Assembly

Installing the mainboard is very easy as there is plenty of space all around it. I am using a fairly compact ATX board in this build and the CPU socket is very close to the top edge of the board, but you still have loads of space to install a CPU cooler properly and the Super Mega will also fit perfectly fine if turned 90 degrees.


As mentioned before, the plastic clips hold really well and the card is pushed into place without any play, even with just one of the two clips applied. So no matter what you will install within the Dragon Rider, these clips should manage to hold everything well.


Placing a 3.5 inch hard drive within the case is easy as well and does not require any screws. Just place the two rails on each side of the drive and slide it in until the rails snap into place. It would have been great if the construction would have allowed to install the storage units with the connectors facing the other side to minimize the amount of visible cables though. Even though the rails would allow such a placement, the drive would reach too far out the other side.


Utilizing the 2.5 inch drive bay is the only one which will require you to use a traditional screw driver. After installing the drive, simply slide the entire tray into place.


Installing an optical drive is a very simple task as well and is very similar to that of the 3.5 inch hard drives. You do however have to pull off the front of the case first. Once that is done, just slide it into place and put the front back on.


Installing the power supply is done traditionally with either the screws supplied by In Win or by the PSU manufacturer. There is plenty of space for even the longest units, so you can jam pack the case with as much hardware as it can hold.


Once everything is in place and connected, it becomes apparent that, even though there is plenty of room to route the cables, there is no way to hide them properly. This is due to the minimalistic mainboard tray, which does not extend to the bottom and top of the case. Luckily the case does not really allow you to take a close look at the interior anyways, so the fact that cables are simply stowed and not in the way may be sufficient in the end.

Finished Looks

Once everything is closed up, the Dragon Rider was turned on. The four fans are not the quietest out there, but they emit a clean and continuous "whoosh" sound, so it should easily be drowned out by any surrounding noises. For those who are not a big fan of the side LEDs, these can easily be turned off while keeping the system itself running. Sadly all the openings within the case do not really encase the sounds from the various parts of the case well, so the Dragon Rider may not be the best choice for silent fans.


Due to the curved design, the external drives end up fairly recessed within the chassis, but this is by no means a problem. A very cool aspect is the large In Win logo, which lights up blue, much like the Apple logo on a notebook would light up white when turned on. I have to admit - I love it.


Taking a quick look at the rear, everthing is accessible. The two USB 3.0 cables were routed out the back and connected to the board, which is not a very elegant solution. I would have liked to see a USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 header adapter included, so that users could have the ability to connect it directly to the board header instead. The fan for the mainboard CPU area also lights up with blue LEDs which cannot be turned off and - as mentioned before - it always runs at full speed.


Turning off the surrounding lights, you can clearly see how the Dragon Rider would look in such an environment, like a LAN party for example. Pretty cool In Win - pretty cool.