The In-Win Dragon Rider is the latest case of the Destiny-Extreme series, and is designed after its predecessor: the Dragon Slayer. The meshwork and the dark design of the Dragon Rider nicely contribute to the medieval theme, while blue LEDs on the front logo and fans provide color contrast to the case. The Dragon Rider is equipped with latest enthusiast-class case features, including the eSATA and USB 3.0 front top panel ports, tool-free installation, and supports up to 12x 120mm fans.
Provided By: In-Win
Price: $139.99
Closer Look:
The front of the box features rather good cover art of a Knight and Dragon as well as the case its self nestled in the bottom right hand corner. Next up is the back of the box, which shows just the case by itself but from the other side which shows the 120mm side LED fan. Next up is the side of the box displaying the features and last up is the side of the box depicting the table of specifications.
Taking the case out of the box we see it’s secured between two blocks of fitted styroam and wrapped in a plastic bag.
The accessories included of course are several screws some of which are provided for the PSU, motherboard, and some even specifically for mounting fans on the left side panel. Also included are some zip-ties, a speaker, and some clips to use to manage wires.
Starting with the left side panel, we seem to have a 220mm LED fan. However, what is more interesting are the grommets surrounding the mesh on the panel, as these allow for 120mm fans to be secured to the panel and allow up to six to be installed. Moving on to the front of the case the first thing I notice is how many bays are in the case, which is a total of five. The Front I/O is located on the top panel which consists of 2x USB 2.0, 2x SuperSpeed USB 3.0, IEEE 1394, microphone, Headphone, and dual eSATA. Up top is where you can install two 120mm fans or, if you really want to, mount a 240mm radiator for water cooling.
The right side panel also bears a fan; the fan is also an LED fan like its 220mm counterpart. Like most cases seen on the market as of late, this one features a bottom-mounted PSU design. It also supports a tool-less rear expansion.
This case is capable of even housing an E-ATX board and has a hole behind the motherboard tray for easy access to heatsink or water block brackets. Without this you would have to take the motherboard out in order to access the back-plate. The 5.25″ and 3.5″ drives bays are also a tool-less solution. Another nice aspect of the In-Win Dragon Rider is that it comes with its own SSD mount.
Specifications:
| Case Size: | Full Tower Chassis |
| Material: | 1.0~0.8mm SECC Steel |
| Dimension(HxWxD): | 556 x 239 x 578mm (21.9” x 9.4” x 22.8”) |
| Power Supply: | ATX 12VPS II Size and EPS |
| I/O Expansion Slots: | PCI-E/PCI/AGP SlotX8 |
| Thermal Solution | Rear 12cm Fan x 1Front:12cm Fan x 1Top:12cm Fan x 1 (Maximum Supports 12cm Fan x 2)Side:22cm LED Fan with switch x 1 (Maximum Supports 12cm Fan x 6)Water-Cooling Hole Ready12cm LED Side Fan |
| M/B Form Factor: | E-ATX(12″X13″)ATXMicro-ATX |
| Drive Bays: | External 5.25” x 5Includes FDD Cage x1(5.25” converted into 3.5”)Internal 3.5”x62.5” x 1 |
| Front I/O(Ports): | e-SATA×2IEEE 1394A×1(FireWire)USB 2.0 x 2HD/AC’97 AudioUSB 3.0 x 2 |
Conclusion:
The In-Win Dragon Rider has impressed me greatly. It has a killer all black paint job, it’s got a large amount of room to work with, it is ready for USB 3.0, with enough expansion slots to satisfy those with a thirst for 3-Way SLI/Crossfire in almost any configuration. The Dragon Rider also has the ability to house eleven 120mm fans, which is more than most cases on the market. Like any full tower case, the Dragon Rider is capable of supporting E-ATX motherboards as well as extended graphics cards, like the newly released GTX 570 and 580.
Unfortunately, it is extremely rare for a case to be perfect, and this case is no exception. While the front meshwork provides an excellent look, it is rather fragile. I do wish there was more room between the motherboard tray and the side panel, but it has enough room to have efficient cable management so it’s more of a nitpick. I can’t think of anything else I did not like about this case; In-Win did a great job with the Dragon Rider. I cannot say enough good things about this case.
