Introduction and First Impressions
A full-tower enclosure with RGB lighting
A newcomer in the PC enclosure space, RIOTORO has a lineup of unique-looking products to offer in a market flooded with options at every price-point. With this full-tower PRISM CR1280 enclosure the company says that they are providing not just a home for your components, but “the world’s 1st fully RGB case with unparalleled personalization options”.
Clearly, RGB lighting has been one of the biggest trends in PC hardware for the past year or so, and if you are so inclined the PRISM CR1280 promises fully customizable color with lighted accents on the front of the case, and included RGB intake fans.
Beyond the RGB lighting, however, the PRISM CR1280 has a rather unusual industrial design. There is angular black plastic over a steel body, and a large edge-to-edge side panel window (not to mention those bare aluminum feet). It looks like a premium enclosure, and it’s certainly priced like one with an MSRP of $169.99 (selling for $149 currently). Is it worth it? Read on to find out!
Continue reading our review of the Riotoro Prism CR1280 Enclosure!!
Before we move on, here’s a look at the specifications from Riotoro:
- Material: Steel, aluminum and plastic
- Motherboard Support: Mini ITX, micro ATX, ATX, eATX.
- Expansion Slots: 8
- Drive Bays:
- 4 x 3.5” internal screwless
- 4 x 2.5” internal screwless
- Cooling:
- 2x 120 or 2x 140 mm fan mounts in front
- 3x 120 or 2x 140 mm fan mount on top
- 1x 120 or 1x 140 mm rear exhaust
- Water Cooling Compatibility:
- 1x 140 x 25 mm or 38 mm rad + push/ pull fan in rear
- 3x 120 x 25 mm rad + push fan on top (full clearance)
- 2x 120 rad or 2x 140 mm + push/ pull fan in front
- Front I/O:
- Power and reset buttons, high and low fan speed, RGB LED switch, 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, headphone and mic, HDD light
- Component Clearance:
- ATX Power Supply: Up to 220mm
- Max GPU Length: Over 400 mm
- Max CPU Cooler Height: 180 mm
- Dimensions (LxWxH): 478.1 x 250.72 x 577.50 mm (18.82 x 9.87 x 22.74 inches)
Thanks to RIOTORO for providing the enclosure for our review.
- RIOTORO PRISM CR1280 Enclosure: $149.99 – Amazon.com
First Impressions
Design is a highly personal thing, of course, so this won’t be for everyone. I found this to be an attractive-looking enclosure out of the box. I also noticed how light the enclosure feels, though it does seem sturdy upon initial inspection; well-braced despite the lighter weight.
The wide metal feet help make this tall enclosure feel very stable, with the front of the case rather unassuming otherwise (without the RGB fans powered on) as there are no front drive bays. The front panel is completely vented with large perforations backed by a foam filter layer. This should aid in cooling at the expense of some noise.
Looking at a rather busy top I/O, we have a number of options including fan speed (always appreciated!) and RGB controls, along with the usual USB and audio. The buttons here feel good, lacking any sort of ‘cheap’ feel.
The large side panel window dominates the component side of things, and is similar to the recently reviewed Corsair 400C enclosure with its edge-to-edge plastic window design.
The top of the Prism CR1280 is also windowed, which I haven’t seen before, and this plastic panel pops off to reveal a magnetic filter beneath. (More about intake filters on the next page.)
Around back we have the 8 expansion slots and 120/140 mm fan mount (with factory installed exhaust fan). Oddly, all but the top pair of slots is an old-fashioned steel punch-outs – though a full compliment of expansion slot covers are included in the box. Why these were not pre-installed in favor of the punch-outs is beyond me.
The bottom of the enclosure is fully vented, and there are slide-out air filters at the front and rear of the case.
Next we'll take a close look inside the CR1280 enclosure.
I need at least nine 5.25″
I need at least nine 5.25″ drive bays in a full tower case for a file server, I currently use a Raidmax ATX-902WR but it’s showing its age, this move towards bay-less cases is depressing. That translucent top is nice though.
Yes! I bought three of the
Yes! I bought three of the iStarUSA BPN-DE340SS drive cages when they were on sale for $40~ each. I was gonna pick up a full size atx case with 9-10 5.25 inch bays, but there isn’t much choice out there. I have packed as many drives as I can in my Cooler Master CM690 II.
At least there are larger
At least there are larger drives to fit in whatever room your case has. 🙂
But I agree. Many people want a smaller form-factor case, but I think this has been exaggerated a bit, there are still plenty of us that want larger cases. Give me 10 slots. Give me capacity for the largest mainboards. Give me room to work in. And give me room for hard drives so I can store videos with back-ups.
We know that there tends to be a trade-off when it comes to cooling vs noise – but that really only applies when you use the same sized fans. Want better cooling with less noise? Use larger fans and spin them slower. Small cases don’t allow for that. Certainly cases have come a long way in the last 15 years, their cooling solutions used to be more of an after-thought than actually beneficial, but there is that third factor in the cooling vs noise balance, which is case size. While many people don’t have room for a huge case, and it’s great that there are getting to be more options for them, I do, and would like more options that would fit my usage better as well.
Looks nice but given the size
Looks nice but given the size of the case why run with 120mm fans? They look tiny on the front of the case. Twin 180mm fans would be a better option
I can’t seem to figure out
I can’t seem to figure out how to power the RGB lighting and front LED fans. The installation manual says to use a 4-pin molex from the PSU, but doesn’t specify where to plug it in….any help would be greatly appreciated.