Despite all of our gaming coverage emerging from PAX East, we still made the rounds with our regularly-visited hardware manufacturers. Rosewill was among them, as always.
At CES 2014, I explained in a few camera discussions that mini-ITX cases were going to become a major trend for the year; the advent of Steam OS and Valve's impending Steam boxes only emboldens the expansion of home theater PCs (HTPCs), of which mini-ITX enclosures are a major component choice to consider. Cases are normally pretty low on the list of prioritized components, but when you're building small, there are suddenly a lot of concerns: Clearance for VGAs and coolers, CPU coolers, drives, and thermal challenges are all factors worthy of attention.
Rosewill had their Legacy line-up at CES, but most of the cases there were primarily uninteresting to our gaming-focused staff. PAX East brought the unveil of the Legacy W1, a mini-ITX case that floats toward a middle-size and makes room for larger components. Here's my video walkthrough:
Rosewill Legacy W1 Mini-ITX Case Hands-On Preview
In terms of specs, here's what we've got:
Rosewill Legacy W1 HTPC Case Specs
| Model | Rosewill Legacy W1 Black & Silver Aluminum Window optional |
| Form Factor | Mini-ITX |
| Expansion Slots | 2xVGA |
| Bays | 4x3.5" 1xSlim Optical 2x2.5" |
| Clearance | CPU Cooler: full height VGA length: full length (up to Titan Z) PSU length: Up to Hercules PSU; max length. |
| Cooling | 1x140mm front, pre-installed 1x140mm rear, pre-installed Support for 1x240mm/280mm radiator in the top. |
| MSRP | $120; extra for window. |
| Release Date | Pending. |
Between the video and the specs table, we've really covered just about everything there is to know about the enclosure. Its MSRP is listed as $120 right now, but with such a competitive mini-ITX market, I'm really not sure how long that price will last. Corsair's got some excellent mini-ITX options for a good deal cheaper, SilverStone's SG09 is a case (micro-ATX, though) I liked so much that I'm personally using it, and countless alternatives exist in the same $80-$150 price range. It's a tight market. We just talked about Lian Li's high-quality LAN box, the PC-TU100 -- it's smaller than what Rosewill's got here, but is extremely portable. Your case selection will ultimately hinge on what you're planning to do with the build.
Not discussed in the video is the optional windowed side panel, which I'm told will cost $10-$20 more than the one we see here. The enclosure's shell is entirely aluminum and is built upon a steel frame; foam padding and plastic mount points are positioned in the right locations to prevent stripping the aluminum mounting joints. The frame is built in a way that compartmentalizes the PSU separately from the core components, making cable management a bit easier and controlling thermals to some degree. A total of 4x3.5" drives can be installed in front of the forward 140mm fan, 2x2.5" drives can be installed near the PSU, the board mounts horizontally to allow for max-length VGAs and CPU coolers, and a separate tray for liquid cooling is present if you'd like to sacrifice the slim optical drive.
The case is definitely interesting -- again, there's just a lot of competition. We'll keep you posted on this one.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.