My eyes are melting. I suppose the case is targeted at people half my age.

Lol, same here, albeit half my age would be just a tween. When it comes to aesthetics, my favorite case is still the Antec P182 Gunmetal Gray.

That case gives ugly a bad name.

Oh dear !

This must be the brother/sister of Lanboy Air.

hahahahahahahaha

just the fact that this case and the group of gamers who will buy it exists, no matter how inconsequential they are to society's function as a whole, points directly to the existential and anti-intellectual malaise that shakes at the very core of western civilization.

I have owned a case with 25cm side fan in my pre-SPCR years. It was called Tacens Algeo and was fairly quiet by gamers' standards. It was also a lot nicer than this. The main problem with it was that the 25cm fan protruded about 3cm into the case, reducing its internal width. This made it incompatible with tower coolers taller than AC Freezer. Could you kindly check how much width is left once the side fan is installed?

Not that I'm going to ditch my Solo for this, I'm just curious Of course a tower cooler is less optimal with the side fan blowing on it - a large top-down cooler would probably be usable passive with only the side fan blowing on it.

Oh, this is Tacens Algeo:

I'M BLIND !!!!!!!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
oh God....

Thanks for the review Laurence Lee.

Questions :
What's the point of having a case with so many holes ? (Might as well have the components on a test bench...)
Why did they use foam inside ? I think they forgot a sign "sound, please crash here" with a big red arrow towards the foam.
Where is the guinea pig ? it would fit right in into this cage looking thing ; it'll be windy though...

IMO, it's just too bad it has so many good things about it ; those things are just totally overpowered by the looks. Why spend so much effort into trying to make a sturdy case and punch so many holes in it ?!? If they keep the fans, the build quality and take Lawrence Lee's advice, maybe we'll have a new company on the silent PC market !

is the 'gaming' adjective a euphemism for intolerably ugly?

I love how you registered just to post this

Not that I entirely disagree with you, but I think professional wrestling fans are a much better example of what you describe

I'm surprised at the comments here thus far. imo, the only truly objectionable aspect of the cosmetics are the two green handles in front. Take those away or even paint them black and it becomes a fairly typical gaming case. The rest is not much different from any number of high airflow oriented cases from umpteen brands.

The other main lack is cable management but it's not a killer if you have any PC building experience, and the performance is excellent.

Given the $$, it looks like pretty good value to me. I'm quite sure the handles can be easily removed and/or spray painted.

Mike, the fact that there are a billion ugly "gaming" cases from many brands doesn't make them not ugly. A computer case is essentially a piece of furniture - would you expect to see that thing at Ikea?

I disagree. Its primary function is to house the computer components; visuals are entirely secondary imo. No, I would not put it in my living room, no computer resides there at all, but in my office, under my desk, with the green bars removed or painted black, I doubt I'd "see" it any more than I do my Solo. If I heard it more, that would be a problem, but for a gaming case, it can be made pretty quiet while still keeping things cool.

same problem with the p193.

The primary function of furniture is to house whatever, and visuals are secondary, just like computer cases. Bookshelves house books, entertainment centers house TVs, couches house rear ends. Just like there are ugly, comfy couches and nice-looking uncomfy couches, there are noisy, beautiful computer cases, and quiet ugly computer cases (of course there are also lots of attractive, comfy couches and attractive, quiet cases).

InWin (and other "gaming" case manufacturers) intentionally dress up their cases with some very loud decorations. The target market segment is teenage boys lugging their computer to LAN parties to show them off. I don't think there's much overlap between that demographic and SPCR's readership. SPCR members want their computers to be as unoffensive as practical to their ears, and likely to their eyes as well.

swivelguy2 --

You have some valid points there... but you misjudge the number of gamers regularly visiting SPCR, it's large -- many of them want silent PCs too.

I bet you say this in your own head with a fake british accent.



Yes! I game. not super crazy xfire, but I do use 5770 and I always get the higher or highest clocked cpu under 400 dollars. It's a good challenge making them very quiet. I think my issue currently is that I do not have openings on my side. I normally keep a sealed side case. It is interesting that "lots of holes" doesnt effect noise noticably! I would have thought otherwise. Hm.

I dig the look of this case

I bet he said it with a southern drawl. since that is a sign of an aristocrat. By the way, what is a British accent? do you mean English accent, Scottish accent or Welsh accent? all are accents spoken on the British Isles.

Regarding the case - I kind of like it, from a modders perspective. (said with a southern twang, why twang? because I'm blue collar, sir).

case modding is a symbol of western decadence and bourgeoisie excess

I very glad you reviewed this case. It is almost exactly what I am looking for. Hopefully some of the naysayers will have cause to think a little...

I build a lot of machine used for researchers to do large simulations and engineering designs. They often stuff them in the room with the grad students in a lab with other research equipment, or use them as a desktop machine to kill two birds with one stone. Even if they could afford a commercially built "workstation" those are often not optimized for noise or energy efficiency. In terms of looks it fits right in in a research lab. I wouldn't be surprised if they were thinking DARPA when they designed it.

Anyway, to get tons of RAM I often need to use dual socket server style system. It can be very difficult to find good, cheap, quiet cases for EATX motherboards. To that end the size is a plus rather than a con and there are two things I care about that others might not:

How much clearance is there from the big side fan? In particular it looks like the side fan might be situated away from the cpu. In a dual socket system the cpu might be under the side fan. I had to pull the side fan out of an Enermax UberCHakra to get a XigmaTek Dark Knight to fit in that case so I'm wondering if you could fit one of the really tall tower coolers under this side fan.

My other concern is whether there are mounting holes for SSI EEB. I'm thinking not based on the pictures and the fact they didn't put it in the specs.

Anyway, I'd like to thank SPCR for all of the wonderful reviews and info that I make extensive use of, and I hope the site and its readers will continue the fight for silent computing in all of its forms.

Thanks
-- Joel

The top of the side fan just grazed the fan on the CPU cooler (Zerotherm Zen ~156mm). It would probably need to be removed for anything taller.

You hold that same view for capitalization and punctuation too? Or is it just beneath you?

punctuation and capitalization are a hedonistic socialite excess not congruent with the values of the modest proletariat

Technically, punctuation and capitalization are two hedonistic socialite excesses not congruent with the values of the modest proletariat.

Glad to see someone actually commenting (and appreciating) the hard-worked content in this review.

Couple of simple solutions for the side fan --

1) if your CPU coolers conflict, mount the fan on the outside, blowing in.
2) use shorter top-down coolers

Larry or I will check clearance when we have a chance.

I could be called a gamer.

There's a difference between appreciating the review and the looks of the case. I do appreciate your work, it's just that the case hurts my eyes.

He's got more problems than that with his writing. Maybe by the time he finishes English 101 his professor will have knocked the BS out of his style.

Aesthetics side: For $100 You get a lot in this case:
Full black internal and externals. Many fans and 120mm fans are not led variant with clear brittle plastic. Intake fan has one of most generous honey grills I've seen.

Case seem to be really spacious and motherboard cutout really helps in installation.

IMHO this case has a llot potential and to quote cliche from Transformer's there's "more than meets the eye". Inwin Maelstorm is definately more than meets the eye. I guess we are just spoiled by P18x and Solo...

ah yes, an attempt to belittle me by focusing on a minutia of my writing...a clear indication of the competitive dogma instilled on your psyche by capitalism and the resulting unending void in your desires left by the battle between your nihilistic tendencies and your natural consumerist desires. tell me, how much more unrewarded flexing of your "wit" will it take to make you feel whole?