FIRST LOOK: In Win o3 PC Case

Daniel Long | 4 Jun 2008

The In Win o3 case is a solid effort worth some merit, but is let down by a few key internal design flaws and a rattle effect loud enough to shake your senses.

We looked at the In Win o3 in five key areas:

General aesthetics & Facia design
The In Win o3 is a full ATX compatible case shaped to resemble the mutated offspring of a subwoofer speaker.

The slick black finish of the unit does look a great deal more stylish than the plastic In Win a360 case we recently reviewed. It also feels a great deal more solid because of its Japanese SECC metal construction. Thankfully, no plastic!

A door at the front of the case opens out and is really quite annoying; considering you’ll need to open and close a large metal door every time you require drive access. And it’s asking to be broken.

In Win seem very intent on providing doors and front lifting latches on all of their cases and it really begs the question – why? Front doors simply do more to impede normal case functionality with these hinge loading systems than the assumed aesthetic value. 4x USB, 2 audio ports and 1x firewire come standard at the front of the unit.

Cooling solutions
The o3 case uses a ‘Smart-3D UniDuct’ which is designed to provide thermal cooling and adjust accordingly to accommodate most motherboards. A telescopic air duct and a low noise 120mm rear fan in the case will be useful for drawing heat out of the chassis quietly and quickly. The case comes with a 410W PSU on- board.

Drive space availability
The o3 comes with extra long card access spacing which is handy for hard-core graphics cards, but seems strictly out of place in this case. There are 4x External 5.25" and 5x3.5" drive bays in the o3.

Internal design & Interior space
Cable mess is nicely tucked away thanks to handy cable headers and a couple of elegant cable twisters which are still one of the best ways to keep wayward wires in their place. Toolless drive locks are a nice fit, clips on the side doors work well.

The internal chassis construction utilises bevelled edges in a similar way to the cheaper looking a360, which in our opinion is still too sharp on edges and prone to cuts and abrasions.

By far, the o3’s biggest weakness is it’s oddly designed cross rail, which is a real pain to fit and refit between motherboard and card replacements. It’s supposed to make life easier, but we found it did just the opposite. The rail is best described as a sharp piece of metal that we almost cut our hands with.

Weight, dimensions & Construction
Another extremely heavy case construction from In Win. The case measures 426 x 210 x 490 mm. Granted, the o3 uses a solid metal construction that is superior in build quality to some of the cheaper cases we’ve seen.

OverallThe o3 is let down by some flawed internal construction, a strong rattle effect and feels an inch too wide. It’s a vast improvement on the a360, but it’s not going to be the silver bullet for case builders.

Prices were not able to be confirmed when this review went to print. We'll update the latest prices when details come in.