INTRODUCTION

   Even though the market is overflowing with PC cases of all shapes, sizes and even colors not many can honestly be called unique and that has been true for at least a decade now. Granted, many (if not most) PC cases look great nowadays thanks to their tempered glass side panels, colors and RGB fans but in terms of design only a handful have really stood out for me this past year, some of which I’ve yet to upload reviews of. HYTE may be a brand new player in the market but that hasn't kept them from releasing one of the best looking and at the same time smallest ATX PC cases I’ve seen to date. I'm of course referring to the Y60 which was not only officially released yesterday but is also what today's review is all about.

   HYTE is a lifestyle-centered brand focused on enhancing play with its fresh and innovative PC components and accessories. Designed to fuel passions in gaming, music, the arts and entertainment, all HYTE products are rigorously researched and tested before they are brought to fruition. HYTE, as a company and its products, are inspired by the needs and behaviors of its community and the many ways people play. HYTE is committed to designing products to help people experience play throughout their lifestyle, no matter what that may be. HYTE is a subsidiary brand of iBUYPOWER, a leading manufacturer of high-performance custom gaming PCs. HYTE, and its logo are registered trademarks of iBUYPOWER in the United States and/or other countries. Pricing, availability, features and specifications are subject to change without notice.

   Three things make the HYTE Y60 stand out from all the PC cases out there, its unique design, compact size and impressive interior space (always for its size). For starters the Y60 is a compact desk PC case so even though i guess you could place it on the floor like a regular tower it's really meant to be on your desk and thanks to its 3-piece tempered glass panoramic design (looks like an fish tank/aquarium) chances are you'll not regret it. Now as logic dictates size and interior space usually go hand to hand but that's not the case with the Y60 since it may be one of the most compact PC cases I’ve seen to date but it still has enough room for an E-ATX motherboard, full size power supply unit (up to 235mm in length), 8 fans (3x120mm FE12 fans pre-installed) and/or 2 radiators (240/280/360mm), 2x3.5" and/or 4x2.5" drives, 160mm tall CPU coolers and 375mm long graphics cards (horizontal and vertical placement - PCIe 4.0 riser cable included). Add the fact that HYTE makes it available in 3 different colors (black, white and red) and things are really looking good about the HYTE Y60.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

HYTE uses a plain cardboard box to ship the Y60 in so at the front we just find the product name and a partial product drawing.

The main product features are printed on the left side (with a touch of humour).

On the right side we find the complete specifications of the Y60.

An exposed drawing of the Y60 is printed at the rear of the box.

The case is wrapped inside a plastic bag (customs opened the box and for some reason tore the plastic wrapping) and placed between two foam spacers.

Along with the Y60 inside the box you'll find the user manual, 3.5mm y-splitter, 10 cable ties and a small plastic bag with screws and standoffs.

THE Y60 EXTERIOR

Measuring just 460mm in height, 285mm in width and 456mm in length the Y60 is indeed very compact (interior space amounts to 60 litres).

The 3-piece tempered glass panoramic design means you have a clear view of pretty much the entire interior space (minus the rear).

At the lower front we find the on/off power button and LED, two USB 3.0 ports, USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port and a 3.5mm audio in/out (this is where the bundled splitter comes in handy).

The top if perforated (also acts as a dust filter) and can be easily removed just by pulling upwards (i do suggest removing the side panels first however).

Underneath you can of course mount up to 3x120mm or 2x140mm fans (240/280/360mm radiator up to 28mm thick).

Almost the entire right side panel is also perforated and again it has a dust-filter attached on the interior.

Taking a look at the rear we see the 120mm FE12 exhaust fan, 2 storage trays (each has room for either an 3.5" or two 2.5" drives), 10 PCI expansion slots (7 horizontal and 3 vertical) and the PSU area.

The bottom of the Y60 is perforated (also acts as a dust-filter) and can be removed to reveal the two 120mm FE12 intake fans.

THE Y60 INTERIOR

The left side tempered glass panel is held in place with a single rear screw so removing it to access the interior is very easy (the other 2 are kept in place with regular screws located on the interior).

What steals the show is the PCIe 4.0 riser cable which resembles a card.

HYTE decided to "ditch" RGB lighting for the Y60 so all the FE12 fans are regular ones.

Enough room for E-ATX sized motherboards is not something i was expecting to see from such a compact PC case (smaller ones are obviously also supported).

Another strong selling point of the Y60 is the fact that you can mount an 240/280mm radiator here with a thickness of up to 150mm.

Turning the case around we see the two 2.5"/3.5" drive trays and the PSU area.

These drive trays are made out of thick aluminum and are thus very sturdy.

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.

With enough room for up to 235mm long power supply units you should be able to even use 1.2KW units with ease.

Mounting an E-ATX sized motherboard is easy but as you can tell the riser cable makes it hard to use the bottom PCI/PCIe slot.

At the time of this review i didn't have an 360mm radiator to place at the top (not 28mm thick) but still you can see how an 280mm radiator and a rather larger CPU air cooler look when mounted.

For a desk PC case the vertical graphics card feature is a real game changer.

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 on top 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, i use my very own).

CONCLUSION

   When HYTE announced the Y60 a while back i was very eager to check it out, it’s not every day that we see one such PC case after all. It’s not just the panoramic view that makes it unique or even its compact size, it’s also interior space which surpassed my expectations. Unfortunately, HYTE left RGB lighting out and i expect that to “disappoint” certain users, especially since iBUYPOWER is using it in excess with their pre-built systems on that same PC case (as evident from the above picture). Yes, i don’t expect that the extra cost for RGB fans will deter many potential buyers but even if it does some i truly hope HYTE takes that into consideration (and why not release a variant with RGB fans and even LED strips). All that’s left is to see whether or not HYTE continues this line with higher litre variants (Y80/Y90 models would be nice to see).

   The HYTE Y60 PC Case currently retails for USD199.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 199.90Euros inside the EU (Alternate.de) so even though not exactly affordable it’s more or less what anyone would expect by one such rather unique model (do remember that the PCIe 4.0 riser cable is also included). Overall, i don’t think i could ask for anything more from the Y60, yes RGB lighting would look nice but it’s not really a crucial thing to begin with (some will probably disagree with me on that) so with that in mind the HYTE Y60 clearly deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (Panoramic)
- Compact Size
- Interior Space (EATX Motherboard / 2 Radiators / 375mm Long GPUs / 235mm Long PSUs)
- 3 Preinstalled Fans (120mm FE12)
- Vertical GPU Installation (PCIe 4.0 Riser Cable Included)
- Right Side, Bottom & Top Dust Filters
- Available Colors (Black / White / Red)

CONS

- No RGB Lighting
- Price (For Some)