Gadgetory

this video is brought to you by NCI XCOM great technology selection and service hello everyone i'm dmitri with hara Canucks and up to this point fantex had always impressed us with their case designs not only have they been priced well against the market trends but their focus on future proofing the chassis and building an extremely functional interior are just some of the things that strengthened their reputation the evolved series started out with this part aluminum ATX tower and its unique design that fantex is carrying over into a budget ITX iteration and i think that's an excellent strategy as gamers are now moving towards ITX builds and to be honest once you see the build we did with this it's also extremely rewarding now fantex has cut down on the premium materials used now with more plastic integration but without making the chassis feel weak and both the front and top panels have a sheet of metal with this a slightly reflective texture for a bit of extra character the front i/o includes dual USB three chrome audio jacks a reset button with a power button right above it on an almost completely solid top panel aside from these side ventilation openings now the top panel has a bit of height to it to allow air to exit through the back and the sides and not just balance off the top surface the front panel is also pretty solid but it's spaced out from the interior frame and also has these side entrances to deliver the airflow behind the front panel that easily pops out is a large dust filter that's also removable for cleaning is a massive 200 millimeter intake fan now these are $20 apiece and seeing this quality fan included is how fan --tx likes to operate with dual 120 and 140 moment or fan holes available at the front as well now aside from the familiar evolved exterior shape we also find this LED strip that we were actually able to interchange on the original evolve for different colors but on the ITX unfortunately it's just blue with very faint and brightness it's almost unnoticeable and at this point kind of pointless to the side panel is revealing shows off the power supply section the entire main portion to and you can't forget about the subtle fantex logo really nothing negative to say about it and it actually survived my nail scratch test yes now looking in the back the two PCI brackets are white it's a bit strange the rear exhaust supports 120 and 140 ml fans with mounting strips as well perfect and the bottom power supply has plenty of room to breathe given the chassis is elevated with rubber feet and removable dust filter in there as well and getting inside the first thing that I want to mention is this clever mounting system for your top fans the entire bracket is modular it's on rails held in with silver color-coded screws for easier distinction and slides out so you can install fans or a radiator outside of the case it's a super convenient system with dual 120 and 140 member fan options again on these rails for the most flexibility internally the floor is well ventilated to allow the GPU to breathe and you can see the advantage of this massive 200 number of fan that will channel airflow directly into the main chamber Plus let's some into the bottom chamber a little bit too and here is only a partial build and I am utilizing the GTX 980 hybrid from EVGA with a rear mounted rod as my idea for this build is to have a fully water-cooled system with all-in-one coolers of course and the GPUs are up to 13 inches are compatible now all the main mid section cutouts are covered with rubber grommets and a lot of spaces for cable routing up top - I love what they did with this extra Drive bracket that is removable and sits above the rear portion of the GPU it supports either an SSD or three and a half inch drive using these rubber mounting screws as one SSD bracket is included so it's as simple as a line and slide and actually have to rotate the bracket so my SATA cables had enough reach but here you can see the appeal of having the extra storage potential an optional three and a half inch drive bracket can be purchased that would align and slide into that spot just as well plus a pump bracket can be bought that is rubberized to prevent vibrations and would install on top like you see here now fantex unfortunately has taken a step back when it comes to accessories and the standard baggie is included which is a bit of a letdown as the accessory toolbox has made an appearance on all of their cases in the past unfortunately not with the evolved ITX coming around to the back there's a ton of room to work with you can stash the majority of your cables in this gap on the side of the power supply it's brilliant the side panels closes just fine includes a large CPU cutout fantex staple velcro cable management straps a spot for an SSD or an HDD bracket if you don't want it inside and the bottom chamber houses a standard ATX power supply up to 180 millimeters and the drive cage for two mechanical drives or SSDs now one cool thing is you can totally remove the drive cage at the bottom and the bracket above the GPU to install a 240 millimeter radiator at the front that would leave you with just tho one storage spot in the corner here now alright it's time to put my radiator inside with the help of this removable bracket that I now realize is so convenient as otherwise the installation would be a lot more tedious after hooking up the fans and powering the system on this is an impressive all water-cooled mini ITX gaming rig sure it's not a super small case but water cooling is what the evolved ITX was designed for everything fit although I had to make sure to mount the GPU rad in the lowest possible spot to allow clearance with the 240 ml rad at the top and one thing I want to point out is how perfect the 980 hybrid suits this case allowing the majority of heat to exit through the rad and the same goes for our coarser cooler and letting the 200 number fan do the rest with fresh intake if I was to replace the GPU I don't have to take out the entire drive bracket I just need to open the flap to gain the access to the GPU and swap can be made possible and closing that side panel reveals all the important hardware and all that's missing is interior lighting that would make this build even better so in the end the Evolve ITX is an extremely rewarding chassis to working with plenty of water cooling potential as I've shown here it's not exactly a small chassis for an ITX form factor but there are no compromises for enthusiasts hardware and we're giving it the Harwick nugs dam grant award and now let's wait around for a truly compact chassis from fantex but given their entire portfolio is super water cooling friendly it might be a challenge that I hope will be as impressive so guys thank you so much for watching our review of the evolve I TX I had fun filming it and I had really a good time building inside of it as well but what are some of the things that you look into when building or considering to build inside in the ITX case what are some of the things that you have to have for your for you to consider the build successful leave your comments down below now we will have the GTX 980 hybrid GPU review coming out very soon so make sure to subscribe to not miss that and as always thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one