In Win D-Frame Mini Case Review – The Coolest Lanbox on The Block

Over the past few years In Win has established a reputation for making some of the most well built cases available. With entries such as the 904, the S-Frame and the original D-Frame, which like most In Win cases, was very well built! It had sharp lines and had craftsmanship that is unheard of from most other chassis manufacturers.

Today we have newest addition to In Win’s lineup the D-Frame Mini which is a smaller mini-ITX version of the original and lighter on your wallet. The D-Frame Mini is retailing at $290 at time of writing.

Can it measure up to its bigger brother? Lets find out!

PACKAGING, FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS 

The D-Frame Mini was shipped in its retail product packaging and arrived in very good shape save for some dents on the box. The case however was unharmed due to the thick styrofoam padding. The box itself is constructed of double-walled corrugated cardboard that is glued. The measurements are 20″H x 12.5″L x 23″W and its also less than half the weight at 11.5 pounds as opposed to the original D-Frame at 25 pounds.

The front and back of the box shows the case with a hero shot on a road and rugged terrain in the foreground. The name and company logo is in red and black with product information and feature list on the sides.

The case is presented in a cloth bag similar to what high end enthusiast power supplies are packed in and held in place by thick polyethylene foam inserts. We like the packaging and all the precautions to the box is important considering the case has glass side panels.

And unlike the original D-Frame, this case comes fully assembled so the end user has very little they need to do in assembly.

EXTERIOR

The In Win D-Frame Mini is an open-air case that is constructed of welded aluminum pipe that is bent by hand with an aluminum motherboard back plate and smoked tempered glass side panels. The frame is powder coated in either Red, Black, or Orange.

The Case has four rubber feet on each side so that it is able to sit any way that you would like it. The bottom of the case is home to a mounting bracket for either 2 120mm fans, radiators or a single 240mm Rad, although those comfortable with modding can probably get a 360mm Rad to fit by removing the fan bracket with two thumbscrews on both ends for simple removal and installation.

The front of the case features a power and reset switch, the latter of which requires a ballpoint pen to push something that is understandable, but were not totally a fan of. It also features a Microphone and headphone jacks as well as two USB 3.0 ports and a HDD indicator light. This is all pretty standard stuff, but In Win still finds a way to make it look premium.

The top of the case comes with a very nice carry handle, and with a full system inside of it felt more than strong enough to support it which shouldn’t come as a surprise since it is a part of the chassis and welded together.

The D-Frame Mini sports a dual slot video card bracket, and it fit our XFX AMD R9 290 quite well (11.61″ x 5.63″) and, as with this mini-ITX case, anything more would be a bit ridiculous.