Raijintek Pan Slim mini-ITX HTPC Case Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Raijintek Pan Slim Mini-ITX HTPC Case is available now from a few major retailers for around £180-220, depending on where you shop, stock levels and the choice of colour. If you’re getting a little change from £200 though, then you’re on the right track.

That is a lot of money, but quite honestly, this is a LOT of PC case. Don’t be fooled by the mini-ITX aspect, this is a big case, with lots of expensive aluminium and exquisite engineering throughout; in short, you get what you pay for.

Overview

Raijintek has always been one of my favourite case makers, as they tend to do things a little bit differently. I’m not saying all their design ideas are the right ones, but they have always stood out from the crowd. They’ve always pushed for premium quality that’s easily been competition for the likes of Silverstone and Lian Li’s best, yet often at a much more competitive price point.

Competition

While Raijintek doesn’t have much competition in this form factor, the only one that really springs to mind is the Cryorig Taku, which suffered from some ergonomics and supply issues, cost just as much and is no longer available… so that’s out of the running. Even going further back, we’re getting to old-school Fractal cases that are not in production anymore.

Bigger is Better

However, Raijintek has gone bigger, literally, with this case. It’s a bit of a beast and will dominate the desktop space. However, that provides you with a lot of freedom on the interior and a lot of room for good airflow. I was amused that the 1080 Ti seemed a bit small in this case. I can’t think of any GPU on the market that wouldn’t fit with ease as it has the ability to house a triple slot super-long card. Of course, you should still check measurements before you order; I’m not all-knowing.

Stand

While you could stand a monitor on top of it, I personally wouldn’t. However, a wall or arm mounted monitor would look fantastic floating above it; that’s subjective, I know. It feels robust enough. It would likely withstand a CRT monitor on top of it; strength isn’t an issue here.

Should I Buy One?

When it comes to premium, Raijintek is top of their game here. The Pan Slim Mini-ITX HTPC Case is absolutely stunning, and it manages to achieve this without the use of ARGB lighting, crazy fans, tempered glass or anything else. It’s almost ironic that this case is something of a gimmick, yet it doesn’t feel like one at all. Its design should blend in with most furniture in your living room, home office, gaming room, etc. I’d be honoured to have one of these on my desk, and I bet I’m not the only one.

Now, I wonder if Raijintek will make an even smaller version? Now that would be cool to see.