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
Introducing the In-Win GT1
If you've ever looked at a builder's guide for a desktop system on any major tech site (including this one), you've undoubtedly noticed that the first thing to get cut to make room in the budget is the enclosure. It's not hard to see why; as long as a case keeps things cool enough and runs quietly enough, for the most part it's doing its job. It's only when you look at the greater ecosystem of cases that the real sweet spot of the market ($99-$139) becomes more apparent. What this means, though, is that the sub-$99 market is very competitive, and when you start hovering between $50 and $70, it's downright brutal.
That competitive nature has forced manufacturers to get creative about fitting feature rich cases into lower price tags, and one of those cases is on hand today: the In-Win GT1. The GT1 features a hotswap bay, USB 3.0 connectivity, a semi-modular drive bay, and fan control, and comes in with an MSRP of $69. There's potential for this case, but does it offer enough to beat the incumbent in this bracket, the $10 cheaper Antec GX700?
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I hesitate to say "amusingly," but it's the word appropriate for how I feel about this: amusingly, the one place you almost always have to make a sacrifice in this market is aesthetics. The Antec GX700 is a stellar performer, but it's not much of a looker. The In-Win GT1 threatens to fall into the same trap and may only appeal to a specific type of user. In-Win's strapped the bulk of features in the GT1 to a case that's inspired by racing cars.
| In-Win GT1 Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 3x 5.25" |
| Internal | 6x 2.5"/3.5", 2x 2.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 1x 120mm intake fan (supports 2x 120mm) |
| Rear | 1x 120mm red LED exhaust fan | |
| Top | 2x 120mm fan mount | |
| Side | - | |
| Bottom | 1x 120mm fan mount | |
| Expansion Slots | 7 | |
| I/O Port | 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | 160mm |
| PSU | 160mm with bottom fan / 220mm without | |
| GPU | 270mm with drive cage / 408mm without | |
| Dimensions |
18.7" x 8.3" x 19.3" 475mm x 210mm x 491mm |
|
| Weight | 12.5 lbs. / 5.6 kg | |
| Special Features |
USB 3.0 via internal header Dual-mode fan controller Removable drive cage panel Side window Toolless drive installation SATA hotswap bay |
|
| Price | $69 | |
In-Win seems to have saved most of their scratch by only including two fans, which isn't unusual for this price range. More disappointing is opting to use 120mm fans instead of 140mm ones; Fractal Design in particular has been putting this foot forward and really, as far as fans go, bigger is usually better. The GT1 doesn't have the room for a 140mm exhaust fan, but it really should've fit one as an intake.
Unfortunately, In-Win also tags what's fast becoming one of my biggest pet peeves in case design: odd-numbered USB ports. I hate the idea that they might have omitted a second USB 3.0 port just to save a buck or two on manufacturing, and it's indicative of an old style of thinking that just doesn't fly on American shores. Designers need to realize that something like this can actually seriously hamstring a case's chances in the market; remember that Antec's GX700 features two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports.
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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.