Form over Function, or Function over Form? Whatever your preference, there is going to be a case right for you!

Image Source

The InWin 303 Midi Tower case is something quite special yet it does lack some essential things. Costing £129.99 GBP, $109.99 USD, may seem like it is expensive and borderline enthusiast, but it does have some features missing that you would expect on a case of this value. But other areas of the case are both innovative and high quality.

External.

• The case is made from high grade steel and every part has a powdercoated, matt black textured finish which is very unique and looks very stylish. It is also available in white also for an extra £10.
  The case stands on 2 elongated feed at the front and back on the base that have removable rubber pads, this is so you can gain access to the screws to remove the feet, which I had to do in order to fit a fan on the front inside. The feet raise the case by 25mm which gives the case much better, and unrestricted airflow.

Image Source - @Tech Mojo

---

• On the face there is a power button and a smaller reset button, below we have the 'InWin' logo rotated 90*, and placed on the right side with all the I/O underneath it. This includes 2 USB 2.0 sockets, 2 USB 3.0 sockets and headphone and microphone 2.5mm jack sockets. When the PC is powered on, all the I/O and logo all light up in a very light, almost baby blue colour. Although it looks very good, I found it difficult to determine which USB sockets were the 3.0 ones as the light coming from them was too over powering to tell the difference.

Image Source

---

• On the back side panel there is a very distinctive honeycomb design to allow air to flow through. The air gap available in this area is quite deep so it wont restrict the airflow too much when compared to other cases.
  At the top of the panel on either side, there are 2 captive thumb screws which hold the panel in place. Simply unscrew them and the panel will lift out to reveal the inside of the back portion of the case.

Image Source - @Tech Mojo

---

• On the opposite side we can find a very nice looking tempered glass panel. It has a slight tint to it, this is so when the computer is turned off it looks like an ordinary panel, hiding the internals, but is light enough to allow internal lights to shine through when the computer is powered on.
  On the top there is a wide yet simple button catch that will release the glass panel from the case. Very nice and very simple solution for quick and easy access to the inside of the case.
  The panel also fits very snug into the chassis with no unsightly 'metal' that you find on other cases that have been adapted to have a glass panel. This case was made just for use with glass.
  Also the glass is much thinner than than other cases, this helps greatly with reducing the weight as the case is very heavy for what it is.

Image Source

---

• And finally onto the rear of the case. InWin have made some bold design decisions as they have placed the PSU mount at the top and rotated 90* when compared to most other cases.
  Below that there is the ATX I/O that includes 7 expansion slots, and just next to that, there is space for a 120mm fan/radiator.

Image Source

Air Flow.

• Unlike so many other cases at this price point, there is very limited options for orientating your fans inside.
  While the case does allow room for up to 2 360mm radiators top and bottom, the bottom would be restricted if you have a full ATX motherboard in there. You would not be able to fit a radiator at all on the base as it would both take up the room where the motherboard is and you will not be able to place more than 1 graphics card in there, depending on the motherboard you use. So if you did want a radiator on the base, you would be restricted to either an ITX or Micro ATX motherboard and a single GPU.
  With the PSU being situated where it is, with no option of orientating it to pull in air from the back of the case, it will effectively be pulling air from inside the case which is not ideal. The PSU will also heavily restrict airflow to one of the top mounted fans, and if you did run a 360mm radiator on the top, you will effectively be blowing hot air inside of the PSU which again, is not ideal.
  On the back of the case, there is room for a 120mm fan or a push/pull radiator combination, depending on which motherboard you are using.
  If the fans were orientated as InWin suggest, then there would be negative air pressure inside the case, this is not a bad thing but I prefer positive air pressure. So I rotated the top mounted fans to blow air in from the top as well from the bottom, only being exhausted by the rear mounted 120mm fan and GPU's.
  Another issue is there is only one triple fan filter located at the base, although it is easily accessible by pulling it out from the side, it is the only filter in the case. I would of preferred that at minimum, there was a magnetic filter for the top side panel also for those that want to orientate the fans like I did.

Image Source

Internal.

• Inside the case looks very pretty with that same honeycomb design found at the fan mounting points at the base, top and back of the case, keeping the design elements the same throughout the case.
  There are 4 brackets in total to mount drives too. Each bracket is mounted using only a single captive thumb screw for easy removal of the drives. There is 2 brackets for 2, 2.5” drives found next to the motherboard, and there is 2 brackets on the back side for 2, 3.5” drives. But the ones located on the back are very awkwardly placed. The reason I say this is because there is not much in the way of cable management control with no points to ziptie the cables to. Leaving them hanging across the drives. So yes the drives can easily be removed, but you will have to deal with all the cables hanging over them in order to do so.

Image Source

---

• Back to cable management, as said, there is not much in the way of managing the cables for this case. Although there is a pocket behind the PSU to store the bulk of the cables, if you where to do this, unless you had custom length cables, they would undoubtedly reduce the air flow, as I found with the cables all placed behind the fans.
  There are no points available to tie the cables to on the case, there is the odd hole here and there, but nothing specific to tie cables down to. I would have liked to see something that would route the cables around and away from the drive bays at least.
  When spending as much as this case costs, you would expect to see rubber grommets to prevent cables rubbing against bare metal, and unfortunately there are no such grommets to be found, which I think makes the cable management look very messy, cheap and unsightly.
  There is also mounting points for a pump/reservoir combo located in between the motherboard and the drive bays for those that want to go down the custom cooling route.

Image Source - @Tech Mojo

Conclusion.

• Although this case does look good and has some unique design features, it seems as though functionality was secondary to those good looks.
  There are some options for cooling solutions, but that is mainly dependant on what hardware you intend on putting in the case. The location of the power supply is very questionable, and if anything, it would indeed restrict you to a 240mm radiator at the top as so you don't blow hot air into the PSU.
  The cable management is indeed an after thought, and although there is space behind the PSU, because of the fan locations, it would indeed restrict airflow. And the last bad point is the lack of fan mounting options and lack of 140mm fan support, despite there being space for them.
  The case was a pleasure to build in however, with the very quick and easy access to all areas of the case and very simple mounting options. That glass panel is also very cool and makes the case look much better than it actually is.
  It is just a shame that such a good looking case like this fails on so many functionality points. For those serious about performance from there system, I would not recommend this case, for those of you who just want a budget to mid range system, don't intend on overclocking, and want something that looks minimalistic, if you have cash spare, then go for it.
  But I would recommend something like the NZXT H440 or BeQuiet base 600 instead, as they both have a good mix of good looks and functionality.

Thanks for reading.

Make Steemit Work For You! Join SmartSteem NOW!... Click HERE to Find Out More!

---

Don't Forget to Upvote, ReSteem and Follow for more content like this!

---

Stu @TechMojo

---

Join the chat	TechMojo Discord Channel
Follow us	TechMojo OnG Social Page
Like us	TechMojo Facebook Page
Follow us	TechMojo Twitter

---

@TechMojo Recommended Blogs you should follow.

---

@Deeviras	@Gaming-Stuff	@retro-room
@gingerninja	@Rerez	@gamesociety
@XYZposter	@deadspace	@TechBlogger
@C0ff33a	@XR-HammerGaming	@grownfolksgaming
@Free999Enigma	@GeekClub	@tygergamer

Like this Content? Why Not Donate Then.

Bitcoin Wallet Address.	1L8TZDQasoBU2RNcjkSeZX3iUsSaHT37aj
Ethereum Wallet Address.	0xe3c6372121554f73c38acae3312fc7b1ddaf670f