Xigmatek Octans Mini-ITX Gaming Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Xigmatek Octans is just £35.99 from Overclockers UK. That’s really not a lot of money for a compact gaming chassis of this size and specifications and it’ll certainly appeal to those on a tight budget, leaving more room in your budget for a fancy graphics card.

Overview

The Xigmatek Octans really is a love/hate product, I can see that this design isn’t going to appeal to everyone, as it’s a little strange in terms of design. Fortunately for Xigmatek, I actually like the design, but it comes with a downside – there’s nowhere in my house I’d be able to put this chassis. The long design isn’t well suited for my kind of desk environment, but it would make a good system to put on  your TV stand, great if you’re planning a HTPC gaming build. Of course, the real trick here is that the chassis is small enough to pick up and put in the boot of your car without too much trouble and will sit nicely on top of a desk; this makes it a great choice for a LAN gaming rig.

Build quality is nothing spectacular, but it’s certainly as good as you could expect for this price range. The metal panels are thick and strong, the plastics have a nice matte finish to them and all major fittings come with easily accessible screws or thumb screws. The ability to remove the top, bottom, side and front panels is also a welcome bonus, as it makes installing your components much easier and also aids with maintaining your system. It’s also nice to see that the chassis comes with an SFX PSU bracket, giving you much more choice in the kind of PSU you could use for your build.

Pros

• Supports a 300mm graphics card
• SFX/ATX PSU support
• Five removable panels for easy installation
• Lots of ventilation
• Dual USB 3.0
• Unique design
• Affordable price

Cons

• Some modular ATX PSUs can conflict with the motherboard
• Cable routing is a little tricky, but can be resolved with a few cable ties
• No air filters

“The Xigmatek Octans is certainly unique, with its menacing space-freighter design. While not the most practical chassis for a desktop system, this could be a great under-the-TV chassis for a living room gaming system, or a small, yet powerful, LAN gaming rig.”

Thank you Overclockers UK for providing us with this sample.