In-Win GT1 Case Review: Fighting an Uphill Battle
by Dustin Sklavos on March 8, 2013 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- In-Win
- ATX
In and Around the In-Win GT1
I don't want to start the review on such a down note because it's important that In-Win get a fair shake, but the styling on the GT1 is...problematic. The inspiration from racing cars isn't awful, but a case is not a car (or a box of ammunition for that matter), and unfortunately the GT1 turns into the kind of ostentatious case design that even old stalwarts like Thermaltake are starting to move away from. This isn't the ugliest case I've ever tested (that's a dubious distinction reserved for the Cougar Challenger), but with limited exception I think most of you will agree the GT1 isn't going to win any beauty contests.
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The front of the GT1 features the I/O cluster at the top, above three 5.25" drive bays with mesh covers, and then an unusual mesh intake design on the front. The odd-colored honeycomb is meant for user customization; you can add or remove the red rings as you see fit. Unfortunately the lights that surround the I/O at the top are blue LEDs; dim ones, but those lights are also intended to be connected to the IDE activity lead and I can see them getting disconnected in a hurry.
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In-Win continues the auto and honeycomb motif on the top of the enclosure. There's an indented SATA hotswap bay that sits behind the power button, reset button, and fan control. The fan control is a single switch that shifts between "Silence" and "Turbo" modes, and as you'll see later, it's more than a little bit clunky. There's a massive window with an In-Win logo on the side panel, but both panels are extruded. I appreciate the symmetry, at least; extruding the panel behind the motherboard tray improves space for cable management at least.
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Remove the thumbscrews from the two side panels and pop them off (they use the dreaded notched mounting system) and you can get to the meat of the GT1. There are a few interesting things going on in here. First is that the mounting stand-offs are extruded from the motherboard tray, which will make mounting our test board much easier. Second, the cabling channel is surprisingly narrow, as are the routing holes, and this does cause some problems down the road. Third, the case's existing wiring routes fan lines beneath the motherboard. I don't think this is a particularly bad idea, it's just unique. Fourth, there could've been support for seven drive trays in the cages, but In-Win only includes six, and opts not to notch the set of rails below the top two trays.
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The reality is that some of the design choices in the GT1 are really smart, and others are baffling. Features have basically been left on the table for reasons I can't understand (but are likely related to cost.) There's space for a seventh drive sled in the case, but they simply don't include it. They could've gone with two USB 3.0 ports and just forgone USB 2.0 entirely, but they didn't. When we get to cabling, you'll see how they cut corners on the fan controller, too.
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MadMan007 - Friday, March 8, 2013 - link
This thing was beaten with an ugly stick from the future.I'm not against angular and showy designs existing even if they aren't for me, but this one is just too inconsistent as if the design team was actually four different teams, each assigned to one section, whose designs were then mashed together.
CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - link
Awesome case, this is the one to buy.All the stupid little complaints are just that, stupid and little.
If it wasn't all black I'd buy two.
The unnotched spot in the drive bay is for any custom install one needs- perfect.
One usb3 up front is fine, there's 2 usb2 and that's what most people have a ton of, depite the elite smarm face the techies here get when they cry and whine about every dollar, indicating usb3 items are something they have NOT AT ALL.
Great case, great price, I really love the whining about it, it's just such excellent entertainment.
I'd wager 90% of the people here see much uglier when they look in the mirror, compared to looking at the case, and yes that does say something about them, lol
Hypocrite, self flagellating.
AWESOME case - if you need more than 6 internal drive bays, you're a stupid freak.
CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - link
Oh goody, it comes in storm trooper white...http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/CES-2013-Antec...
BOUGHT !
CeriseCogburn - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Major advantages over the crappy antex gx700:1. Good metal, sturdy
2. Hot swap sata bay on top
3. On off on top not middle
4. Top 5.25 accessible not filled with wiring
5. Good 3.5 drive trays just the right flexibility
6. Clear side window ( for all the crybabies about how a motherboard or video card looks, this HAS to be a 300%+ WIN. (of course whiners are not consistent and are so braindead, they usually don't notice how they completely contradict themselves all the time)
7. Removable mid internal tray for long video cards.
8. wins stock cpu temps
9. better on drive temps
Yes, I don't see really what the problem is other than the lemmings who go along with the reviewer like blind rats.
If any complaint is valid, it's the lack of lots of space for cable hiding - that's it.
This case stomps the stupid gx700 into the ground.
hbycr1 - Saturday, April 11, 2015 - link
i bought this case and there's nothing wrong with it.. Everything fits properly if you buy compatible parts.. I think you're just looking for something to complain about.lwatcdr - Friday, March 8, 2013 - link
Lets face it drives are huge today. Unless your building a NAS you do not need 7 drive bays, Frankly you do not need 6 3.5 drive bays.If you someone was going to build a really hot machine today they would probably go with two SSDs in RAID0 for the System drive and maybe two 4Gb HDDs in RAID 1 for data.
I agree about only one USB 3 is a deal breaker.
If I was going to make a version 2 of this case I would
Drop the hot dock on top.
2 USB3 ports
Room in the top for an H110
140mm exhaust fan
shaolin95 - Friday, March 8, 2013 - link
You dont need 7 drive bays, really? So because YOU dont need it the rest of the world is the same right?Skidmarks - Friday, March 8, 2013 - link
This case is targeted at gamers. Do you know any gamers that need 7 drives?CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - link
I have some nutball stupid friends that drool because they have harddrives - and always have to show how they add them over their home lan, it's like a retarded addiction.One example, like 5.6 terabytes of HD space, with 4.2 terabytes free, and the doof wants more harddrives - people have an insane sort of addiction there - a lot of them do - and the older wackadoos think cookies and internet surfing takes up all their memory (that's harddrive space to them, memory - since it "remembers" stuff when the computer is turned off.
I agree though, whining about 6 internal bays is rather crazy.
Omega215D - Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - link
You really are a retarded fuck.