Best known for its AMD graphics cards, XFX has just made a debut in the chassis market with the Type-01 Series, an ATX tower chassis. The Bravo Edition retails for £69, which is an attractive price for such a case, being not quite what we’d consider a budget chassis, but it certainly sits towards the lower end of mid-range.
Standing out anew in the case market is difficult, but it would be hard to argue that the Type-01 Bravo doesn’t look unique. The entire front panel has a corrugated mesh effect, the lines of which hide the power and reset buttons, as well as the three 5.25in bay covers. The effect is continued in the cutaway sections of the roof and side panel too – it’s a wellventilated case. Plastic top and bottom sections add further visual interest, but also contribute to the case’s large diameters – it’s over 560mm tall.
The Type-01 Bravo makes use of a lot of plastic – the front panel, and rounded top and bottom fittings are all plastic, and the steel side panels have plastic covering too. The use of plastic isn’t necessarily bad in itself, but unfortunately, the quality of the plastic is underwhelming, even for the price. It feels weak and brittle – the covering on the side panels doesn’t feel secure. Likewise, the rubber feet give the case lots of grip, but the plastic fittings on the bottom and top feel thin and weak. You should handle the case with care, and certainly not try to use the curved roof as a handle. Thankfully, a Type-01 Alpha Edition is also in the works, which will be made of aluminium and hopefully improves this situation substantially.
Also, while the power and reset buttons are neatly hidden, they’re clunky and not satisfying to press. The positioning of the I/O ports usually found on a case’s front panel presents a problem as well, as they run in a line down the case’s roof.
Roof-mounted front panel ports can be handy, but in this case, the ones at the back are fairly far from the front, making them hard to reach even if the case sits under your desk.
Meanwhile, a slide-out dust filter is fitted to the bottom, covering both the PSU intake and the lower fan mount, and it’s easy to replace without having to lift up the chassis, thanks to a hefty amount of clearance. There’s also a dust filter for the front 200mm intake fan, but removing it requires you to pull off the front panel, bringing some cabling with it. Despite these filters, though, the vented sections on the sides and roof have no filters fitted, so dust still has a fairly easy route into the case.
In terms of cooling, the single large intake fan is complemented by a 140mm exhaust fan. There’s also room for a 140/120mm roof fan, as well as three 120mm side fans and a lower 140/120mm model if you want to create some serious airflow around your graphics hardware.
For water-cooling gear, there are four holes on the rear shielded by rubber grommets for routing an external radiator. With the singular roof fan mount, it’s only really possible to install a 140mm or 120mm radiator though. The lack of any real place for even a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler is another blow for the case – even budget cases regularly include such mounts.
On the plus side, the all-black interior has a standard ATX layout and is very spacious, making hardware installation painless and quick. The PSU rests on rubber spikes and is cushioned against the inside of the case too to stifle any vibrations.
The front panel needs removing in order to install optical drives, which slide into the bay, and then lock into place on both sides with tool-free clips. The plastic optical drive shields on the front cover are fitted to springs and have buttons that should align with the eject button on the drive. It’s a neat idea, but if your drive doesn’t fit properly with the covers, or if you’re installing another 5.25in device that requires access, you’ll need to remove the shields, which spoils the look. You can also convert one of the 5.25in drive bays into a 3.5in bay using the supplied plastic brackets.
The eight plastic 3.5in/2.5in drive trays are divided between a top cage of five and a lower cage of three. Room for graphics cards is already plentiful – there’s 310mm of room as standard – but if you need more, you can move the drive cage’s inner wall so that the top five drive bays are only big enough for 2.5in drives (five 2.5in trays are supplied). All eight of the available expansion slots will benefit from this extra room. The drive trays themselves are fine too, although there are no anti-vibration fittings for hard drives.
Finally, there are many big, well-positioned routing holes for cable management, all with secure rubber grommets. The area behind the motherboard tray could be a little more spacious, but we were able to tie down all our cables relatively neatly using the hooks on the rear of the tray.
Performance
Cooling ability for both the CPU and GPU is distinctly average. The CPU delta T of 52°C is matched by our current recommended budget case, the NZXT S340, which costs just £57, and it’s a long way from the SilverStone Kublai KL04 we reviewed last month. It also only narrowly beats the Fractal Design Define R5, which is a quieter case. Noise from the Type-01 Bravo’s two fans is pretty low (which is a relief, since there’s no fan control), but the large mesh section ensures noise escapes easily – if you have other loud hardware, it will be easy to hear.
The GPU temperature is a little better, but still average. Airflow from the large intake fan is adequate for keeping your graphics hardware cool during gaming sessions, and the temperatures are respectable given the relatively low noise output.
We also tried removing the inner drive cage wall and the top five drive trays for retesting, but it made no difference to temperatures.
Conclusion
XFX’s first case has some plus points, such as the unique design and easy-to-use interior, while the cooling ability is good enough given the noise output and relatively low price.
However, the external build quality, particularly on the top and bottom, and other design issues such as the I/O panel placement and the lack of fan control or any real support for water cooling, all let it down, especially when a superb case such as the NZXT S340 costs just £57. If the XFX’s design matches your taste, it’s probably worth waiting for the aluminium Alpha edition instead. MATTHEW LAMBERT
VERDICT
Not a bad first effort from XFX, with unique looks and reasonable cooling, but the tacky plastic and a few too many design flaws hold it back.
SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (mm) 232 x 518 x 562 (W x D x H)
Material Steel, plastic
Available colours Black
Weight 10.4kg
Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, mic
Drive bays 3 x external 5.25in (1 x 3.5in via adaptor), 8 x internal 3.5in/2.5in
Form factor(s) ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX
Cooling 1 x 200mm or 2 x 120mm front fan mounts (200mm fan included), 1 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mount (140mm fan included), 1 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mount, 1 x 140mm/120mm bottom fan mount, 3 x 120mm left side fan mounts (fans not included)
CPU cooler clearance 180mm
Maximum graphics card length 310mm with 3.5in cage; 345mm with 2.5in cage
Extras Removable dust filters