Raijintek Agos Review

Raijintek Agos Review

Conclusion

With a price of just £40 Raijintek have pitched the Agos right into the most competitive area of the PC case market.  To survive here and make a name for itself it’s going to have to be something pretty special, as not to be so will see it swallowed up with all the rest of the other black OEM boxes.

The Agos certainly has the basics covered, motherboard support for ATX as well as M-ATX, three 5.25″ bays and six 3.5″/2.5″ bays.  It also has good ventilation with a full length mesh filtered grill at the front inclusive of a single 120mm fan, even if we aren’t entirely convinced by the claims of a “Special Automotive Intake Air Design for Superior Airflow”.  Both the roof and left side panel also have mounts for up to a pair of 120s or even 140s, with an additional rear 120mm mount lurking in the floor and a fitted 120mm unit on extract at the rear.  With the exception of the rear extract all the air intakes benefit from mesh filters, so much so that the chap on the production line seems to have seen fit to lob in an additional magnetic roof filter.  We’re not sure whether this smacks of generosity or poor quality control, you decide.  With ATX motherboard support also comes seven vented PCI slots, as well as room for 160mm tall CPU coolers and GPUs up to 410mm long with the upper of the two HDD cages removed and a still respectable 290mm with the cage left in. 

On the down side, although Raijintek claim radiator support in the roof, with just 25mm of space between the roof and the edge of the motherboard there’s barely enough room for the fans never mind a rad, and with the lower of the two drive cages only removable with a visit from Mr Dremel there’s no easy way to pop a rad in the front either, meaning that basically water-cooling of any sort is off the cards.

A few short years ago this case would have fared reasonably well, but as with the other areas of PC technology case technology has moved on, and this of course includes the budget end of the market.  Aside from it not having particularly inspiring looks and motherboard stand offs that don’t actually line up with the holes in and ATX motherboard, there’s nothing really actually wrong with the Raijintek that a few minutes with a pair of pliers won’t fix.  It’s just that your £40 will buy you so much more, with the BitFenix Neos offering much of what the Agos does in infinitely more attractive colour schemes for a tenner less, and the Corsair Carbide Spec range offering so much more including native water cooling support for up to 2x240mm radiators for much the same money, we’re hard pushed to think of a reason why you’d buy the Agos over these and quite a few other cases out there.  We’re sorry Agos, but it appears Raijintek have thrown you to the Lions.

 

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