In Win 703 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Peter Donnell / 9 years ago

Introduction

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In Win has won a lot of love from the PC community in recent years, mostly due to the way In Win has continued to innovate the boutique chassis market. Sure their designs have been incredible, just look at their current line up with our reviews of the Tou, S-Frame, H-Frame, H-Frame Mini, D-Frame Mini, 901 and 904! Unfortunately, many of the fancy products that In Win produce come bundled with a lofty price tag; their latest products, the 703 and the 707, aim to address that.

The 703 is essentially a re-imagining of their popular GT1 chassis. While many of the features remain the same, the chassis has been given a stunning makeover, bringing it more in line, at least in terms of design, with their flagship models, while maintaining a consumer-friendly price point.

As you can see from the specifications, the 703 is reasonably well equipped, with room for a super long graphics card, tall tower coolers and plenty of storage.

in win 703 spec

The left side panel is the same panel you would find on the GT1. This is no bad thing, as it has that huge and rather funky side panel window, giving you a great view of the chassis interior.

The right side panel has a raised section, which adds a little style, but more importantly, it frees up a lot of extra space behind the motherboard for cable routing.

One of the biggest features of the 703 is its gorgeous front panel. It has a brushed aluminium finish, with red trim around the edges for the ventilation. This looks absolutely stunning and for a chassis in this price range; it is by far one of the best looking front panels in its class.

Around the back, you’ll find a pair of routing grommets at the top, a 120mm fan mount and seven expansion slots; more than enough room for a couple of graphics cards.

The top panel is pretty standard, so no chance of any top mounted cooling here. However, the closed design will help keep unwanted noises from leaving the system.

Tucked into the top of the front panel, you’ll find three USB ports and HD audio jacks. The power button is tucked into the right side and you’ll find a small reset button on the left.

The base of the 703 has four tough rubber feet and two clip-in mesh dust filters, one for the PSU and other for an optional 120mm fan mount.

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Interior

The interior of the chassis is finished with the same black paint job as the exterior, giving the chassis a nice uniform look inside and out; a welcome bonus given the clear side panel window. The only sad thing would be the rainbow of colours on the cables, I think all black cables would have been a nice touch to keep the build looking uniform. There are several cable routing cutouts around the motherboard area, a large cut-away at the bottom and a good size CPU cooler mounting cut-out.

In the base of the 703, you’ll find more than enough room for even the biggest power supplies on the market, although you’ll only be able to make use of the 120mm fan mount if you’re installing a standard ATX or smaller PSU.

Here you’ll find three 5.25″ drive bays, although keep in mind that there’s only a single 5.25″ drive bay on the front of the chassis, so the other two are likely only good for converting to extra storage bays.

There are four slide-out hard drive trays and a 2.5″ fitting on the top of the drive caddy. The large opening between the drive bays and the 5.25″ bays frees up a huge amount of space for a super-long graphics card.

In the back, you’ll find a clear 120mm exhaust fan with a standard molex connector.

There’s not a lot of space behind the motherboard for cable routing, but as I said before, the right side panel has a raised section which will free up a good bit of extra space.

The front panel is easily removed, behind which you will find two dust filters and a pair of 120mm fan mounts; there’s a single 120mm fan pre-installed.

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Complete System

Building a system inside the In Win 703 was very easy. The huge cut-away behind the PSU makes routing cables an easy task and while cable routing could look better, it’s sufficient enough to keep the build looking neat and tidy through that clear side panel window. The clearance at the front of the chassis is perfect, as it frees up more than enough space for our 308mm long Sapphire R9 270x, but keep in mind that you may want to deploy slightly shorter graphics cards if you’re planning to go Crossfire or SLI.

The hard drive bays are tool-free for 3.5″ drives, but you can also mount an SSD on the top; this is great for showing off your SSD, as you’ll be able to see it through the side panel window.

Our Seasonic PSU fit with no issues and there’s plenty of room for a 120mm fan in the base if you needed extra airflow.

The side panel gives a nice a great view of the chassis interior, great for showing off your graphics card.

Overall, a great looking build and a very stylish chassis that would look great next to anyone’s desk.

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Final Thoughts

Pricing

The 703 is available from Box.co.uk and at the time of writing, there’s a promotion on that will also give you a free iEar Headphones holder, which is normally an extra £14.99. Given that the chassis is just £54.98, the added extra makes this incredible value for money. Even without the freebie, the 703 is a fantastic value for money chassis.

Overview

In Win may not have pushed the limits of originality with their new 703, but it’s still one of the best looking chassis’ we’ve ever review, at least when you consider that it costs just £54.98! The brushed aluminium front panel with its jet black finish, highlighted by the rich red trim of the plastics only further enhances its appeal and it’s a colour combo we know will look great with the majority of motherboards and graphics cards which are currently on the market.

Build quality is very good throughout. All the major components fit together nicely, there’s no squeaky or rattling panels and the overall finish is immaculate; the 703 looks and feels a lot more expensive than it actually is. While not the most advanced filters in the world, the 703 also comes fitted with filters on all intakes, so maintaining the system should be a much easier task.

Component compatibility is very good, with loads of room for a long graphics card and enough room to spare for a multi-GPU setup. The chassis will support tall CPU air cooling and the 120mm fan mount in the back will be perfect for a 120mm AIO water cooler. There’s not really room for radiators, but a small AIO for the CPU is more than enough for the majority of systems. Cable routing isn’t perfect, but it’s certainly workable for those who want to free up space on the interior to help improve their airflow, with the added bonus of getting a tidy looking build so that it looks great through that huge side panel window.

The front panel is certainly the star of the show. It’s absolutely gorgeous and it makes a mockery of the often plastic heavy gaming chassis in this price range. Obviously, style is a very subjective matter, but I personally think you’ll struggle to find a better looking chassis for the same kind of money. Any issues I have with this chassis are very minor and none of them are bothersome enough to be a deal-breaker.

Any issues I have with this chassis are very minor and none of them are bothersome enough to be a deal-breaker. The internal cables could be better colour coordinated, two USB 3.0 ports on the front panel would have been nice and expansion slots could benefit from reusable covers, rather than the cheaper snap-offs ones that have been used. Again, I can’t really fuss too much about these given the very affordable price tag.

Pros

Tool-free drive bays
Extra dedicated 2.5″ mount
Superb quality front panel
Two fans pre-installed
Dust filters
Stylish front panel

Cons

Cables on interior would look better in all black
Snap-off covers on expansion slots
Only one USB 3.0 port on front panel

“In Win has really outdone themselves with the 703. While there’s nothing ground-breaking about it, it does show just how competitive the market is right now. To have delivered a product of this quality, with such a premium quality design, at such a low price point, is simply incredible. If you’re not fussed about water cooling, you would be foolish to not consider this for your next system build.”