A Closer Look - Outside

Taking a first look at the Dragon rider, it looks very cool. From a design perspective the contrast between the very detailed front and somewhat plain sites is apparent, but the metal mesh helps alleviate this issue nicely. All smooth parts have been covered by plastic film to protect them from scratches during the manufacture and packing processes.


The entire curved front is made of high quality plastics with an excellent texture to it and metal mesh. The dimensions of the front exceed those of the case itself, which makes it look like a shield to guard your chassis. Turning the case around, it becomes apparent that the In Win Dragon Rider is all black and features a bottom mounted power supply bay.


In Win has not simply slapped a cool looking front unto a case and called it a day. One side holds a large metal mesh covered opening with a 250 mm fan behind it. It is rubber mounted and you may exchange it for four 120 mm units if you wish to do so. There is no filter on this side, so you may have dust build up rather quickly - time would tell. There is a switch next to the large fan, allowing you to switch the embedded LEDs on/off. While I would not be a fan of such embedded lighting aspects in a fan, as it usually is proprietary, odds are you won't have much use for a 250 mm fan or much choice in replacing it with a similar one if it were to break.


Turning the case around by 180 degrees, we have another uniquely shaped side. A large area has been extruded, giving you loads of space to route any cables behind the mainboard tray. On top of that there is another 120 mm fan right below the CPU area of the mainboard tray. While this may seem crazy at first, this area of the motherboard actually does get rather hot, thus this fan has a valid purpose.


Taking a closer look at the front, we can visually divide it into two areas. The bottom, which holds a huge In Win logo and a slightly different design than the top half. Here you will find the five 5.25 inch bays. Each of the metal mesh covers can easily be removed due to the clipping system used and the very top one can also act as an adapter for a 3.5 inch device.


In the rear, the afore mentioned PSU bay is on the very bottom, allowing you to install the unit with the fan facing upward or downward. Above that are eight mainboard expansion slots, which is the minimum if you were to do quad SLI, but it also allows you to use one of those additional mainboard brackets for Firewire/USB/eSATA. On the very top is the bright green bladed 120 mm exhaust fan. In Win is known for adding such colored accents to their cases and the Dragon Rider is no exception. A row of four water cooling holes has been placed above the fan, in case you want to route any tubing out the back.


The I/O, power and reset buttons have been placed on top of the chassis. You will get the full compliment of connectivity out there: audio, 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and 2x eSATA and the buttons are recessed, so that you should be able to quickly feel for them and find them with your finger tips. The ceiling of the chassis may also hold up to two 120 mm fans, one of which comes pre-installed. While this is great and it looks like you should be able to install a 240 mm radiator as well, I am surprised that In Win has chosen not to enable the use of 140 mm cooling units in this area. The space is there, but not the required mounting holes.