst the side panel does fit in place after some encouragement the 220fan touches the top of the heatpipes on the CPU cooler, thus preventing it from spinning. So with this obstruction present I had to remove the 220mm fan which required the removal of 4 screws and an additional 2 screws for the switch which would control the LEDs on this large fan.
So be aware, if you have a CPU cooler that is over 150mm tall then you won’t be able to have the 220mm fan attached to the side panel.
Some tall CPU coolers obstruct the 220mm side panel fan
Powered Up
In this section the visual appearance of the case is posted to give you an example of how the Dragon Rider will look when finished and powered up. There would be blue neon lighting glowing from the side panel in a typical setup but due to the fact in the previous section the 220mm had to be removed we sadly do not have this option. Nevertheless the Dragon Rider looks brilliant now that the installation has been finished. The front badge also lights up to exude a nice blue glow. Overall, I am impressed at what In Win have accomplished in the Dragon Rider.
The Dragon Rider powered up, fierce and Dragon-like!
Thermal Performance
Our Dragon Rider has an interesting air cooling setup. We have 4 x 120mm fans pre-installed, 1 of which is positioned on the side panel, behind the motherboard tray so that airflow is directed towards the back of the CPU socket and VRM. Of course, due to the inability to have the 220mm attached this will be extracted from the thermal tests – which is a shame, but it won’t fit inside the case with a large CPU cooler… which we have to admit is a common component found part of ANY gamer’s system.
To discover the thermal performance of the Dragon Rider I will record idle temperatures after 20 minutes from a cold boot. I will then stress the system and temperatures will again be monitored after a 30 minute have elapsed.
System Components
CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz
Motherboard ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Graphics ZOTAC NVIDIA GTX 480 Amp!
Memory 4GB Mushkin EM3-10666 DDR3
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II
PSU Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W
Thermal performance is very pleasing. We can see the significance of that fan mounted behind the CPU socket as it has an effect on shaving off those valuable degrees. I’m sure that other case manufacturers will probably follow suite, this is both innovative and effective.
Conclusion
After previous bad experience with our first In Win case review I was rather dubious about the next case review, as you naturally would be. But I can tell you that In Win have certainly improved upon their build quality and case design concepts. The Dragon Rider has really impressed me.
Now, this case won’t be suited to everyone. Some prefer a minimalist styling with smooth surfaces and simple visuals, we have to remember though that the Dragon Rider is targeted at the gamer. A strong, rugged, and bright appearance is therefore needful for such a case and in this regard the Dragon Rider is a superb looking gamer case which will compete with the likes of the HAF series from Cooler Master and the Twelve Hundred from Antec. I can verify that it is a good alternative to these popular choices.
In Win have been creative in the way they have developed the Dragon Rider – creating alternative methods of cooling the system via a 120mm fan mounted to the underside of the motherboard tray, aiding CPU socket and VRM cooling. They have also implemented a concaved side panel to accommodate good cable management behind the motherboard tray which makes it easy to keep the bigger cables like 24-pin ATX well hidden, away from the front of the motherboard.
The downside to the Dragon Rider is the obstruction the large 220mm fan causes when mounted to the side panel. Certainly in my experience, it touched the top of the heatpipes on the Noctua NH-U12P. So this large fan had to be removed in order for everything to work accordingly. On the flip side though, we can mount 6 x 120mm fans to the side panel, which contribute to the ability to install up to 11 x 120mm fans inside the Dragon Rider, which is a phenomenal cooling potential. (you may need some ear muffs though!).
Gamer’s can expect to pay in the region of £100 Inc. VAT for the Dragon Rider which is a fair price for a full tower case of its calibre.
The bottom line is, the Dragon Rider is an impressive looking, roomy e-ATX compatible case with good cable management and a series of great features. Many may not have heard of In Win, but there is no reason why after the launch of this new case they shouldn’t have.
Pros
+ Bold, rugged gamer appearance
+ Good build quality
+ Great potential for cooling
+ Very roomy
Cons
– Large CPU Coolers touch side panel fan
– No fan control
+ Bold, rugged gamer appearance
+ Good build quality
+ Great potential for cooling
+ Very roomy
Cons
– Large CPU Coolers touch side panel fan
– No fan control
