IN-WIN Metal Suit GD “Conqueror”
| Case | Type | Size WxHxD | Weight | Cooling | 5.25” Bays | 3.5” Bays | I/O panel | Noise | Approx. Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IN WIN Metal Suit GD Conqueror | ATX mid tower | 233 x 437 x 543 mm | 24 lbs 2x 120mm, 2x 80mm | 4 | 2 ext. 5 int. | 4x USB, 1x 1394, HD or AC97 Audio (on side) | 43 db | $120 |
Specifications
Purely from a raw specifications standpoint, the IN-WIN Metal Suit GD is fairly typical among our roundup units. It’s averaged sized for a mid-tower, has an average weight, and comes equipped with an average number of case fans in this segment: two 120mm fans and two 80mm fans.
The I/O panel on the side of the case sports a high number of USB inputs, 4 to be exact; all other cases in the roundup except the Cosmos S have only two USB inputs. The Metal Suit GD also has a Firewire input and the usual audio jacks.
Unique Features
Other than being designed to resemble a robot from the Japanese anime cartoon “Mobile Suit Gundam”, the Metal Suit GD’s most unique feature is its “Smart 3d Uniduct”. This is a fancy name for a duct on the side of the case designed to supply the video card with fresh, cool air via two 80mm fans dedicated to this purpose. It looks like the duct also helps cool the hard drive bay.
The case is engineered to be used with a minimum of tools, with tool-less hard and optical drive mounting clips, as well as a unique tool-less expansion card retaining mechanism.
Appearance, Fit & Finish
The outward appearance of the Metal Suit GD is obviously designed to evoke images of the giant robots in the popular Japanese anime “Mobile Suit Gundam” series. Of course, the robotic head depicted on the box of the case doesn’t appear to be an actual robot from the series, obviously due to fears of copyright infringement. I’m not a hardcore Gundam fan, mind you, although I tried to find a similar Gundam head on the Internet and couldn’t. Gundam fans, if I’m wrong about this and it’s an actual Gundam robot depiction, let us know with your comments below. In any case, the styling is attractive, I imagine particularly so if you’re a fan of this type of entertainment.
The colors chosen for the case interior – green on black – are very sharp, but the funny part is that these colors can’t be seen outside the case!
IN-WIN is no newcomer to PC cases, and the fit and finish of the Metal Suit GD is solid and has a good feel to it. Even though there is a lot of plastic in use for ducting and tool-less accessories, these are well made and fit together well.
User Experience
The Metal Suit GD was easy enough to set up, and a nice case to work with. The tool-less features were well thought out: the sides of the case came off without screws, utilizing two simple plastic clips; the tool-less drive clips were integrated into a part of the case itself; and the tool-less expansion card retaining clips were easy to use, and didn’t get in the way as they do in a lot of designs we’ve seen. The hard drive bay even angled out for easy access, and to allow easy removal of the front intake fan.
As far as setting up and working with the hardware, the Metal Suit GD is well thought out — and it shows. The “Smart 3d uniduct” was a little irritating during motherboard installation, because it had to be held out of the way, but it wasn’t a big problem.
The Metal Suit GD was one of the louder cases we reviewed, tying the Raidmax Iceberg and coming close to the Sigma Unicorn, according to our decibel meter. This might be something you can live with if you appreciate the extra cooling for your video card, if you have a single slot card that expels its heated air inside the case. If you have a dual-slot card that expels air outside the case, you might be better off turning the two 80mm fans in the VGA duct off, for quieter operation.
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For those of you who think the Cooler Master Cosmos S is a bit on the loud side. It has a sibling called Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 which is more oriented towards quite computers. It’s basically the same case as the Cosmos S but with some alterations. It sports soundproofing on the sidepanels. Six 3.5” “housings” (for lack of a better word) with rubber grommets to reduce vibration. As for cooling it comes with 4 semi-quiet 120mm fans, two mounted on the top, one rear and one on the floor of the case with some kind of funnel so you can choose where you want to direct the air. And there is an optional fan mounted on top of 3.5” bay, although it takes up one of the five available 5.25” bays.
//Jimmy