In Win GRone Full Tower Case Review – Huge and Plenty of Room!

Another chassis arrived in my lab and today we are going to take a look at and review one of In Win’s full tower chassis – the In Win GRone or GR One. First of all I would like to thank In Win for supplying the review sample. In Win is known for their unique desktop cases like the D-Frame and the elegant looking S-Frame. What I have here in my lab is the Black/Red version of the GRone full tower case, one of the newer versions of the GRone variants. It was originally released a few years ago that comes in Grey and White with a Bluish side panel window. But later In Win added a Black/Red version with black-tinted side panel, which I think looks really nice and better compared to the other variants. The GR One is quite large compared to the other cases I have and it can support water cooling, multiple graphics card configuration, lots of room for storage drives, and a good amount of ventilation as well. Let’s proceed with the review and take a closer look on the case below.

In Win GRone Features

The In Win GR One is a full tower PC case made from a combination of 0.8mm SECC steel and some hard plastic. It’s basically geared towards hardcore gamers, or system builders who are looking for a case with lots of options, expansions and support for water cooling.

It supports up to 10x 120mm fans or 140mm fans that could provide excellent thermal performance. It can also support a 360mm radiator on top and another 240mm radiator on the bottom of the case. There are water cooling holes available for custom water cooling, but I rarely see system builders use these holes nowadays.

The In Win GRone also features a two fan speed control, one-touch front bezel filter, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports on the front panel and an external SATA EZ-Swap Dock located on top where you can slide a hard drive or SSD in for easy data access. It also supports full size graphics cards of up to 365mm and has a total of 8x PCIE-slots. It can also support large CPU cooler heatsink of up to 206mm in height.

Let’s discover more of its features as we take a closer look on the GR One below.

In Win GRone Specifications

Packaging and Closer Look – Outside

The In Win GRone comes in a simple brown box with only the name printed in front and back. Its features and specifications are also printed on the sides of the box, and there is nothing really fancy with the box. Included in the package are: a manual, cable ties, molex adapters, and several different screws.

Here we have the front view of the In Win GR one. The model that came in was Black with Red accents and a tinted side panel window. For me this was the better looking amongst the GR One variants.

The side panel window is large enough to see most of the components inside except for the hard drive storage bay and 5.25″ drive bays. The side panel window is dark-tinted and it is advisable to add lighting inside to see the components installed. The window is also protruding a little bit, giving it that nice look and feel. Out of the box the outside portion of the window has a thin layer of protection. Unfortunately, I think In Win forgot to place a thin layer of protection on the other side of the window. As a result, the inside portion of the window got some scratches from the front panel cables inside. It probably got scratched during transportation. On the other side, it’s pretty much plain, except for the ventilation hole you see which is aligned with the CPU socket. You can install a 120mm fan in that area for additional heat exhaust.

On the back portion of the In Win GRone, you see four holes for water cooling tubes. You can also install either a 120mm or 140mm fan for rear exhaust. There are also 8 expansion slots (all with cover) making it possible to install up to 4 graphics card in this chassis, for a 4-way SLI or CrossFireX setup. The PSU slot accepts either the PSU fan is pointed downwards or upwards. Right next to the PSU slot and PCI expansion slots are a large air vent for additional heat exhaust.

The front panel of the In Win GRone includes a nice round power button with a red LED, two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, headphone out and mic in, two-speed fan switch and a reset button. On the top portion you can also see a guide where you can slide a hard drive for easy file transfer. The SATA port is actually protected by a rubber or silicone cover, much visible from the picture below.

From this angle, you can see the rubber cover for the SATA connectors. The rest of the top section is used for ventilation or heat exhaust. The top plastic cover is removable for easy installation of radiators or cooling fans. There’s not much to see on the bottom portion of the GR One, except for the ventilation for the PSU and another for a 240mm radiator. There’s a thin layer of dust filter which is very easy to remove for cleaning. By the way, the earlier versions of the GRone, the grey and white ones, have smaller feets.

Closer Look – Inside

Above are photos of the In Win GRone without the side panels. It has a very similar layout like most cases in the market. There are four thumbscrews (two on each side panel) that you have to unscrew to remove the side panels. The side panels are pretty much solid, but they do flex a little bit due to its size. As you can also see from the photos above, there are rubber grommets to protect the cables from being peeled.

There are a total of 8 drive bays for your hard drives and three more for the front bay expansion slots. The drive bays and expansion slot bays are all tool free, although I find the yellow-green color of the push button locking mechanism somewhat off. I think it would look better if they were red instead.

The front mesh cover can easily be removed without removing the whole front cover. The first three covers from top are for the front bay slots and can be removed individually. While the other lower 5 layers is actually a one whole meshed cover. Just push somewhere in the upper mid-section to unclip and remove it.

The drive cages are divided into two sections and can be removed easily. It also uses a tool-less drive mount mechanism. There are also holes on each tray so that you can screw a 2.5-inch drive. You can remove just the lower section if you plan to install a 240mm radiator on the bottom portion.

I was happy to see that the In Win GRone didn’t come short with cooling fans. In Win threw in three 140mm red LED fans on the storage drive section alone, plus another two 140mm fans on the rear and top exhaust. Now let’s put all the components inside and see how the finish build will look like.

In Win GRone Finish Build

In this build, I installed the following components inside the In Win GR One:

Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X Gaming G1 WiFi BK Black Edition
Memory: Kingston HyperX Savage DDR3-2400 16GB
Graphics Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 285 royalQueen
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD
Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1050W
Casing: In Win GRone Full Tower

Here’s the front view of the finish build. The black and red color combination looks really nice in this build.

The first photo on the left has the side panel window installed, while the other one has no side panel (obviously). I would recommend that if ever you are getting this variant or any case with a dark tinted side panel window, at least put some lights inside so that you can still appreciate and see the components installed.

Here’s another angle directly looking on the side portion.

Finally, an angle from top front view and rear top angle. It looks really nice despite that I haven’t done any intricate cable management inside the system.

Price and Availability

The In Win GRone is now widely available. At the time I published this review, it currently retails for only $129.99 USD. Not a bad price for a full tower chassis. It also comes with a limited 3-year warranty.

In Win GRone Review: Conclusion

I have been using the In Win GRone for several months now and I think it’s a superb full tower case and build quality is great. Its construction is pretty much solid and sturdy, and has that rugged and aggressive look on it. I didn’t have a hard time working with the GR One as I install the components inside the case. Although, I must say that it’s heavier than my usual mid tower cases.

There are many things to like about the GRone full tower case. I like the nice power button with a red LED circle on it. It has 5x 140mm pre-installed fans, and the three of them have red LEDs. It fully supports water cooling system and the external hot swap bay could be useful from time to time. The stylish tinted window looks really cool as well and it’s large enough to see all the major components installed inside the case. Air flow is really great as well, as I can feel the heat being properly exhausted at the back and on top of the case. They have also done a really good paint job as well. And amongst the GRone variants, this is the variant that I like most.

I don’t have any major complaints at all, well except for some minor hiccups. There was no protective layer on the other side of the side panel window. As a result the inner side of the window got scratches from the cables inside. The LED on the front panel HDD indicator was somehow not aligned. I also feel that it somehow lacks a few cable hooks on the other side of the motherboard tray for a proper and very clean cable management. And the top front 5.25″ drive bay was somehow wasted, but it’s not really a big deal since you can still use that space for other purpose.

Finally, the In Win GRone is one awesome full tower case and if you like the way how it looks then I don’t have any problems recommending the GR One at all. It’s a well-built chassis with lots of room to work with and options for your components. This case surely deserves The PC Enthusiast’s Highly Recommended Award.