Hardware First Look: In-Win Wavy Mini-ITX case

This in-win case is just begging for a HL2 mod.

 

Yea it's an identical chassis just with a different fascia and pretty patterns on the side.

 

Part of me feels like I have to come to the defense of this little case, albeit I do agree about the hinges (yes... we get it, the plastic is flimsy) but the effectiveness of the review was hijacked by repeatedly focusing on that one aspect. The bezel is just window dressing anyway, important but not functionally relevant. I am using its sister case BM648 with 120watt PS, shy of the front hinges and bezel styling its exactly the same case. Using a Zotac 9300 series mobo I crammed a Core 2 Quad processor with stock Intel heat sink. That said the case is aptly roomy but also constrictive enough to produce very efficient airflow. I did upgrade the main case fan to a stock width with purdy blue LEDs; $5 extra, big deal, very quiet indeed.

The ITX form factor is simply wonderful, most of the traditional PC power in a very tiny and flexible platform. However using an ITX board with traditional ATX form factor parts in a case like this misses the point and lacks imagination for some of the system builders out there. One of the design benefits of the ITX form factor has been to reduce power consumption and heat production due to limited case size and application in the field which typically reduce heat dissipation (semi mobile computer stations in hospitals, in car computers for police and fire units, etc). So why on earth add to the power and heat demand by using 5.25' optical drives and 3.5' hard drives? In-Win was thoughtful enough to include a slimdrive slot with a 3.5' bay right next to it; so use it! I installed a two 2.5' drive rack with hotswap backplane in the front 3.5' bay and left the other internal 3.5' bay for cable management purposes.

Regarding the power supply I too was initially resistant until reading a very competent review about it's more powerful yet identical form factor brother.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/mini-itx-cases-roundup_12.html
Not a slouch of a PS at all, to the contrary better than many I work with daily with few to no airflow issues what so ever.

Having designed, modded and built more systems than I care to count, I give this case exemplary marks for space efficiency, weight, price and design. In full awareness of the heresy I am about to commit, the space efficiency is something Lian-Li could take a page from. I find their cases to be very well constructed but generally non-innovative and a waste of space with no compact small form factor cases to speak of including the Q07 and Q08. They can do better and so can Bit's review of this case.

 

It's not a review. There's no score. It says "First look" in the title. Not to mention this article is over 9 months old now.

And there's more than an ounce of purchase justification syndrome in your post, don't you think?