INTRODUCTION

   Compared to when i was growing up (well, I still am I guess) PC cases today come in many different sizes, shapes and colors, are built with different materials and come with numerous features and well, that's a great thing for all segments of the market. There's always however a gap in the PC industry and in regards to PC cases it was the "aquarium/fish tank" like design (panoramic) which has been pretty much at the center of attention for the past 2-3 years. HYTE was among the very first manufacturers to release an aquarium/fish tank design PC case and today i have their smallest model to date, the Y40.

   HYTE is a lifestyle-centered brand focused on enhancing play with its fresh and innovative PC components and accessories. Designed to fuel passions in gaming, music, the arts and entertainment, all HYTE products are rigorously researched and tested before they are brought to fruition. HYTE, as a company and its products, are inspired by the needs and behaviors of its community and the many ways people play. HYTE is committed to designing products to help people experience play throughout their lifestyle, no matter what that may be.

   As the name clearly suggests the Y40 is the smallest brother of the Y60 which i reviewed a while back and the recently released Y70 Touch (review soon) and so instead of a 3-piece tempered glass panoramic design it features a 2-piece one. In regards to interior space it supports ATX sized motherboards, full size power supply unit (up to 224mm in length), seven 120mm fans (2x120mm fans pre-installed) and/or 2 radiators (240/280/360mm), 1x3.5" and/or 2x2.5" drives, 183mm tall CPU coolers and 422mm long graphics cards (horizontal and vertical placement - PCIe 4.0 riser cable included). Once again HYTE makes their case available in 4 different colors (black, white and black, white and red and black) and yes, this is quite unique and certainly something that should attract more of the consumer base. So, let's take a closer look at the HYTE Y40.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Typically, HYTE uses a plain cardboard box to ship the Y40 at the front of which we find the product name, sticker with the color selection and a partial product drawing.

On the right side we find the complete specifications table of the Y40.

The main product features are printed on the left side right beneath two product drawings.

An exposed drawing of the Y40 is located at the rear of the box.

As expected, the case is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two thick foam spacers.

Along with the Y40 HYTE also packs 5 cable ties, 3.5mm y-splitter, 3 small plastic bags with screws and standoffs and the user manual.

THE Y40 EXTERIOR

Measuring just 439mm in height, 240mm in width and 472mm in length the Y40 is not that smaller compared to the Y60 (interior space amounts to 50 litres).

Thanks to the 2-piece tempered glass panoramic design you can easily see everything inside the case, except the rear of course.

At the lower front we find the on/off power button and LED, two USB 3.0 ports, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port and a 3.5mm audio in/out (this is why there's a y-splitter in the bundle).

The top if perforated (also acts as a dust filter) and can be easily removed just by pulling upwards to reveal the fan/radiator mount (just like with the Y60 i do suggest removing the side panels first however).

Here you can mount up to 3x120mm fans or an 240/280/360mm radiator.

Turning the case around we find an 120mm exhaust fan, 7 low profile horizontal PCI expansion slots, 4 vertical PCI expansion slots and the PSU area.

Τhe right side panel is partially perforated and again it has a dust-filter attached on the interior.

At the bottom of the Y40 we find two removable dust filters (one is right beneath the 2nd 120mm fan).

THE Y40 INTERIOR

The side panels are magnetically attached so they are very easy to remove.

On the far end of the motherboard tray, you can mount either 2x140mm fans or an 240/280mm radiator up to 120mm thick.

The PSU shroud has three large holes on it.

Just like with the Y60 one selling point of the Y40 is the card like PCIe 4.0 riser cable.

Turning the case around we find some cable holders, aluminum tray with room for either a single 3.5" or two 2.5" drives, the second 120mm intake fan and the PSU area.

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

As always, the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

With enough room for up to 224mm long power supply units you should easily be able to even up to 1KW ATX models.

Mounting an ATX sized motherboard is easy but once again the horizontal PCI/PCIe slots are low-profile ones.

For this review i used an 240mm radiator on top (the 360mm one i have here was too thick) and an 280mm radiator on the interior side.

Not many CPU air coolers are 183mm tall so you should be able to fit any model in the Y40.

Again, just like with the Y60 the vertical graphics card feature is one of the strongest selling points of the Y40.

NOISE LEVEL TEST

After giving it much thought, we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically on top of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one, i use my very own).

CONCLUSION

   Just like the Y60 the Y40 offers something relatively new to consumers, a panoramic view of the interior which combined with the vertical GPU slot (and the PCIe 4.0 riser cable) makes for a rather unique result. For good or bad the Y40 with its 50 litre interior space is not worlds apart with its larger brother the Y60 and its 60 litre interior space so that is something that may “push” some consumers to the larger model (it’s not much of a difference in size after all – price is another story). Build quality is good and as for the fact that HYTE makes the Y40 available in 4 colors again that’s not something we see a lot in this market. The two pre-installed fans may not look as much but they do well in terms of airflow, at least in such a small PC case and as for the only drive tray well it shouldn’t be an issue, not with the majority of users.

   Currently retailing for USD149.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 165.05Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the HYTE Y40 Panoramic PC Case is priced around the same as other similar models (needless to say price depends on the color). Unfortunately in terms of pricing the Y60 lands very close and as i already mentioned it does seem to represent a slightly better value than the Y40. That being said the Y40 by HYTE delivers where it counts from looks and interior space to build quality and color availability and that’s why it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (Panoramic)
- Compact Size
- Interior Space (ATX Motherboard / 2 Radiators / 422mm Long GPUs / 224mm Long PSUs)
- 2 Preinstalled 120mm Fans
- Vertical GPU Installation (PCIe 4.0 Riser Cable Included)
- Right Side, Bottom & Top Dust Filters
- Available Colors (Black / White & Black / White / Red)

CONS

- No RGB Lighting
- Price (Too Close To The Y60)