HEXUS reviewed the In Win D-Frame Mini back in May 2015 and now it is back. In Win's metal tube constructed open-air Mini-ITX chassis picked up a HEXUS innovation award and the only real negative noted by Parm was the price.
In a Twitter update a few hours ago In Win let its followers know that the D-Frame Mini chassis has been re-released. The good news came with some bells attached; it will be cheaper, and they will be available in more snazzy colours too.
First of all, addressing our reviewer's concern, In Win has managed to squeeze the price of the re-issued D-Frame Minis. On Amazon USA right now the whole range of colours are available at $199. I don't know the prior pricing level in the US but here the in the UK Scan listed the D-Frame Mini at £249.99. Now Scan displays it as an 'end of life' product only.
The colour choices have been doubled since the original release. In our review we noted buyers could opt for black, red or orange motorcycle pipework. Now there is a choice of red, black, green, orange, white and blue. You can see these options in the photo above.
If you are interested in buying one of these eye-catching chassis you are likely to want to check out the tech specs. The Amazon listings are a bit bare for this kind of detail and the dedicated product page seems to have been removed by In Win some time ago. Luckily I still have the specs list in my September 2014 news article (reproduced below for convenience), and of course you can check over the full HEXUS review, mentioned in the intro.
- Material: Aluminium Pipes, Aluminium Metal Plate, Tempered Glass + "durable" carry handle
- Internal Drive Bay: 3.5” or 2.5” x 3, 2.5” x 2
- M/B Form Factor: Mini-ITX
- Power Supply: ATX12V, PSII and EPS (Up to 220mm)
- I/O Port: USB 3.0 x 2, HD Audio
- I/O Expansion Slots: PCI-E Slot x 2, Supports High-end Graphic Card, (Length: up to 340mm,Height: up to 150mm)
- Thermal Solution: Supports 120mm Bottom Fan x 2, 240mm Liquid Cooling Radiator, CPU Heatsink up to 165mm
- Dimension (HxWxD): 405 x 230 x 501mm (16” x 9” x 19.7”)
- Net Weight: 5.25 kg (7.22 kg gross)
- Colours: black, red or orange pipework - plus new white, blue and green options
You can see in the above specs that it's possible to fit up to one 3.5-inch drive with two 2.5-inchers. The maximum graphics card length and height is 340mm and 150mm respectively. A cooler up to 165mm tall can also fit in the D-Frame mini. For active cooling you can fit fans and radiators up to 240mm. USB Type-C would be a welcome addition to the front accessible ports but such things don't seem to have been updated.
While the Amazon listings are in the USA only, it would allow me to add these re-issued chassis to the basket to be sent to the UK.
FULL-SIZED ATX UPDATE: a few days back on its Facebook page (see above), In Win told fans that the full sized ATX D-Frame would be back for "a limited run," also in new colours (red, blue, green, orange, and white available). Like with the Mini, these are available via Amazon USA, however these are priced at $399 each.
