InWin have been on a bit of a roll with some very unique and interesting case designs offering high modularity and style options for the end user. Recently they have released their F5 Full Tower case first seen at Computex 2023 featuring a customizable front panel. The F5 is a full tower case which boasts customizable front panel bezels allowing users to pop them off and choose between glossy or wooden aesthetics. As a whole the case is available in either white or black featuring tool-less side panels including a tempered glass panel as well as mesh front, top, bottom and right side panels for ample ventilation opportunities. The design of this case also supports Back-Connector motherboards including ASUS BTF and MSI Project-Zero. By default the case is bundled with three premium Neptune AN140/AN140P ARGB fans which provide supreme cooling right out the box. In total the case supports a capacity of 9 fans with 2x 120/140mm in the front, 3x 120/140mm in the top, 1x 120/140mm in the rear and 3x 120/140mm in the bottom. There is also plenty of room for radiators with up to 420mm radiators able to be installed in the top or bottom. The InWin F5 is available in black and white and features customisable front panel bezels that can be removed and replaced with glossy or wooden accents.
Specifications:
Packaging & Contents
The case ships in a large box. The InWin F5 package is simple, and the chassis is placed on its side within. The front side here show a case drawing.
The back side has product name.
On left side, there is also a sticker to let you know which color you will be receiving.
You will find specifications sticker on right side.
The chassis is held in place by four separate corner guards made out of Styrofoam. On top of that, a black cloth bag is used to further protect the chassis from fingerprints and scratches.
As is customary with an InWin chassis, there is a zip lock bag with all the accessories inside the box as well. It holds a good number of sturdy zip ties, velcro strips, a piece of cardboard with a QR code for the digital manual, and all the small parts and screws in sealed bags.
3 x PCI-E Slot Brackets.
Magnetic GPU Holder.
PWM Fan Extension Cables and ARGB Extension Cables.
4 x Rubber Grommets.
A Closer Look - Outside
Out of the box, considering its dimensions, the InWin F5 Black looks like a pretty classic, ATX chassis at first sight. That impression, however, quickly changes when you realize that the front's side has its own fine mesh cover along with bezels, which means the internal layout is not quite so traditional after all.
It is made of SECC steel, tempered glass and plastics. The InWin F5 is a Full Tower case with dimensions of 510 x 235 x 543 (height x width x height) millimeters and a weight of 10.57 kg kilograms. The material of the left side panel is tempered glass that allows the inside to be seen through. The tempered glass on the left side and the bezels on the front are only mirror surfaces, so handle with care.
On the opposite side, the solid cover comes with a air vent at the top part.
The way to disassemble the left and right side panels is to use a groove on the rear top as a force point and pull it outward.
The InWin F5 in black features a front panel with blue accents. A notable feature of InWin F5 is the ability to customize the front panel. The standard front panel is black and blue plastic and glass, but can be removed to install alternative other glass or wood bezels although only two orientations make sense.
The bottom sports a fine mesh and molded front panel interior that guides air straight into the openings for the two Neptune AN140 ARGB 140 mm intake fans.
The front panel comprises four total pieces that can be removed fairly easily and reoriented to change the overall appearance. The panel is divided into upper and lower parts. There are four detachable panels in total, which allow players to change their styles. The wood grain panel can be installed on the left or right side, and can be staggered or extended according to preference.
The disassembly method is to pull it out from the side seam, and the interior is fixed with nails. There are 8 buckles inside, so the board can be placed on the left or right side.
The two lower pieces are also detachable and fastened with the same buckles as the upper ones. The ventilation piece can be exchanged with the wooden board. However, it can be expected that if the mesh piece is installed on the right side, a small part of the fan will be shielded. But it should have little impact.
You can choose to place the wood grain piece on the right side and extend from top to bottom.
The switches and access ports are lined up at the right end of the front top. The large button in the foreground is the Power switch. The I/O of the InWin F5 consists of two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports with their blue internals and folded shell. Next to those is the HD audio combo jack. At the opposite side lays an USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port. The top has a flat design with ventilation holes at it's right side.
Around the back, we see another break away from modern chassis design. What you can see from the back is that there is no bottom cover and the power supply unit is top mount. There is typical cutout for motherboard I/O below it.
You’ll find a 140mm exhaust fan near it. InWin equipped the F5 with a single AN140 ARGB fan that is placed here and set to exhaust hot air out the back.
In the very bottom are seven expansion slots with individually reusable pieces that cover a large, single opening. The case comes with the vertical mounting bracket by default but can be removed easily for traditional mounting. The expansion slot metal fittings painted in black and have ventilation holes.
A dust filter underneath the chassis may be pulled out the main side for easy cleaning without tipping over the whole system. It spans the whole underside. I want to point out this design choice. While not being a PSU dust filter, other case manufacturers can take a hint here. One design element of Dust filters that is inconvenient is when you are required to remove a dust filter from the rear, instead of the front or side like this. This is an excellent example of how easy it should be to remove a bottom mounted dust filter. Most people have their cases against a wall, so having easy access to the filter like this makes it easier to clean.
Once the dust filter is removed we can see how the holes play a role in the design of the F5 chassis. Having big open space like this is really good for airflow. The bottom can support a 360mm/420mm radiator or 3x 120mm/140mm fans. In my opinion, the bottom mounted locations are best suited for intake. This is so you can create balanced airflow for internal components and as intake can bring cool air into the case. This is also good because the cool air coming up from the bottom will maximize airflow to the GPU. The chassis is mounted on two full-width feet, giving it a nice clean stand that’s very stable and sturdy.
A Closer Look - Inside
Glancing into the F5 once the glass is removed gives us a view of a wide-open interior. The F5 has a dual chamber design. At the very top, we have the underside of the upper part receiving the power supply and the cooling system. The F5 can support mini-ITX, micro-ATX, ATX, and up to 12″ x 13″ E-ATX motherboards. For motherboards featuring rear mounted power and headers, both ASUS BTF and MSi Back Connect (which MSi calls Project Zero) ATX and mini-ITX are supported. Interestingly, support does not exist for back connect Micro-ATX.
The CPU cutout is adequate for cooler backplates.
There are four large cutouts for rubber grommets and cable routing for traditional motherboards. The wires from the front I/O panel have enough length to connect to any motherboard layout, and all of the wires are black to blend in with the chassis.
Towards the front, you’ll find two AN140 ARGB fans. The fans sport sleeve bearings, rotates at 1,800rpm and includes passthrough connectors for both its PWM and ARGB leads, allowing users to daisy-chain additional fans. The connector is 4pin (PWM / 12V) for the power supply of the cooling fan, and 3pin (5V) for ARGB, both of which are directly connected. It also supports replacement with a radiator up to 360mm. Nine milky white impellers are available.
The F5's airflow layout is unique, with the front and bottom taking in outside air by intake and the rear exhaust creating airflow. On the floor of the F5, you may install three 120/140mm fans or even go for a 120/240/360/420mm radiator, which will block any ATX board connectors on this bottom edge, so you will have to connect everything first before installing any cooling.
The power supply will be installed vertically at the top. The fan of the PSU will point sideways though, taking its airflow from the main chassis compartment. I also want to point out though that even if warm air is going to go through the PSU this doesn't automatically mean your PSU will die sooner or perform worse. In my opinion, it's just not as efficient as bottom mounted PSUs. One advantage to a top mounted PSU is a cleaner system and it doesn't interfere with the motherboard or the GPU area. Here, however, we find a large backplate access as well as a few cable passages. A maximum of 3 120/140mm fans can be installed here. Basically, if it is a radiator, 120/240/360/420mm size can be fixed.
You’ll find a cavernous amount of cable routing space behind the motherboard. Behind the motherboard tray are openings for the CPU cooler mounting plate and several smaller ones for cable routing. Hooks for fixing cable ties are available in empty spaces at key points. Measured the back wiring space near the back of the CPU socket is about 23mm.
Two trays are fixed with one hand screw near the front right of the F5. These allow for two 2.5" drives to be installed.
There are two 3.5-inch/2.5-inch mounting brackets behind motherboard tray. This gives us a total of four drive mounts. This is a continuing trend I enjoy from case manufacturers. It helps keep your system looking clean without the mess of wires, and makes cable management extremely easy. They are held in place by a single thumb screw each.
The trays are made of black painted steel and has the InWin logo pressed. Both 2.5-inch SSD and 3.5-inch HDD are fixed by screwing from the back.
Installation & Finished Looks
Installing all of our hardware in this chassis could not have been easier. It looks somewhat constricted due to the upper PSU place and lower motherboard mount, but it’s anything but compact in here. I was concerned about their locations. However, as you can see, that really isn’t an issue, and everything looks pretty darn neat and tidy here.
Installing an ATX board is done with the use of spacers and screws. The CPU power cable has to come from the mid-way point. However, a little care and this will always be out of sight here anyway.
The power supply unit is fixed vertically on the top mount. The mounting procedure is to slide the power supply unit body from the right side in the open state and tighten it with four inch screws from the back. In Win claims a 230mm length limit for power supplies, but we found nothing short of the cable passage placement to prevent use from using power supplies up to at least 250mm.
We installed the all-in-one type water cooling unit MR24. There is nothing to interfere with the work on the left and right when assembling. There are no parts that physically interfere. By the way, since the metal mesh panel cannot be removed, the cooling fan should be added from inside the housing. The steel cooling fan bracket is fixed to the chassis side with two upper and lower screws. The F5 has cutouts below the top chamber which enabled the tubing to cleanly route behind the radiator. I found that a thoughtful part of the top chamber design to keep the tubing out of the way in the main chamber. The length of the water tube was also moderate, and as expected, the MR24 was excellently compatible with the F5. Unfortunately PSU cables block a significant portion of the AIO airflow.
A look at water block. AIO water cooling with a strong dress-up element that stands out even when the power is off.
The back offers plenty of space for decent cable routing. Behind the motherboard tray, since we used cable extensions, we did have to get creative with the tie points, but even so, we were able to manage. Wiring is kept to the right of the fan locations to the left, and we found lots of room by the PSU to tuck in excess wires. An example of 1 x 3.5-inch HDDs and 1 x 2.5-inch HDDs mounts. The SSD plates are extremely simple but sturdy and functional. Simply screw the 2.5" drive into place and pop the plates back into the right spot to secure it with the attached thumb screw.
There are no special precautions for installing the graphics card, and it is completed without difficulty. When installing a graphics card, the maximum length of the graphics adapter must not exceed 435mm. The GPU clearance is excellent, and most GPUs are unlikely to take up much over half the length of the chassis. Furthermore, the width is great too, and very wide cards, with the addition of any water cooling hardware sticking out the side of them, shouldn’t have any issue. My only concern is that some dual GPU configurations would limit radiator support in the bottom. There’s the option to mount the GPU vertically too, but you will need your own riser cable. This case can support long graphics cards, and some heavier cards can produce what's called "GPU sag", that can even produce strain on PCIe slots. It offers a GPU bracket. For larger cards that produce sag, this will come in handy. It essentially will help support a GPU that is heavier and longer in length.
On the floor of the F5, we installed three AN120 120mm fans.
Although the graphics card can obstruct the flow of bottom air intake, the different airflow layouts horizontally from the front and vertically from the bottom are the main points of the F5's design philosophy. The bottom is F5's largest air intake hole that constantly takes in outside air.
The biggest appeal of the F5 is its beautiful appearance, which is superior to the internal design. After completion, it is good to see the inside depending on the viewing angle.
The lighting produced by this MR24 fans and pump is original, the colors are vivid and the stellar effect is successful.
The MR24 puts glitter in our eyes! You can also see the small In Win logo in the center.
You can see some of the internal lighting elements shine through the fine mesh on the front, which is a good general sign for unobstructed airflow. This can be turned off (don’t attach the cable), or set to any colour from your motherboard or any compatible 12v RGB controller. The 8-individual-ARGB-LEDs of each fan enrich the PC’s overall visual aesthetic.
Test System & Methology
For our test, we installed the following components in F5:
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
ASUS TUF B450m-Plus Gaming
InWin MR36
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 MHz
Gigabyte GTX 1660 Super OC
be quiet! pure power 11 750W
LINKUP – PSU cable extension sleeved
We made the Ryzen 5 3600 sweat a lot with the Prime95 stress test. It was cooled by the InWin's MR36 360 AiO water cooling system. To find out how the new feature affects the temperature of the graphics card, we put our GTX 1660 Super through the 3D benchmark Furmark for 15 minutes. The results surprised us.
Performance
All temperatures are in a range where you can run the PC very well. The card stays relatively cool with max. 65° C. It should be noted that these are stress situations for the respective components. During gaming or daily use the temperatures are much lower. The three 140mm Neptune fans in our test results were very acceptable in terms of noise level.
Final Thoughts
Another virtually turbulence-free journey for this encounter with InWin's latest case, the F5. InWin continues to impress with their unique and innovative designs. The F5 blends some clever design features that make it stand out from the crowd. Most RGB tempered glass chassis these days are pretty cookie cutter regarding layout and aesthetics. The F5 moves things about, literally, and it’s all the better for it. The F5’s front panel features detachable panels, providing the freedom to swap for various PC appearances. Black version provides a nice contrast to the blue. The front panel comprises four total pieces that can be removed fairly easily and reoriented to change the overall appearance. The panel is divided into upper and lower parts. There are four detachable panels in total, which allow players to change their styles. It is worth noting that the front bottom is mesh, and additional vents are on the steel side panel and top part. The addition of a big lump of tempered glass gives it that modern style that we all love so much too. For showing off your hardware, the window panel does a great job. Both side panels feature a tool free design. A simple pull with your finger can unlatch the panel to be removed. Replacing the panels is as easy as sliding the bottom into place and clicking the top into the latches. Inside, we will find an unusual internal layout. The InWin F5 case supports E-ATX (up to 12 x 13 inches), ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards. It also supports rear-connector motherboards like MSI's Project Zero boards. The generous interior space accommodates large components, including extra-long graphics cards (up to 435mm), tall CPU coolers (up to 180mm), and large power supplies (up to 230mm). Vertical GPU mounting is supported by default, but you will need to supply your own riser cable. The case comes with the vertical mounting bracket by default but can be removed easily for traditional mounting. Two 3.5-inch bays or four 2.5-inch slots are provided for data warehouses. The InWin F5 will fit up to nine 120/140mm fans – two on the front, three on the bottom, three on the top and one on the rear, or the corresponding LC / AiO heat sinks. In terms of support for liquid cooling systems, the F7 supports 120/240/360/420 mm radiators in the upper area, 120/240/360/420 mm radiators in the bottom area 120 or 140 mm radiators in the rear area and 240/280mm radiators in the front. We get three InWin Neptune AN140mm fans with ARGB LED backlight. These ensure that hot air is completely sucked out of the PC’s main chamber. The components were able to stay cool during the torture sessions we put them through. They're designed to be daisy-chained. Extension cables are also included. The holder for large graphics cards and a USB-C connection will be extremely relevant in the future. This also shows that the InWin team really put some thought into the design. Building a PC setup used to be a huge challenge for newbies. Fortunately, manufacturers are making it much easier for potential screwdrivers to assemble a PC on their own these days. This is also the case with the F5. Well, if there is anything to add at all, I'd say that a Fan/ARGB controller would have come in handy. The other thing I would like to see better is some sort of protective surface for the PSU to rest upon. It would be nice if InWin included in package accessories some optional front panel pieces of different materials or colors.
InWin offers an appealing product with the F5. Well, it’s meant to be €170 and for that, I think it’s worth every damn penny. The InWin F5 is also available in white for sale at €180. Overall, a really unique chassis front, blending some old and some new design ideas from the world of PC building. It ticks all the right boxes for a sleek looking office system, to a AIO filled gaming PC. If you want to make a statement with your PC, then the InWin F5 certainly fits the bill.