InWin B1 Mini-ITX Case Review

Exterior

First impressions of the B1 are certainly interesting, as this case doesn’t really look like anything else I’ve ever had in the office. Sure, I’ve seen things in a similar form factor, but nothing that looks as unique as the inWin B1.

The case has a swollen look to it with ridges running all the way around the edges. It actually reminds me of the teleporters from the 2986 movie The Fly, and while I don’t know if that was intentional on InWin’s part, I do like it.

The sides do allow for some ventilation, and I guess they’ll need to since that top panel is closed up anyway.

It’s a pretty cool design really, as it allows you to show off the hardware in this rather beautiful case design. What’s more, while this is the “top panel” the case can be mounted on its side too, making this the left side panel too.

There’s an included stand in the box, just sit the case on top, no fuss really.

As you can see, stand the case up and it looks even cooler! Certainly a unique look and looks more like a weird spaceship this way. Plus, you can really show off that gorgeous piece of tempered glass which has been cut to fit the curves of the case.

The feet give the case just enough space on the side to ensure those side/bottom vents get enough airflow. However, the bottom feet are hard-fixed to the case.

On the front, you’ll find a single USB port and a combined (4-pole) audio jack. It’s not much, but it’s clean and simple and I’m OK with that. There’s a power button integrated into the design here too.

Around the back, there’s the motherboard I/O cut-out, as well as the PSU cable socket.

On the interior, things are actually pretty cramped, but that’s to be expected given this is a particularly small PC case to begin with.

Of course, we can’t skip over the fact that the PSU is pre-installed, and that eats up a fair amount of space. It appears to be a TX form factor PSU, but since it’s an InWin PSU in an InWin case, compatibility isn’t an issue regardless of its form factor. It’s a 200W rated unit, which is a huge amount for a system that doesn’t take a dGPU.

Of course, you have room for a mini-ITX motherboard here too, and there’s a small amount of space flanking the motherboard mount for routing the cables, which are of course, already pre-installed in the case from the PSU.

There’s not a lot of room in here, but you’ll still get 60mm clearance for a CPU cooler, which means you’ve got a choice of the stock coolers for most CPUs, but there are plenty of good aftermarket ones out there too.

In the top, you’ll find a single pre-installed 80mm fan, which may not seem like much, but the relative size of the fan to the space requiring airflow, it’s more than enough.

Tucked into the bottom of the case, you’ll find a second compartment. Here you’ll find room for a bit of extra storage, allowing a pair of SSDs to be mounted in the case. Of course, if your motherboard supports M.2, you can get in even more drives too.

I love that they’re pre-wired on this side too, just plug into the SATA connectors and you’re good to go.