INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Three great things happened this week, first i started and finished the highly anticipated Call Of Duty Black Ops III (3 very well-known actors participate in this game btw), managed to finalize the details of our largest Christmas Mega Giveaway to date (will launch this Saturday) and i had the chance to take a thorough look at one of the most impressive PC towers to have ever reached our lab. I'm sure you all understand that after years and years (over 8 to be exact) of testing PC cases there aren't that many things that can impress me so when one does it's obviously something unexpected. IN WIN may not be amongst the most popular PC case and PSU manufacturers in the world but they've been around in the consumer market for almost a decade now (my first IN WIN review was back in 2008) and have released a large number of award winning products. However it wasn't up until a couple of years ago that they really took the market by storm with their new PC Case line and today with us we have their brand new and quite impressive 805 midi tower.

   IN WIN Development Inc., an ISO 9001 manufacturer of professional computer chassis, power supplies and digital storage devices, is the leading provider of enclosure solutions to system integrators worldwide. Founded in 1985, IN WIN provides high quality chassis that conform to all safety regulations, as well as unsurpassed customer service. With no sharp edges, the logo also portrays a state of energetic harmony between technology and art. Thus, our slogan "Contemporary and Innovative" serves as the foundation of not only our product development but also our attitudes in serving and catering to our strategic partner’s wishes. We take the "im" out of "impossible"… …A brand without persistence is only a name.

   The 805 Midi Tower may be quite smaller compared to some other midi towers in the market but it still has plenty of room inside the mini-ITX, micro-ATX and ATX motherboards. Much like the Ante P380 the 805 has no forward 5.25" optical drive bays and that results in more interior space which can hold a front 120/140/240/280mm radiator (60mm thick) or two 140mm intake fans. There's also room for 3 extra 120mm fans (bottom and rear), three 2.5" drives behind the mainboard tray, one 2.5" drive ontop of the 3.5" drive cage and two 3.5/2.5" drives in the drive cage (this can also be mounted vertically). The two features however which steal the show is the support for a front USB 3.1(Type-C) connector and the three pieces of tempered glass used on both sides and the front of the aluminum tower. This is the first time we've got our hands on such a case so let’s see if tampered glass is the way to go.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 805 gets shipped inside a plain cardboard box that has the model name printed on all sides.

 

 

Both the main features and color selection are printed on the left side.

 

 

On the right side of the box we see the specifications list.

 

 

As expected (due to the tampered glass feature) the 805 is wrapped inside a piece of cloth and secured in place via 8 small foam spacers.

 

 

In the box we found a headphone hanger (white on a black tower doesn't really match), 5 cable holders, cleaning cloth, 10 cable ties, 6 bags with screws and standoffs and the user manual.

 

 

THE 805 EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the three pieces of tempered glass used the 476mm tall, 205mm wide and 455mm deep 805 looks great no matter from which angle you look at it.

 

 

Unfortunately tempered glass may look great but has a few drawbacks one of which is that it reflects everything (thus we had to do some editing which is quite visible in this picture).

 

 

Both tempered glass side panels are secured in place via 8 (4 each) thumbscrews.

 

 

The aluminum fascia is also covered with tempered glass and has the IN WIN logo right behind it.

 

 

2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 USB 3.1 Type-C port, headphone and microphone ports, HDD and power LEDs and the on/off power button are placed at the I/O area.

 

 

Almost the entire chassis is made out of aluminum and so the top features a nice brushed aluminum plate.

 

 

The 805 has 8 PCI expansion slots at the rear and a 120mm LED fan which unfortunately can't be swapped for a larger one.

 

 

A large removable dust filter with 4 magnets on its corners is placed at the base of the tower.

 

 

THE 805 INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see there's plenty of space inside the 805 mostly because it has no 5.25" optical drive bays.

 

 

IN WIN has two versions of the 805 available, one that features two USB 3.0 and has no LED beneath their side logo (above picture) and the one we have that has one USB 3.0 and one USB 3.1 type-C ports and has a red LED beneath their logo.

 

 

Behind the fascia there's room to install either two 140mm intake fans or a single 120/140/240/280mm radiator up to 60mm thick.

 

 

You just need to remove this aluminum piece (held by two thumbscrews) to do so.

 

 

Next we have the drive cage which has a top aluminum tray for 2.5" drives and two trays inside.

 

 

These trays are made out of plastic and can accommodate 3.5" and 2.5" drives.

 

 

The mainboard tray has several holes for cable management but only three small ones are rubber coated.

 

 

Strangely enough IN WIN has used regular screws for the 8 PCI expansion slots (rubber coated thumbscrews are our favorite).

 

 

Since for some strange reason there's no perforated section underneath the PSU area a sticker warns you that the intake fan should look upwards.

 

 

Beneath the mainboard tray there are 3 extra 2.5" aluminum drive trays.

 

 

These trays feature build-in thumbscrews and are very sturdy.

 

 

Cable management should be very easy in the 805 since there's quite a bit of space behind the mainboard tray (little over 2cm).

 

 

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.

Thanks to the lack of 5.25” optical drive bays the interior of the 805 is large even for an ATX mainboard.

 

 

You can mount CPU Coolers up to 156mm in height inside the 805 so although some models are out of the question most will fit just fine (I do recommend a AIO liquid cooler however).

 

 

There’s enough room for graphics cards up to 320mm long so again the 805 can house most cards out there (all of the new models).

 

 

You can also use up to 220mm long PSUs although if you do that you will cover one of the bottom 140mm fan areas.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Although impressive in the end what IN WIN has done with the 805 is take the classic midi tower design, remove the front 5.25" optical drive bays, place a piece of tempered glass at the front and replace the classic aluminum/metal side panels with ones made out of tempered glass. In the end it doesn’t matter what they did or how easy/hard it was, what matters is that no one else beat them to it and for that people all over the world seem to love these new towers. Build quality is also great since not only has IN WIN used tempered glass but the entire chassis is made out of aluminum and so it weighs just 6.85Kg. The interior space is also impressive since not only can you outfit the 805 with two 140mm (or a 280mm radiator) and three 120mm fans but it can also accommodate up to five 2.5” drives (or four 2.5” and two 3.5” ones), 320mm long graphics cards and 156mm tall CPU coolers. The USB 3.1 type-C ports is just the cherry on the cake and although right now not many have use for it that shouldn’t take long to change (just like with USB 3.0 when it was first released). Not all is perfect however since the 805 has quite a few drawbacks the largest of which is its airflow levels. You see leaving out the fact that right from the box it only has but a single mid-speed 120mm fan at the rear (which alone can’t do much) the 805 has no top room for fans so even if you place two 140mm fans at the front and two 120mm fans at the base in the end the rear 120mm fan is responsible for pushing all the hot air inside out and that’s not what we’d call ideal (which is why we recommend using a AIO liquid cooler). The fact that the PSU intake fan needs to face inwards makes things even worse since on one hand that might improve airflow but on the other it will most likely increase temperatures inside its housing (always compared to sucking air from the outside). The complete lack of 5.25” optical drive bays may not be a drawback in its entirety but some people will not like it and the same applies for the regular screws used to secure all 8 PCI expansion slots.

   Overall the 850 Midi Tower Chassis by IN WIN looks and feels great but what about cost? Well currently the 805 retails for USD204.93 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 170Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) so it’s certainly what one would call cheap. To be honest with all of you we didn’t expect anything less from a midi tower that’s made out of aluminum and tempered glass and I bet none of you did either so with that in mind it really comes down to how much you’re willing to spend on a PC case. Personally I like the 805 a lot and it’s perhaps one of the two or three midi towers in the market today that I’d actually use for myself even though it lacks 5.25” optical drive bays and although yes it’s not perfect (which tower is?) still it’s more than just worthy of our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality (Aluminum Chassis With Tempered Glass)
- Design (Tempered Glass & LEDs)
- Spacious Interior
- Room For Up To 6 2.5/3.5” Drives
- Removable Drive Cage (Can Be Mounted Vertically)
- Space For Up To 5 Fans And/or Two 120/280mm Radiators
- Front USB 3.1 Type-C Port
- Magnetic Air-Filters
- Available Bezel Colors (Red/Black/Yellow)
- Noise Levels
- Bundle

 

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- No Front 5.25" Drive Bays
- Airflow Levels