In Win H-Frame ATX Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

I’m not quite sure where to start with this one, this build has been far from normal in so many ways, yet when you really get down to it, I was still able to install our components in the traditional manner, the system wasn’t hard to put together and it will operate much like any other chassis. Yet visually it looks like its got about as much in common with your average chassis as a Salvador Dali painting has to a sketch of a stick man.

Airflow in this chassis is insane, in the sense that air can flow freely around it and it would certainly benefit components that need to exhaust a lot of heat, such as high-powered graphics cards. Yet while most people would normally install half a dozen performance fans, water cooling and more, In Win have gone for a completely different approach by only having two fan mounts. In fact it is safe to say they’ve cut out a lot of things here, most notably would be the panels on four of the sides, leaving the whole thing hanging open. Like a stripped out race car we even find that they’ve limited hard drive installations to four, no exactly begging for a high performance raid setup that’s for sure.

This chassis begs for one thing, silence! At least in my opinion. Exposed components can easily get a little noisy, so I would personally invest in two quiet, low RPM fans, passive cooling for graphics and CPU, or at the very least a low RPM or speed controlled system, utilizing the 5.25″ for a single bay fan controller. That way you could enjoy all of the style this chassis has to offer in the relative silence of your average art gallery, which is fitting given that this chassis looks more like an exhibition than it does a PC case.

I know a lot of people are going to hate this chassis, I was one of them, I thought and still do think that it’s completely and utterly bonkers, impractical and expensive. Yet it is unlike anything else I’ve worked with, the aluminium build is of such a high quality that even Lian Li will be tipping their caps at the In Win design team and it the way it shines and shimmers from every angle makes it feel special.

Sure the colour scheme isn’t the best, but I see plenty of black, white and grey boxes come through and it’s great to see a brand that isn’t afraid to do things differently, because In Win know one thing, there are enough people out there who do want to buy something like this, you know who you are.

It would look out of place in my living room, but if you want to break from the norm there really is nothing quite like it and it is more than deserving of our innovation award for its build quality and crazy and refreshing design.

Pros

• Build quality is exceptional.
• Has a unique look that is unlike anything else on the market.
• Interesting approach to an air cooled chassis.
• Hard drive bays are well designed.
• Good cable management.
• Nicely placed 5.25″ bay.
• All screws and fitting are of an exceptionally high standard.

Cons

• It is very expensive, but this much thick-cut aluminium doesn’t come cheap anyway.
• Limited amount of hard drive bays and only one 5.25″ bay.
• Dust could be a big issue.
• No filter for power supply.

“The H-Frame really is the Marmite of the PC chassis market and many will have mixed feelings about its design but it does grow on you over time. Yet for all its crazy design, getting hands on with its features and build quality show level of quality that you rarely see in this industry, it’s certainly a breath of fresh air.”

Thank you to In Win for providing this review sample.