INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Largely thanks to the somewhat recent technological advancements people can now experience the features and performance only found in full sized ATX/EATX/XL-ATX mainboards up until today with the much smaller mITX and mATX ones. None of us here are much into such solutions since we prefer to use full towers for a number of reasons but we also can't deny that for people who want a system that doesn't take much space such mainboards are the obvious choice. Now in the past when people chose such a mainboard they normally paired it with a relatively small HTPC case in order to save both space and money but nowadays with many people pairing such mainboards with long high-end graphics cards (even mGPU ones) getting a small HTPC case is really not the way to go. Raidmax however decided to take things a bit further with their brand new Horus MX Water Cooling Gaming Micro ATX tower which we have here with us today.

 

   Raidmax was founded in 1988 with the mission of providing the best solutions: specifically, meeting your requirements for innovative designs, excellent performance and quality products. In early 2003, Raidmax was the first to debut the design "Scorpio": an alien eye shape on its general front panel. At the time, it was the best ever hit in the gaming case business and almost every factory had owned at least one similar design back in China. Two years later, Raidmax released another cutting-edge design, Samurai, and people who had seen the case itself instantly fell in love. After numerous global feedback, Raidmax is known all over the world. It is said our company is not only a case designer but also the perfect budget keeper. You can simply spend a little but you receive higher quality than you expect. It has been more than 10 years since Raidmax began its work on its unique product lines and market position. The name of Raidmax is synonymous to gaming design and budget cases. In the United States, Raidmax is considered to be the best second tier brand; in Asia, it is said that only Raidmax can offer the budget cases with great designs; in Europe, with almost no brand management, Raidmax' followers are still showing their loyal support in many ways.

 

   Although the Horus MX is only compatible with Mini ITX and Micro ATX boards you may not be able to tell it apart from a normal midi tower at least not until you turn it around or open the right side panel. Size is actually the one thing that helps the Horus MX stand out from the crowd since Raidmax made use of that and fitted it with features one simply can't find in smaller cases. So the Horus MX comes ready with room for three 5.25" optical drives, three 2.5/3.5" drives, five PCI cards (up to 390mm long), normal ATX sized power supply unit and six 120mm fans (or 4x120mm and one 140mm fan or one 280mm radiator at the top). Of course design and quality always matter when you're looking to get a PC tower but in this particular case size is something that also matters quite a bit so let’s take a closer look at the Raidmax Horus MX.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Horus MX arrived inside a plain cardboard box with a drawing of the product at the front right beneath the Raidmax logo.

 

 

On the sides we see the specifications table and another drawing of the tower.

 

 

A total of 11 drawings are used at the rear to showcase all the features of the Horus MX.

 

 

The case is nicely wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two thick Styrofoam spacers.

 

 

Together with the Horus MX Raidmax packs the user’s manual, mainboard speaker, 10 cable straps (different in size), 5 cable ties, 8 radiator screws and a small bag with all the necessary screws and spacers needed.

 

 

THE HORUS MX EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 443mm tall, 491mm long and 207mm thick Horus MX mATX tower follows the same sci-fi design like the Viper GX so it's obviously more suited for young audiences.

 

 

Part of the right side panel features a nice clear plastic window which features a spot for a 120mm intake fan.

 

 

The fascia is made out of glossy/matte plastic and it actually looks much better when looking at it head on.

 

 

Most of the fascia is actually a door that opens clockwise. Unfortunately it only opens 90 degrees and can't be switched to the other side.

 

 

All three optical drive bay covers feature easy release locks.

 

 

The fascia has two perforated sections one placed beneath the 5.25" bays and one beneath that.

 

 

The I/O includes the HDD activity LED, reset button, one USB 3.0 port, headphones and microphone 3.5mm ports and one USB 2.0 port.

 

 

Behind the fascia Raidmax has placed room for two 120mm intake fans, unfortunately however both are not included.

 

 

The top rear of the case is perforated and according to Raidmax here you can place two 120mm exhaust fans, one 140mm exhaust fan or an 280mm long radiator (240mm one, 280mm in total length).

 

 

At the rear we see the only pre-installed fan (120mm), 5 PCI expansion slots and the PSU area.

 

 

As you can see the left side panel extends outwards to allow for more space behind the mainboard tray (better cable routing).

 

 

Moving at the bottom of the Horus MX we see a metallic air-filter and four somewhat tall round rubber feet.

 

 

THE HORUS MX INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interior of the Horus MX doesn't look like an mITX/mATX tower but a lot more like a midi tower so yes there's plenty of room here.

 

 

All three 5.25" bays feature tool=less lock mechanisms.

 

 

There's an empty area beneath the 5.25" bays just in case you want to use long graphics cards.

 

 

Three 2.5/3.5" drive cages are placed on the bottom of the tower.

 

 

The trays are quite sturdy but certainly not the best ones we've ever seen.

 

 

There are 5 holes on the mainboard tray used for cable routing and 1 large cutout beneath the CPU area (most spacers are already mounted).

 

 

Raidmax has placed a plain 120mm exhaust fan at the rear.

 

 

The Horus MX has a total of 5 PCI expansion slots.

 

 

At the bottom we see the PSU area and some holes right next to it (we couldn't use it for a fan).

 

 

Taking a look at the top space from the interior it's easy to see that it can fit up to a 240mm radiator but that seems to be it.

 

 

There's hardly any space behind the mainboard try to route cables so you can see why Raidmax went to all the extra trouble with the left side panel.

 

 

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.

Since our usual mainboard follows the ATX standard we used our all-time classic A330ION model by ASRock (mITX) which as you can see leaves plenty of space around it.

 

 

 

Our 9800GT is no match for the Horus MX since it can fit most graphics cards in the market now (up to 390mm in length).

 

 

Out of curiosity we used the largest PSU we have for this section and as you can see it fits with ease.

 

 

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 ontop 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 we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   I must have said this in the past quite a few times but one of the things i really like with PC cases is that there's very little for me to add at the end of each review since the pictures really say everything there is to say. Now as you will have noticed the official specs/features lists by Raidmax are somewhat confusing so once again the Horus MX is not your typical mITX/mATX PC Case since it's actually more like a midi tower and so because of that it allows you to install up to three 5.25" drives, three 2.5/3.5" drives, six 120mm fans (or 4 fans and one 240mm long radiator), 3 dual slot graphics cards up to 390mm in length and an ATX sized PSU. Of course needless to say that the tower has no problem fitting even the largest CPU cooler (max height is around 160mm). If we exclude the front door build quality is also quite good while thanks to the design of the left side panel you should have no problems routing cables behind the mainboard tray. Now i would like to see rubber covers for the holes on the tray but most of the times that's not the case.

 

  Although we spend quite a bit of time online trying to locate the Raidmax Horus MX for sale inside the USA we were unable to but it is on sale inside the EU for a very low price tag of 37.99Euros (PC-Cooling.de) and that's perhaps the best feature of this particular case. So you have a really spacious mITX/mATX tower with features mostly seen with midi towers and at a price tag even most CPU Coolers can't match, what more is there to you ask? Sure the design of the Horus MX is not something every person out there will like we are well aware of that but that simply isn't enough to negate everything else and that's why we are happy to award it with our Golden Award.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality (Front Door Excluded)
- Design (For Some)
- Airflow Potential (Up To Six 120mm Fans)
- 240mm Radiator Spot
- 3x5.25" Bays
- 3x2.5/3.5" Drive Trays
- Up To 3 Graphics Cards 390mm In Length
- CPU Coolers Up To 160mm Tall
- Noise Levels
- Price

 

CONS

- Current Availability
- Only 1 Pre-Installed Fan
- Design (For Some)