Parvum Systems X1.0 Review

Parvum Systems X1.0 Review

Manufacturer: Parvum Systems
UK price (as reviewed): £99.95 (inc VAT) With SilverStone 600W SFX PSU: £190.03 inc VAT
With SilverStone 450W SFX PSU £164.99 inc VAT
US price (as reviewed): TBC

If you haven't heard of Parvum Systems before, then our interview with the UK-based case manufacturer is well worth a few minutes of your time. It's taken the modding world by storm and numerous stunning projects have graced all parts of our modding coverage this year too. The micro-ATX S2.0 case has been available for a while and we've seen mini-ITX and ATX case prototypes taking shape in the last year too. Today, we're looking at the company's first mini-ITX retail case, the X1.0.


As with all of Parvum Systems' cases, the X1.0 arrives requiring assembly and in flatpack form. As per usual the acrylic sheets are exquisite. They're precision-cut using Parvum's own enormous CNC machine located at its factory in Essex. The matt coated acrylic is smooth and much more scratch-resistant than the generic glossy stuff you can pick up online and it's all packed away inside a foam wrap to prevent dings and scratches in transit.

The raw specifications make this unlike many cases we've looked it. There are just two fan mounts - a 120mm mount in the front and an 80mm mount in the rear. This obviously means there's not a whole lot of potential for water-cooling systems but when you look at the case's dimensions you'll understand why. It measures just 250mm wide and 244mm high, with a depth shorter than the total length of most 30cm rulers too. It's considerably smaller than Cooler Master's Elite 130 for example - a case that already set new standards for mini-ITX cube cases.


Thankfully, as the 120mm fan mount is so close to the motherboard mount - which is inverted so the graphics card sits at the top of the case, mounting an all-in-one liquid cooler here is possible, and there's plenty of room for a single 120mm-fan radiator too as there's a good 140mm or so between the front panel and motherboard. Easily enough for a full-height radiator and two fans anyway.

Unlike the micro-ATX S2.0, the roof vent is just that - a vent and not a fan mount. However, the main goal here is to simply provide the graphics card with with cool air and to have it blasted straight out the rear of the case; at least with blower style GPU coolers. The rear fan mount can aid tower coolers and is directly in-line with the front fan mount so whether you decide to exhaust air out the front or the rear, the X1.0 is fairly flexible.


The main reason there's an 80mm fan here and not a 120mm model like the front, is that the drive mounts and PSU bay are located in their own section behind the motherboard. The case doesn't look cramped despite the semi-compartmentalised layout, though, and that's because Parvum has taken the bold and sensible move of making the X1.0 an SFX PSU-only case. This does mean added expense, although Overclockers UK does currently offer a case and PSU bundle in the form of SilverStone's new 600W SX600-G for a reasonable £190 - a tidy saving on buying the two combined. Of course, if you don't need 600W on tap then SilverStone offers 300W and 450W models for £42 and £62 respectively.


There are also just two 2.5in mounts for storage so there's not much scope for having a PC equipped with terrabytes of space but if push came to shove, it wouldn't be impossible to mount a 3.5in hard disk somewhere and, asked nicely, Parvum Systems may even create a custom panel for you to do just this. The two 2.5in mounts are located in a rear longitudinal support brace that runs the length of the case above the PSU.

In terms of cooler and GPU support, there's enough room for air coolers up to 150mm in height, while graphics cards up to 280mm can squeeze in too. There's no separate metal PCI expansion slot plate with the X1.0, though, as there was with the S2.0. Instead, you need to install the motherboard and graphics card first, with the rear panel actually locking the expansion slot plate on the graphics card in place. This does mean removing hardware can be a little involved but the benefits are a super-clean all-acrylic design and a simpler PCI-E expansion slot area, given mini-IX motherboards can only use one PCI-E device anyway.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 250 x 310 x 244 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Acrylic
  
• Available colours Black/red, black/blue, black/white, white/black (custom colours available by contacting Parvum Systems)
  
• Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3
  
• Drive bays 2 x internal 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) Mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 1 x 80mm rear fan mount, 1 x 120mm front fan mount (fan included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 150mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 280mm
  
• Extras None