A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the HYTE Y40 has all the unique design elements that HYTE has managed to establish right out of the gate. The paint job of the red chassis is excellent, feels thick, and thanks to the fact that the exterior panels are all metal HYTE has no problems offering this color in a consistent hue all around - something that is near impossible to do if you mix metal and plastic parts.


Looking at the front, the panel feels essentially like the same panel you would see on the Y60, but without the added width of the 45° portion. The I/O panel is located at the bottom metal strip and consists of two USB 3.0 type A ports, a USB-C and a square button with an embedded white LED surround. As the Y40 does not include any ARGB elements, you won't find a secondary button here - not even a reset button.


All the glass panels in the HYTE Y40 are designed to be completely clean, without any visible mounting screws. There is a black strip across the top as well, which is where HYTE placed pins on the glass panels to keep them in place. On the opposite side is a metal panel with a very cool-looking vent. While it may not be the best in terms of allowing air through, it does add a lot to the overall design of the chassis in an area that is usually neglected.


Taking a closer look at the rear, the expansion slots will most likely be the most contentious design decision within the HYTE Y40 just like they were on the Y60. It provides seven horizontal low-profile slots, which will really limit what you may install here. One of these seven slots is used by the PCIe riser cable, and HYTE only advertises six horizontal ones in the specifications to make it clear that the Y60 is meant to be used with the vertical GPU mounting. You may install GPUs of up to 4-slot thickness in such a configuration with a bit of breathing room to spare. This is an upgrade from the 3-slot variant for the Y60, so even the newest, biggest GPUs will fit without suffocating them too much.

While the functional layout is driven by the design of the chassis, making the expansion-slot area modular with an exchangeable panel for full-height horizontal expansion slots would have been rather easy overall.

Above that, you will find a 120 mm exhaust fan set to push hot air out the back of the chassis. Its height may be adjusted a bit to align it with the motherboard CPU socket. Unlike the Y60, there is no additional room above that area for radiators because the Y60 is actually a bit wider as it doesn't need to constrain itself to offer that sandwich style layout of the Y60. Accordingly, any top mounted coolers will clear the motherboard without issue as we will see later on.


In the top, the same type of vent as on the side is found. The 90° angle aligns with the general space inside the HYTE Y40 as well. You may pull it off to reveal a mounting bracket for two 140 or three 120 mm fans. There is a stylish, fine mesh layer embedded in this top cover to keep dirt and grime out of your system. Looking closely, there is another small opening and some additional HYTE branding as well. That opening gives you access to the connectors at the top of the motherboard, which will really come in handy during the assembly process.


On the underside, HYTE has placed two branded, removable covers that act as a dust filter for the PSU and the 120 mm fans on the floor, This brings the total included fan count within the Y40 to two, all of which are still unfortunately 3-pin instead of PWM, which is quite the odd choice these days. On top of that, as the bottom can also fit 140 mm units, HYTE could have put larger units there to provide even more airflow and value to the user. The filters may be removed by pulling them out the sides of the chassis but the flat grip makes it a little difficult, so you will end up tilting your system an inch or two just to grip them.