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The Dragon Slayer is supplied in a reasonably large cardboard box and is sandwiched between two sizable slabs of polystyrene. Inside the box we find all the usual accessories we find with cases. These include hard drive brackets, a detailed installation manual and a selection of screws for installation.
The main body of the case is constructed from black-painted steel which doesn't give it the most elegant appearance but does feel solid in construction. Despite the extensive use of steel, the case retains a reasonably low weight thanks to its small size.
On the front of the case there is a gray plastic bezel which looks like its supposed to add some flair to the design. Although it may look quite pretty when compared to some of In Win's other cases, it's far from a looker when compared to other cases from the likes of Lian Li. One upside of the front bezel is the huge amount of mesh which should allow a decent level of airflow through the chassis.
It was nice to find a USB3.0 connector on the front panel although this still requires a cable to be plugged into the rear of the computer. There are also two USB2.0 connectors and microphone and headphone jacks. The power button is located just below the front-panel connections. This, along with the large In Win logo, are illuminated blue when the system is powered on.
The side panel of the case is populated by a vast expanse of mesh which contains mountings for four 120mm fans. On the top of the case there is a 140mm exhaust fan which can be swapped out for a 120mm fan if desired. Rather than having a 120mm rear fan like larger cases, the Dragon Slayer only has room for a 92mm fan. Thankfully the 140mm roof exhaust means you can still fit a factory filled water-cooler like the Coolit ECO if desired.
Upon opening the case, we were pleasantly surprised. Despite the compact nature of the case, there is a huge amount of room to work with as a result of only having one optical drive bay and three hard drive bays (plus an extra mounting for an SSD). This means there should be more than enough room for an ATI 5870.
Additionally, the lack of any hard drives obstructing the front intake fan means there is no obstruction to airflow and the air isn't warmed up by passing over the hard drives. The front and top fans are identical 140mm models and the rear exhaust fan is a 92mm model . At the front of the case there is also a small 80mm fan which cools the hard drives.
In the motherboard tray, In Win have cut out a slot to facilitate the installation of a CPU cooler that should be appropriately sized and positioned for most motherboards. There are also a couple of slots for cable routing which will really help us achieve a tidy build. The entire inside of the case is painted black which is something that is nice to see on a relatively cheap case such as this.
I think the issues can be forgiven considering the price.
These guys always make products to tight price points, but im not so sure on this, it looks brash in a cool way, but the internals look quite cheap.
I like the looks of this from the front. the yellow bits ruin the appearance tho.
Not my cup of tea, but the pricing is reasonable. not much you can buy for that today in the tech world.
The front looks really industrial and I like the appearance. the PCI mounting bit looks like it needs to be ripped out and replaced with screws as noted by reviewer.
Quite a nice looking thing for a mini chassis. but I prefer these kind of cases to be longer and shorter. like the silverstone SG series.
Is the material strong on the front panel and side doors or does it bend easy?
Rather disappointed with the review. We finally get a case that is made for a M-ATX case and you insult us by putting in a mini itx board. Would have been nice to see the box “full” so we could get a decent look at what it can offer. So how’s about re-doing the review with a proper mother board, large video card and perhaps one of those self standing water cooling units. That would be a review.