[O/C]In-Win Dragon Slayer mATX Case Review

In-Win Dragon Slayer mATX Case Review
by eobard

Today I will be reviewing the "Dragon Slayer" case, provided to me by the manufacturer, In-Win Development Inc. According to their website, In-Win has been in the computer case business since 1985. I personally have been aware of them for more than a decade, and most, if not all of what I've heard has been positive. Let's see how well the "Dragon Slayer" lives up to In-Win's reputation.

​

Click to expand...

digg | reddit

Discuss this article below. If you are interested in contributing to the front page (www.overclockers.com), please feel free to contact splat, mdcomp, or hokiealumnus. For the latest updates, follow Overclockers.com on Twitter (@Overclockerscom).

Awesome looking case, can't believe I never heard of these guys (Reading the review now)

Looks like something CM would make..

cool case tho

No price listed, or am I going blind?

Anyway.. The motherboard looks tiny in there. I bet they could easily have made full ATX fit with only minor changes to the layout. My TJ08 is almost 2 full inches smaller in both dimensions (excepting width) and will fit the same stuff plus a heatsink as tall as a U120e. Seems like this In-Win is somewhat poorly designed, at least as far as size efficiency goes.

Also, those drive bay covers look impossible to clean out once the area between the front mesh and filter fills up with cat hair or whatever, and with an intake fan on the other side, they'll fill up fast. Is the filter part removable?

kskwerl said:

Looks like something CM would make..

Click to expand...

Was thinking the *exact* same thing. Before reading the mfg, I thought it was another CM HAF case. It's clearly a rip of CM's design, IMHO. Still looks pretty darn cool, tho! =)

ratbuddy said:

No price listed, or am I going blind?

Anyway.. The motherboard looks tiny in there. I bet they could easily have made full ATX fit with only minor changes to the layout. My TJ08 is almost 2 full inches smaller in both dimensions (excepting width) and will fit the same stuff plus a heatsink as tall as a U120e. Seems like this In-Win is somewhat poorly designed, at least as far as size efficiency goes.

Also, those drive bay covers look impossible to clean out once the area between the front mesh and filter fills up with cat hair or whatever, and with an intake fan on the other side, they'll fill up fast. Is the filter part removable?

Click to expand...

1) As we all know prices are suggested by the manufacturer and then set by the retailer or e-tailer and will vary from company to company but you are right to point out that I probably should have listed the MSRP from their site and a few actual prices from the net.

Well I've looked on their site and can't find the MSRP for it. But Pricebat.ca gave me numbers ranging from $75.60CAD to $121.50CAD. Newegg.ca wasn't on that list and they list it at $83.49CAD. In the USA Newegg.com wants $79.99USD. Pricewatch.com has two listing at $91USD and $81.60USD. None of those prices listed are with shipping or taxes added.

2) They could have made it a bit bigger, but why would they? They make more than one case, many of which are full ATX and look pretty decent from what I see. This is a review of a MATX case, so of course it's going to be smaller than some other cases. To me this brings back my point about reviewing the design of the new penny and then complaining that is isn't a dollar.

3) The drive bay filters are very easy to remove. Sadly my camera is giving me a hard time so I can only post pics from my phone which has a much lower image quality. Still, here's two shots, one with the filter and the drive bay cover and another one showing just the filter. Notice the dust pattern on the filter. That's the micro fine stuff that the outer filter would let through that the inner mesh stops. That build up is about a months worth of real world usage.


The mesh comes off very easy. See the small hole right in the middle? That hole lines up with a pin coming off the face plate and a small plastic cap goes on after the mesh to help hold it in place in the middle. The sides of the inner mesh are held in by the wrap around portion of the metal mesh on the cover. It all makes for a nice snug fit that easily stays in place but isn't difficult to remove when needed.

eobard said:

2) They could have made it a bit bigger, but why would they? They make more than one case, many of which are full ATX and look pretty decent from what I see. This is a review of a MATX case, so of course it's going to be smaller than some other cases. To me this brings back my point about reviewing the design of the new penny and then complaining that is isn't a dollar.

3) The drive bay filters are very easy to remove. Sadly my camera is giving me a hard time so I can only post pics from my phone which has a much lower image quality. Still, here's two shots, one with the filter and the drive bay cover and another one showing just the filter. Notice the dust pattern on the filter. That's the micro fine stuff that the outer filter would let through that the inner mesh stops. That build up is about a months worth of real world usage.

Click to expand...

RE: 3), that's good to know. I was imagining them filling up with hair and being useless.

As for 2), I'm not saying they should have made the case bigger. I'm saying it's already really huge for mATX and judging by the pics, they could have easily provided mounting holes for a full ATX mobo, and could have easily designed it so a full sized cooler would fit - both without increasing the outside dimensions at all.

ratbuddy said:

As for 2), I'm not saying they should have made the case bigger. I'm saying it's already really huge for mATX and judging by the pics, they could have easily provided mounting holes for a full ATX mobo, and could have easily designed it so a full sized cooler would fit - both without increasing the outside dimensions at all.

Click to expand...

Full size ATX mobo would be fairly easy to do. There might have to be some sacrificing of 120mm fans in exchange for 80's or 92's but it would be fairly easy to do. But I can't see adjustments being done to add a bigger sink without adding to the width of the case. The only place I can see taking the room from to add a full sized 120mm tower sink would be the back of the motherboard. And if you steal the extra space you'd need from there then that throws your cable hiding out the window. So it'd be either that or make the case thicker. And then people would be complaining that "Geez if it was only and inch slimmer I could fit it under my desk properly..." In my opinion the best way around a situation like that, where everyone is going to have different preferences or requirements, is to design a series of cases to fit many the many, varying needs of the masses, which In Win does.

Dunno, if a TJ08 can fit a U120e, I don't see why this one can't, being wider

ratbuddy said:

Dunno, if a TJ08 can fit a U120e, I don't see why this one can't, being wider

Click to expand...

I looked the specs up to compare both cases. The In Win case is 1mm wider than the Silverstone TJ08. At least that's what their numbers on their websites say. So they are very close. I've got a OCZ Vendetta 2, which uses a 120mm fan setup, that's going into another case that I'll be reviewing in the next week or two. Before I put it in that setup I'll drop it into the Dragon Slayer to see if it will fit but I seriously have my doubts.

eobard said:

I looked the specs up to compare both cases. The In Win case is 1mm wider than the Silverstone TJ08. At least that's what their numbers on their websites say. So they are very close. I've got a OCZ Vendetta 2, which uses a 120mm fan setup, that's going into another case that I'll be reviewing in the next week or two. Before I put it in that setup I'll drop it into the Dragon Slayer to see if it will fit but I seriously have my doubts.

Click to expand...

I'll be looking forward to it. I did like the review itself, well written and plenty of good pictures