InWin A3 and A5 Review

1. Introducing InWin A3 and A52. Taking a closer look at the A3 and A53. Thermal testing in the A34. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

You can tell a lot about InWin by you looking at our CES report on the InWin 928 from CES 2019 where the background to our video is filled with YouTube royalty. You can tell even more about InWin if you check out our review of their D-Frame Mini which shows evidence of innovation, design and clever use of materials so yes, we are keen to review the new InWin A3 and A5 cases…

Specification of InWin A3:

• Motherboard support: Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
• Power supply support: ATX
• Expansion slots: 4
• Included fans: 1x 120mm AM120S rear exhaust
• Fan mounts: 2x 120mm intake, 2x 120 roof exhaust, 1x 120mm rear exhaust
• Radiator mounts: 240mm roof
• 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None
• Internal drive bays: 2x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch, 1x 2.5-inch
• Front I/O ports: 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, audio.
• Dimensions: 347mm H x 401mm D x 215mm W

Specification of InWin A5:

• Motherboard support: E-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
• Power supply support: ATX
• Expansion slots: 7
• Included fans: 1x 120mm AM120S rear exhaust
• Fan mounts: 2x 120mm intake, 2x 120 roof exhaust, 1x 120mm rear exhaust
• Radiator mounts: 240mm roof
• 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None
• Internal drive bays: 2x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch, 2x 2.5-inch
• Front I/O ports: 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, audio.
• Dimensions: 407mm H x 399mm D x 215mm W

A5:

As we show in our video, the A3 and A5 are very similar in design and specification. The A3 is a Micro-ATX case while the A5 is E-ATX. The only other noteworthy difference is on the back of the motherboard tray where the A3 has a single SSD mount and the A5 has two drive mounts.

A3:

Building a PC in the smaller A3 case requires some care as it is tight for space, however the open nature of the chassis makes the job fairly straightforward.

Testing

To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an Intel Core i9-12900K, RTX 3080 and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the InWin A3‘s cooling capabilities.

Test System:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 cores/24 threads)
• CPU Cooler: Phanteks Glacier One 240 MP
• Motherboard: MSI MAG B550M Mortar
• Memory: 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3600MHz
• Graphics card: Sapphire Radeon RX 6800 XT 16GB
• Power supply: Seasonic Focus GX-650 Gold 650W
• SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 M.2 NVMe
• OS: Windows 11

Cooling Performance

We show in our video that thermal performance is slightly hurt by the addition of two fans in the floor of the A3, which is suspect is caused by turbulence due to the very limited space between the bottom fans and the graphics card. Our other takeaway is that the compact nature of the A3 makes it tough to cool a serious CPU like the Ryzen 9 5900X unless you run the fans at high speed.

Graphics temperatures are OK as the GPU is able to draw air in through the floor of the case without difficulty, however adding fans in the floor of the case is a backwards step.

In our video we showed some extra testing where we removed the glass side panel and also the filtered top panel in a bid to determine whether either was choking the air flow. We saw a significant reduction in Delta temperatures however the changes were fairly minor.

Cooling Performance Overview

When it comes to cooling the A3 passes muster, however it is unimpressive. We feel this is inherent to the design and layout of the case with air coming in from the floor and the graphics card pretty much dividing the main chamber into two parts.

InWin has taken the essence of the Mini-ITX A1 and expanded the design to produce the Micro-ATX A3 and E-ATX A5 cases.

The common theme is a sealed front panel that is aesthetically pleasing and functionally useless, other than to carry the InWin logo. Cooling air flows in from the floor of the case, passes upwards and is then exhausted to the rear by the single 120mm fan and can also pass out through the filtered top panel. The open chamber design means the power supply hangs in the front of the chassis and the only drive mounts are behind the motherboard tray.

The A3 and A5 cases look very similar and we find the styling is pleasing to the eye. This is good news as the styling is the main selling point of the InWin A series however it adds limitations in other departments. There are minimal options for storage, the case gets noisy if you ramp up the fan speed and the cooling is fairly marginal.

That is a reasonable trade-off if you are smitten by the attractive and understated looks however there is a sting in the tail for we Brits. InWin has no distribution in the UK so the only outlet is their own eStore in mainland Europe which means that interested customers face a hefty carriage charge.

In fact, just 90 minutes before this review was scheduled to go live, InWin emailed us to let us know the original prices we had been told were incorrect and had to be increased as they had not factored in ‘taxes' to the original figures. We were told the A3 would cost 95 EUR, but now it will cost 115 EUR. The A5 was meant to be 105 EUR but will now cost 127.50 EUR. This has reduced the overall appeal of both chassis markedly, and they are now only worth considering if you are very keen on the aesthetic and don't mind the unimpressive thermals.

You can buy the InWin A3 for 115 EUR (approx £97.50) direct from InWin HERE.

You can buy the InWin A5 127.50 EUR (approx £108) direct from InWin HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

Pros:

• Neat styling.
• Decent construction.
• Open interior.

Cons:

• Heavily tinted glass panel makes RGB a virtual necessity.
• Thermals are unimpressive.
• UK pricing and carriage charges are a bit very steep after a last-minute increase.

KitGuru says: InWin has expanded its A series with A3 and A5 which major on looks rather than airflow. A last minute price increase means these case are Worth Considering.

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