INTRODUCTION
How does one choose the right PC case for the job? This is perhaps one of the most common questions i get from both people i know and some of you and i always use the same answer. It always depends on your needs and most probably even more on your available budget. For example as I’ve stated numerous times in the past my first concern is always available interior space and chassis quality since I’m required to add and/or swap components almost on a daily basis. That however also means that if i didn't have that "special" requirement smaller (yet good quality) towers would probably be fine too. Other people i know put more weight on the appearance of a tower so as i said it always comes down to what you're looking for. X2 recently started a somewhat "aggressive" policy by releasing several PC cases with design and features as their main focus and the Rindja which we have here today is one of them.
X2 is originated by a team of PC enthusiasts based in The Netherlands, the design heart of Europe. X2 redefines the true meaning of performance PC hardware. With our exceptional style coupled with genuine product quality X2 is irrefutably above and beyond the rest. X2 strives to surpass the needs of our peers with the satisfaction and our guarantee of reliability, compatibility and consistency in our products. Our mission is to provide the highest endeavor of performance while obtaining top-quality levels in all our products.
Much like many other towers in the market today the Rindja by X2 focuses quite a bit in providing ample interior space (for its size always) by "sacrificing" the classic forward 5.25" optical drive bays and even the usual 3.5/2.5" interior drive cage(s) (on top of the somewhat long "forgotten" 1.44" floppy bay). Thanks to this decision the Rindja weighs just 4.6Kg even though it's made out of 0.55mm SPCC steel and ABS plastic. So what about interior space? Well the Rindja mid-tower is compatible with ATX and micro-ATX mainboards and has enough room for up to nine 120mm fans (three 120mm LED fans included) and/or two radiators (360/240mm), three 3.5" drives, three 2.5" drives, 275mm long graphics cards and 160mm tall CPU coolers. The Rindja also features a dual chamber design (again like many towers today) which allows the end user to install a power supply unit and route most cables without having to worry about them standing out when looking inside the chassis from the side clear acrylic window.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
X2 packs the Rindja inside a plain cardboard box that has a product drawing at the front along with their company URL.
The product specifications and features are printed on the two sides.
The case is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two thick foam spacers.
Inside the box you will find 7 PCI covers, plastic bag with all the necessary screws to mount your components, another plastic bag with PSU mounting screws and finally the user's manual.
THE RINDJA EXTERIOR
Since the Rindja is just another mid-tower it's not really that large and to be more specific it measures 425mm in height, 380mm in width/depth and 185mm in thickness.
As expected from pretty much every new model the left side panel of the Rindja features a large clear acrylic window.
The fascia is made out of ABS plastic and is largely perforated to allow air to reach the fans inside.
X2 has placed the I/O on the right side of the fascia and here we see the on/off and reset buttons, power and HDD activity LEDs, two USB 3.0 ports and the usual microphone and headphones plugs (it seems that X2 originally wanted to use two USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 port since there's an unused space tagged USB 3.0).
The front lines extend all the way to the top cover (again made out of ABS plastic) which is also perforated.
Going back at the front you can see that X2 has two 120mm LED fans pre-installed (one is on the outside and one on the inside, why that is you will see later on).
You can also mount a 240/360mm radiator here.
There's also enough space to either mount two 120mm fans or a 240mm radiator at the top).
Moving at the rear of the case we find a 120mm LED exhaust fan, 7 PCI expansion slots and the PSU area.
Although in the specs sheet it says X2 has 3 pre-installed fans at the front that's not the case since the third one is installed at the rear.
The right side panel extends outwards to allow for even more room beneath the mainboard tray for cable management.
A perforated section is placed underneath the PSU but there's no air-filter present.
THE RINDJA INTERIOR
Because it lacks 5.25" drive bays and 3.5" drive cages the interior of the Rindja looks quite spacious.
Aside the pre-installed fan and the empty space right over it we also see three mounting areas for 2.5" drives.
There are 9 holes on the mainboard try none of which is rubber coated.
All PCI expansion slots are secured in place via regular screws and 6 out of 7 covers are not reusable (that's why there are some included in the bundle).
Usually we see 2.5" mounts ontop of PSU area covers (shrouds) but X2 decided to place three 120mm fan mounts and a single 3.5" drive mount.
Here we see the right side and the three 2.5" mounts.
PSU area is quite spacious so you shouldn't have any problems with long models.
Finally here we see the top dual 120mm fan mount from the inside.
BUILDING THE SYSTEM
As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.
Our ATX sized mainboard lands right at the end of three of the mainboard holes used for cable management.
This is how you can install the 2.5" drives.
One of the 3.5" drives can be installed as seen above and there's also room for two more right beneath it (on the base).
There's plenty of room inside the chassis for cooling solutions so you can choose to either mount a 240mm radiator at the top and a 240/360mm radiator at the front or go with a regular CPU air cooler up to 160mm in height.
With enough space for even the longest graphics cards you should have no problem mounting a front radiator (you will have no problem with extremely long cards - over 265mm in length - if you install 7mm tall 2.5" drives).
You can mount standard and even oversized power supply models at the base of the tower but you may need to forsake one of the 3.5" mounts.
NOISE LEVEL TEST
After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).
CONCLUSION
The Rindja mid-tower by X2 may not win any awards for its build quality and multiple features but still it’s a very interesting product largely thanks to its available interior space (once again for its size). So not only can you mount up to 6 drives (3x2.5”/3x3.5”) and up to 9 fans (comes with three 120mm LED fans pre-installed) but you can also mount very long graphics cards (up to 275mm long), tall CPU coolers (up to 160mm) and long power supply units. Unfortunately I’d still like to see a bottom air filter, tool-less mounting for the PCI expansion slots and drives and rubber coated holes on the mainboard try so yes the Rindja is far from perfect.
Although the Rindja mid-tower by X2 has been around for a few months it’s still nowhere near as available as we were hoping it would be so we can’t give you all a precise price tag. Still X2 has provided us with an MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) of USD79.95 inside the USA and 69.95Euros inside the EU and since usually MSRP is less than the actual price we think the Rindja will reach consumers at a good price. Overall the Rindja may not be anything sensational but it was never supposed to be and since we feel it offers very good available interior space with some interesting features and all that at a good price tag we really suggest checking it out.
PROS
- Design
- Available Interior Space
- 3 Pre-Installed 120mm LED Fans
- Low Noise Levels
- Price (For Some)
CONS
- Overall Quality
- Availability