Gadgetory

this video was brought to you by NCI X great technology selections and service hello everyone this is Dmitry with hurricane accent from our own experiences in wind has gained a reputation for incredible quality for their chassis designs their 900 series like the 904 and the 901 are some of the best build cases out there full aluminium frame done extremely well with tempered glass side panels the compromise we found on each of those was the lack of functionality as internal layout on both cases wasn't the best it could be plus the incredibly expensive price point limited the overall target audience and so today we're taking a look yet another truly unique chassis in our eyes at least that follows the same formula of Wow built quality but is the internal layout doom dysfunctional has with their other chassis so let's find out this is the D frame mini a totally open air concept with a staggering price of $350 now before jumping off your seats let's quickly talk for whom this case is for as it is far from ideal for your standard build first this is mini ITX only having a rotated motherboard design you can see the tool only PCI slots up top there's no dust filters anywhere and you know how I feel about dust filtration air flow options are limited to your CPU cooler and the dual 120mm fans at the bottom with the bracket channeling airflow up so there are no other fan options here the sturdy handle up top may indicate potential use for land parties it sure is easy to carry and perhaps even to do your morning workout I'm not even kidding it is difficult to showcase how sturdy the entire aluminum frame is but it feels like one solid piece with really confident joints the red rubber padding on all the sides means softer and non-slip landing what's the ability to rollcage this thing on whatever side you prefer even laying it down works just fine the tempered glass is tented it's definitely one of the unique features of in wind designs they are reflective on there are certain angles and that will hide internal hardware of course given this is glass and microfiber cloth is included to get rid of any handling marks and you will have to try really hard in order to scratch the surface as the glass is fairly resilient the panels are also interchangeable and are held in by four thumb screws plus in win has made sure to put appropriate amount of padding on the inserts to avoid any direct contact with the glass the front i/o panel includes dual USB three awesome PR buttons now the power button on our sample was a bit wobbly and there's no way to access the reset switch unless you poking it with a pen or something thin the power supply spot is in the back users have the flexibility for installation on either top or the bottom slot depending on your build and how you want the cables to exit plus there is a large opening on the side to route the cables behind the motherboard tray and given the limited amount of ventilation potential on the frame itself where the D frame Mini is cut you'll want the power supply fan facing out to avoid any potential overheating also this slot is plenty long to allow for 200-plus millimeter units to be installed without any problems and so getting inside the case there are a few things that I want to mention regarding in wins attention to detail on all levels of quality first all black cables are appreciated to make sure the system stays clean every single edge on this piece is refined like the side panels are completely smooth so there's no worry of cutting yourself same with the internal aluminum plates the motherboard tray is clean without any defects and just slide the rounded edges means completely safe handling the same translates over to all the cable cutouts so you can be sure that anything that passes through will remain uncut and I say this because we worked with many aluminum cases in the past where this wasn't addressed so this is really good to see moving on the three plates sticking out are your drive plates removed with two thumb screws at the bottom that stay with the plate awesome to see compatible with both three and a half and two and a half inch drives meaning you can only have three drives installed at once and the frame mini a couple things to mention there are no rubber pads for mounting the mechanical drive that I would have liked to see to minimize the noise plus the SSD mount is slightly offset so the SATA connections aren't as close to the edge of the bracket as the mechanical drive is that will require a straight SATA connection as the 90-degree SATA connection will not fit as I mentioned before the only airflow option here is the dual fan bracket at the bottom that removes in a similar fashion with dual thumb screws that stay on with the panel as well this will allow easier installation of fans and a 2-14 on the radiator if you do mount one but I would have liked to see additional support by the edge of the bracket for complete confidence in the hold when transporting the case the one thing that in when did take into account is the length of the bracket as it's not on the way for your graphics card and that's considerate with over 30 centimeters available for your GPU clearance and with the build assembled here's what the D frame Mini looks like with a system inside it was a less conventional process but nevertheless a pretty straightforward one they were a few hiccups though now first mini ATX board layout do vary significantly with each brand our 24 pin connection for example is off to the side on our MSI board without a cut out on that side to route that large cable so that means slightly more difficult routing for that massive cable for the rest of the connections while they do seem a bit crammed in I was able to clean up nicely with only the 8 pin CPU cable going over the motherboard tray connecting the GPU was actually pretty simple there is a large cutout on the frame right in from the power supply but there is no way of dealing with this cable mess at the back and I would have loved to see some type of cover that would hide them and collect them all for a clean and lock now overall I'm actually quite happy with how this turned out but I did remove the fan bracket at the bottom as our motherboard only has two fan headers one of which is already occupied by the CPU cooler and that's something you should keep in mind once considering to build inside this case getting things prepared behind the motherboard tray was also a bit tricky as you have to make sure the cables are as flat as possible in order to avoid any bending on the glass panel in when does supply several large and small plastic loops that you secure to the case that would contain the cables and that work beautifully as you screw the hoops in place and no need to glue anything and avoid potentially an attractive cable ties the problem was that not all holes at the back of the motherboard tray have the thread I'm not sure if that's intentional but this does limit some areas for cable routing as you can't secure them to the tray also be aware of the exiting cables from the top io do to flip motherboard design but it's actually great for me as I switch peripherals so often for review so having this access is very convenient and one last thing to mention before conclusion is it actually functional you can clearly see that not every inch of this internal layout is utilized even if the fan bracket was installed I don't think having those drive plates is the most efficient system but I don't hate it this would work really well for a showcase system and I think that would be the intent given the obvious list of drawbacks that you would consider for a casual dil now first let's outline the positives it is unique there's no doubt about that with the best quality for chassis in this category that is also so portable there's so much attention to detail when it comes to refinement of edges all black cables Tula's Drive and fan brackets rubber padding on all the sides and interesting cable management system that really works but the question is is the internal layout any good I would say to the most part it is I would have liked to see more threaded mounts on the motherboard tray for cable management loops I really don't want to mention the spoofing as that's a given considering it's a totally open air concept I can't even think of how you would implement fooled us proofing while keeping this form and design of course price comes to mind as it is an expensive showpiece but what makes the D frame mini so unique as it breaks all the rules but manages to hold its own ground probably for 99% of the builds it won't be suitable providing the drawbacks yet there's something so interesting about this frame that could potentially lead to even more refined enclosures taking functionality to the next level and so that concludes our review of this really awesome little case is always leave your thoughts in the comments below we'd love to hear what you think of this unconventional enclosure thanks for watching make sure you subscribe for more similar content give us a like if you enjoy this review and we'll see you in the next one