A Closer Look - Inside

Diving into the interior of the InWin Airforce, we are presented with a classic layout that only lacks the shroud usually found in modern cases these days. The metal motherboard tray has lots of openings for cable routing, as well as a large cutout for easily accessing the CPU cooler mounting plate you may employ.


In the front, the two separate, but identical HDD cages may each hold one 2.5" and one 3.5" drive. Any such drive will have its connectors facing towards the motherboard tray. While it is nice to have the ability to add an SSD to each of these parts, it feels a little bit like an afterthought. InWin has drilled the four required holes into these blue components, but the cutouts of the motherboard tray won't give you easy access to them. Above that are the aforementioned mounting positions for the fans. You may also install a radiator setup of up to 360 mm here without worrying about losing any storage capabilities. Looking a bit over to the left, you can make out two more 2.5" mounting positions with well-placed openings in the motherboard tray for clean cable routing.


In the rear, the PSU bay almost blends in completely with the frame of the InWin Airforce. There is plenty of room for potent units and a large opening in the motherboard tray to route all the cables out of view. Above that are the eight expansion-slot covers we added during the build process, with the already mentioned fan placement in the very top. At this angle, you can also see that there is loads of space above, so putting a second 360 mm radiator setup into the ceiling won't interfere with any components, either.


The two openings in the motherboard tray for the HDD cages are next to the square one for the PSU leads. As mentioned, the 2.5" drives will need a bit of trickery to get to. InWin could have just made this hole square too, just to give you a little bit more room to play with. And if they made this hole the same size as the one for the PSU wires, identical grommets could have been used to cover them for an even cleaner look. All the hooks for cable management are concentrated towards the front of the case, and there are many, which is very nice to see.


Taking a quick look at the ceiling of the InWin Airforce, you can see ample room for active cooling purposes, with the mounting for the fans or radiator centered. With the 45° angled corners of the case, the added height doesn't feel super bulky, but provides the benefit of additional space.


All the leads within are sleeved black and should present no issues, connecting properly to any modern motherboard. What is weird is the very old school case connector wiring. These days, power LED wires come in individual pins to ensure compatibility for both two or three-pin motherboard headers, though the vast majority of boards use the same header layout. On top of that, there is no +/- labeling on these LED leads, so you have to take the odds of these working once the system has been turned on.