Performance -
Like most things that I review I tend to look at more than one aspect of performance. For me a case has to offer several things before it makes the cut. One of the first things it has to do is be easy to work with. It can be the best looking case on the planet, but if you cannot get your parts installed properly well then it is useless. The next thing it has to do is keep your parts cool this is the air flow test. Lastly (in my book anyway) it has to look good.
Ease of Build -
The In Win 901 is not the easiest case to build in. Because of the limited space for the PSU we had to run all of our cables before mounting just to make sure everything would fit. Once in place these cables had to be stuffed inside to keep them clean. There are ways to avoid this, but most of these involve altering the PSU cables to make them just long enough. Another items that we ran into (which is related to the PSU) is general cable management. In Win gives you a lot of extra wire ties and clips to get cables out of the way, but in the end you will need to put in some extra effort to keep things clean on the back side of the case.
Installing HDDs, SSDs and even the slim optical drive are fairly simple as it installing any cooling system. You are just going to have to be careful with making sure all of your cables are out of the way and not obstructing the view. Bearing in mind that this is a case designed to show off the interior of the case and because of the issues with cable management, installing the PSU and just keeping things clean we would not call this a case for a first time build or for most novices.
Air Flow -
The air flow on the 901 is fairly good, as long as you make sure to clean up your cables. If you cannot then you might end up having a few issues with internal cooling. To ensure that the air moves through the case you will want to make sure that you install a fan in the fan slot in the front and perhaps even one in the back. This will give you one pulling cool air in from the front, and two exhausting it out the back. The two glass panes can also transfer heat fairly effectively as long as the ambient temperature is not excessively high.
Aesthetics -
The aesthetics are one area where the 901 really stands out. The one piece construction of the outer case along with the two tinted glass panels give the 901 a look and style that not many cases can come close to matching. Of course the looks of the 901 are also very dependent on the components and how clean the builder can keep the case. We asked a few people what they thought of the 901 and were not surprised by the positive comments and rating.
Modding Potential -
Considering the design and build of the 901 there is not much modding potential for the majority of builders. This is not to say that there is none, just that you really need to look to find it and that, for the most part, you would not want to make too many changes as these would change the whole look of the 901 and there are simply much easier cases to use if that is your goal.
On the other hand there are many things that you can do to enhance the looks and appearance of the 901 though. These include modifying the PSU to clean up cables (and perhaps opening up the sides), adding in lights, sleeving the cables on the PSU, etc. Again many of these are not actually mods to the 901, but are component mods to enhance a build using the 901. In other words it is a case to show off your modding and building talent, not to actually mod on its own.
