|
 |
|
  
|
          |
Riotoro CR100TG CasingRiotoro is out with some new products and in this review we are going to take a look at one of their new casings with glass side panel and RGB lights in the front. It's called CR100TG.
Founded in 2014, Riotoro strives to make the best high-performance PC hardware parts and accessories. As they develop things, they do their best to deliver the most satisfying products to those who want to build their own computer.
Let's take a look at the packaging and the content. The box you receive is a standard brown cardboard box with nice illustrations of the product on the outside. Specifications and features are listed around the box.
Inside the box we find the casing well protected with flamingo on the sides, and wrapped well in a plastic bag. Be careful, this configuration may well provide some good shocks in the form of static electricity.
Inside the casing, we find a couple of frames intended for a fan. It can be for the holes in the top of the casing if you want to mount a single fan up there. There is also a bag with various screws and spacers for mounting the motherboard.
The technical specifications. As you can see, it's a midi tower casing. It can hold up to ATX motherboards, and graphics cards up to 340 mm in length. So this casing should be plenty fine for a standard gaming setup.
Let's look at the casing. The cabinet is a nice looking midi tower ATX casing. It has a plastic front that looks like brushed aluminium, glass side panel and a glossy stripe in the middle of the front with RGB lights behind. (I'll show that later)
At the back of the casing, we find the output of a standard 120 mm fan (one is fitted from the factory) and there is room for 7 insert cards from the motherboard and a standard ATX power supply.
The controls are at the front of the top. There is a power button, a reset button, audio out and in as well as a pair of USB 2.0 and a USB 3.0 port. In addition, there is an LED button that can be used to control the light in the front. Under the reset button are a couple of diodes for drive activity and power. (I'll show them later too)
The dust filter on top is magnetic, so it's easy to remove and clean. Unfortunately, there is no additional filter that blocks the hole to create a better and more direct airflow through the casing.
The ventilation holes in the front are on the side. There is no actual dust filter in them, so if you have it a little dusty or your computer is on the floor, it may well work as a vacuum cleaner when all the fans are running in the casing. It's a bit of shame. Note the bulge on the side panel, which I mention in the test section in connection with the cabling.
Below the casing, we find some good high feet, and there is a dust filter for the power supply, which unfortunately can not be accessed from the outside. So you have to flip the casing if you need to vacuum/clean the filter. Note the thumbscrews and slots, they are for adjusting the drive holder inside the casing.
If we remove the front, you can see that there is room for 3 fans. You can not see them through the front, so here is no need for fans with light in them.
The glass on the side is nicely smoky tinted. It is in a gray tone so that it does not discolor the light you now put in the casing. For example, a brown tone will do that a bit, but with the gray just dimming slightly in strength.
Then the sides are removed. As you can see, there is no cover over the power supply, so all cabling will be visible. There is room for the power supply and a couple of 3.5 "drives at the bottom of the casing. These holders cannot be used for 2.5" drives. 2.5 "drives must be mounted on the back plate, as can be seen holes are made and they are mounted on the back of the plate. Mounting option has been made for a 5.25 "drive in the top despite no holes in the front for these. A little weird, but I assume it is a way to be able to use the same chassis with another front in the future.
On the back, we find the fan, which is a Riotoro fan. This fan is standard DC controlled, and not PWM.
As you can see, the front arches against the casing. It actually doesn't leave much room for airflow from the front. I've addressed my consern about airflow to Riotoro, and they ensure that it's not a problem as they've tested it. At the bottom you can see the drive frame, which can be adjusted back and forth.
The backplate is pretty standard. There are some good holes for wiring, and a good hole for cooler mounting.
There is virtually no distance from the backplate to the side of the casing. Or, when you look at the pictures of the casing you will see that there is a bulge on the cabinet side. You are deeply dependent on it, and you have to stay within it when doing the cable routing. However, this should not be a problem as long as you have that in mind.
Time for assembly. I have mounted an ATX motherboard to see how it looks when using the maximum allowable hardware in the casing. I also fitted a 24cm long graphics card and there is plenty of room for one that is bigger. The holes for the cables seem to fit quite nicely to the connectors, so making a reasonably neat cable routing is no problem. Note that the drive bracket at the bottom is pushed all the way to the front. So that's the space for cables between drives and power supply. It's not much, but it should be possible.
You mount the cards from the outside. There is a plastic cover that just flips aside to get to the screws. Note that the holes are opened by breaking off a bracket, so there are no extra covers if you need to close a hole again. It's a shame.
On the back, I have mounted a 2.5 "drive and as you can see there is not much space for plugs. It should be straight plugs with the wires straight on. Otherwise, they will never fit.
As you can see, there is plenty of room for mounting the backplate for coolers. So it should be no problem to install water cooling or larger coolers with large backplates.
The light: The power and drive diodes are red and blue. They glow brightly, so you can easily see them in daylight.
Then there's the RGB light in the front of which I made a small movie. You can choose from several different effects using the LED button on the casing, or you can connect the light to the motherboard using the small plug in the casing.
What is my opinion of Riotoro CR100TG. The casing is basically an excellent beginner's casing. It is a casing for those who would like to have some RGB light, and possibly mount some RGB light inside the casing. The quality of the steel may be a bit debatable, it is not at the thick end, so the casing is very lightweight and seems a bit fragile. But it works, and can easily withstand a mounting or two. There are several things I wonder a about with the casing, among other things, there is not a cover for the top, so that you can create direct airflow. The filter for the power supply cannot be cleaned without tipping the casing. It cannot be removed from outside. In return, I love the solution with the RGB light. It's super smooth, and just looks awesome. There is no sign of light spots from the LEDs or anything, it is completely floating in the color changes. Awesome. The pricing: I have been quoted from the supplier for EUR 49.99. It gives a price of around DKK 370, which is definitely at the low end. Then the casing is again worth considering if it becomes the price in Denmark. The overall assessment. There are good and bad things about this cabinet. First of all, the casing is pretty cheap when you think about getting real glass side, and cool RGB light, which has its own controller and can be controlled from the motherboard. Bad things include quality, and missing PSU cover. The overall impression of the casing makes me give it a nice GOLD rating, as pricing and features fits very well together. Read more about the product here: Unfortunately there is no link availble, it will be added when it comes online.
|
          |
|||||||
