The tale of the Dragon Rider ... a Dragon in Black
[Story mode ON] To all readers of Guru3D. You are a legion, too many to name but not too many to thank. I am writing this review under considerable strain, as by tonight I shall be no more. I can bear the torture no longer; by the time you have read these hastily scrawled web pages you may guess, though never fully realize, why it is that I must forget or vanish.
I come from the old families of the dark forest, near the depraved mountains, hidden beneath the shadow of the moon. Some say, we are evil spirits and black-hearted inhabitants, full of anger and pain. Though I was always remembered as the lonely one, a harmless boy, until today. You may keep reading this review, but I need to warn you, every syllable you let your eyes wander over gets you into more and more trouble. You are in mortal peril my friend, on the verge of unleashing terror, no sane man would be able to withstand. You’ll go indifferent because you wouldn’t do one simple thing, and that is stop reading this review.
Thy have been warned.
It doesn’t matter whether you are feeling safe in your home or a soldier of fortune engaging online battle. My friend, you should power off your monitor right now or you will regret the consequences. No God or any salesman of faith could help you then. So, stop reading now. Are you still reading? Oh, my dear. You think it is some silly joke? You think I am playing or fooling around? Naaaah, you selfish being, there is no time, nor even time for a 1M SuperPi run! Please, I beg you to stop reading or you will end up as dead as a 2V applied CPU with stock cooling :/
[/Story mode OFF]
Hey all! So one morning, Hilbert asked me to review a rather dark themed PC Case. My answer was quick and positive, of course; no sign of the danger under the hood – I am sure Hilbert had no idea either. So, time passed, moments became hours and hours became days … and the package finally arrived. Let me show you an extraordinary PC case beyond any design or aesthetic resemblance, the all black mighty power of the InWin Dragon Rider, hinting to this somewhat peculiar introduction and writing style.
Have a peek, and then let's head onwards into the review.
We all know there is a little dark inside us. Most people think of dragons as bloodthirsty flying hunters who burst hell of fire through their mouth, killing and destroying every form of life that dares come near. InWin gives you the opportunity to take control of this legendary rage and become the master of a most fearless epic creature… a Dragon Rider.
It is commonly believed that dragons are huge, enormous creatures like dinosaurs. So, it’s fairly easy to understand why the Dragon Rider is marketed as a full-tower chassis. Massive air-flow and huge spaces to hide mythical treasures and install your hardware can be found inside. From the outside view, it’s mesmerizing black and as strong as dragon’s skin, made by steel.
I have to say InWin surpassed itself and goes beyond the realization of a simple case. In fact it looks like a dream box of shadow, enchanted by a dark druid or some kind of powerful ancient guru or shaman. If you look more carefully, you will see runes and markings. It's some form of Elfish, I cannot understand. There are few who actually can (like my old friend Gandalf the Grey).
You will find 8 expansion slots for PCI-E/PCI/AGP cards and some other magic ports inside. According to the legend, no one will ever know their names, but it is believed that these ports belong to the second and third generation disciples of the mighty USB Kings who have been ruling thy valley of silicon and bugs all these years. Tales of brave men who lived far away talk about wires with fire and got an eSATA treatment of the villagers with InWin. The edifice of the wind has begun with the maximum support of up to six fans. They are masters of the Wind and commanders of airflow, a vital part alright.
And if your dragon gets thirsty, you are allowed to use water-cooling in the ready to use chassi to douse his fire off.
- Cable routing space and unique side panel shield design
- 12cm LED cooling fan to ensure effective heat release from CPU
- Quick CPU cooler installation cutout hole
- Compatible up to 240mm radiator for liquid cooling system
- Quipped with ultra-large 22cm side fan and designed to hold up to 11 units of 12cm fans
- Supports USB 3.0 super speed transfer interface
- Features patented anti-vibration rail for tool-free hard disk drive installation
Specifications
- Case Size: Full Tower Chassis
- Dimension (H x W x D): 556 x 239 x 578mm (21.9” x 9.4” x 22.8”)Material: 1.0 ~ 0.8mm SECC SteelDrive bay:
- External 5.25” x5
- **Includes FDD Cage x1 (5.25’’ Convert into 3.5”)
- Internal 3.5” x6, 2.5”x1
- Mainboard Factor: E-ATX (12” x 13”) / ATC / Micro-ATX
- Power Supply: ATX 12V, PSII Size and EPS
- I/O Expansion Slots: PCI-E/PCI/AGP Slot x8
- Top Ports:
- USB 3.0 x2
- USB 2.0 x2
- eSATA x2
- IEEE 1394 A (FireWire)
- HD/AC’97 Audio
- Thermal Solution:
- 12cm Front Fan x1
- 22cm LED Side Fan with LED Switch x1
- **Maximum Support 12cm Fan x6
- 12cm LED Side Fan
- 12cm Rear Fan x1
- 12cm Top Fan x1
- **Maximum Support 12cm Fan x2
- Water-cooling hole ready
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Anyway, a farewell to the specs and let us march onwards the product photo-shoot.
Packaging first. I got excited when I saw the knight and the dragon at the background of the box. Now, you know what you will look out for in the stores.
The chassis is covered with a layer of plastic and then sits in-between two sheets of styrofoam. The chassis is well protected; we did not stumble into any kind of scratches or damage whatsoever.
Back in the day I was forced to sweep and clean my black CM stacker 831 constantly, but with this one it’s not needed anymore. The paint job is great, meaning no dust. Dragon in Black.
At the back of the dragon lies its tail with some interesting features you won’t find on regular cases. First off, at the top we see four grommet holes for liquid cooling loops. Note that one hole is actually intended to be used for USB 3.0 connector leads, since you cannot mount these internally to the motherboard (current motherboards do not support this).
The DragonRider has 8 expansion slots. This will allow you to go for quad SLI/CrossfireX configurations; all standard ATX board types will fit fine and sweet. A perfect choice for hardcore gamers and enthusiastic users. At the bottom there is some space for the power supply - make sure you have a PSU with nice lengthy cabling as you can route it behind the motherboard. The best choice is a modular PSU, so as to keep unnecessary cables out of the box. Here it is, the right wing of our dragon. There's not much to say here, except that there is enough space behind it for cable routing. It’s a nice feature though the dragon has some sort of airflow flowing in or over the backside of the motherboard tray. Here, the left wing - the power of our dragon. There is a 220mm (!) LED side fan which can be replaced by 6x120mm fans. An insane panel indeed, which makes for massive airflow inside the case, especially with the open mesh vents. Notice the on/off switch near the fan that allows you to enable/disable it whenever you want to. Sound dampening foam is fitted on the side panel interior which will eliminate noise from the inside. That’s definitely a bonus for InWin customers. The top of the chassis can hold one or two 120mm fans, as seen through the large open mesh vents. There are no dust filters under there. Anyway, liquid cooling could be an option here, but your limitation would be a dual 120mm radiator size. Refer To : http://www.guru3d.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment