HYTE Revolt 3 Case by iBUYPOWER Review – Is it worth the HYPE?

I was given the opportunity to work with iBUYPOWER, a manufacturer of gaming and content creation systems for high-end users. They recently introduced their new line of cases under the sub-brand, HYTE. The HYTE Revolt 3 Case will be one of the flagship products they will be releasing.

The people over at iBUYPOWER sent one of their HYTE Founder Series Revolt 3 Case+PSU for us to take a look at and give our thoughts about the product.

With the new HYTE Revolt 3 series, they are offering several options to choose from—five to be exact. The first is a barebones enclosure retailing for $129. You get the enclosure, but no power supply, meaning that you can either supply your own or upgrade to the next option. The second option includes the case but also includes the 80 Plus Gold SFX-L 700W PSU for $249. Personally, the fewer options I have to add on my own unless for aesthetic reasons, the better for me. I would prefer this option above just the barebones case.

If you happen to be one of the first 200 to order the Revolt 3 with the 80 Plus Gold SFX-L 700W PSU from HYTE's website, they will ship a numbered heavy-duty flight case, branded with the HYTE logo as well as what number out of 200 you received, and as an additional bonus on top of all of that, you also receive a gold accent screen for the front of the case. The accent screen adds a little more style and luxury and makes a nice addition to changing the style to fit the situation.

HYTE will make available to the first 200 customers on HYTE.com its Special Edition Revolt 3 with Flight Case.

Included with the purchase of a case + PSU combo will be a flight case, to make travel with the Revolt 3 a breeze, and an additional bronze front metal "mesh" panel for an extra pop of color. The Revolt 3 with Flight Case comes at no additional cost to customers purchase the Revolt 3 + PSU combo through HYTE.com and is HYTE's way of saying thank you to its early adopters.

In addition, customers who purchase the Special Edition Revolt 3 with Flight Case will receive a special thank you card. On the thank you card will be a QR code linking to our social media channels, giveaway opportunities, and a hidden message that hints at a future product collaboration.

For those looking for an all-in-one system that is ready to go, they do have a few options available for purchase on the iBUYPOWER North American and German websites

The dimensions of the case by itself is 253 x 178 x 409mm, or 9.9” D x 7” W x 16.1” H. The HYTE Revolt 3 will come in either black matte aluminum or white matte aluminum. Even though the Revolt 3 is a simple design compared to their previous Revolt 2 model, it is a welcome change in an age where modern and minimalistic is sometimes necessary.

Minimalism allows consumers to alter the look using accent RGB LEDs and other lighting sources to make their case unique. Unfortunately, you would have to alter parts of the case to do that, which could void warranties if you make any alterations that intense.

I know some of us at Wccftech loved the white case option over the black due to it being very bright and making the case seem more streamlined. A lot of cases typically pick dark colors, such as black or grays, and almost seem to distract away from the case for the ability to add color with the use of LEDs. The white enclosure stands out, and with the minimalistic design, it is a very bold choice, and one that I feel would sell above the alternate option.

Talking more about the design, the Revolt 3 case by HYTE allows for 360° viewing and access to all sides of the case. The option to limit the use of screws for rubber grommets is a fantastic option to give plenty of areas to reach from any side of the enclosure. The ease of grasping the bottom of each panel, gently pulling towards you, and it is easily removed from the chassis' base.

This feature cuts down on materials, such as screws, that could be lost in the carpet or anywhere on the floor, never to be seen again. Also, to be able to remove and place the panels on the enclosure is efficient, especially if you need to get into the case quickly to assess a problem

Outside of talking about the panels, let us discuss the handle and holders for the HYTE Revolt 3 case.

When looking at the case on the top, there is a recessed handle. This allows the enclosure to seem that much more sleek and slim. When applying a light push down onto the handle, it pops up slightly with a mild click. You can easily raise the handle to carry around the enclosure, and then push the handle to click back into place so that it maintains that minimalistic, flushed look.

The same goes for the two accessory holders on the larger sides of the HYTE Revolt 3 enclosure. You will see a gray spot towards the top on both sides, and when pressing in to activate their release, the headset rest pops slightly out, with an area to grasp and pull to full length. This is great for those that want an out-of-the-way place to put their headset or something that would have a hook or area to rest on each side, such as a hat or headpiece for those streaming. Again, when not in use, they sit flush with the enclosure, once again allowing for a very smooth look.

Inside the chassis is a different story. Again, there are two options--one with and one without the power supply. The one we received came with a power supply and more than enough options for connections. A large majority of Mini-ITX boards will have no problem with fitting into the enclosure, as well as CPUs, GPUs, memory, and cooling systems.

HYTE does have a recommended list of the GPUs that were tested, as well as the motherboards tested and those that are incompatible with the case. Because this is a new case for me (I have been sporting a laptop for a number of years), I picked up GIGABYTE's A520I AC motherboard. After attaching all accessories and devices to the motherboard, I was ready to attach the power supply and other cables, such as USB support and access to the power button, just to name a few.

I appreciated that they considered different motherboard layouts when designing the Revolt 3 MK3. Depending on how far back my connection was for the main power to the system, they had a cable that would reach the full distance, as well as other sizing options should I require that. Access to attaching a hard drive was simple. I had a much larger drive than, say, a 2.5" HDD, to be able to put into the case. They have a detachable section next to where the hard drive sits that is also next to the power supply, and it allowed for me to place my standard size HDD into place with zero effort.

It comes with three expansion slots, access to HDMI, USB 3.2 (Type A and Type C options are available), holds one 3.5" drive (as stated above) or two 2.5" drives. The power supply that you can get additionally in the upgrade is equipped with a 700W 80 Plus Gold SFX-L PSU.

Placing a supported graphics card into the chassis is extremely simple. There is a devoted area for the GPU to be placed, and then make the necessary connections to everything else in the enclosure. As long as you stick with a maximum size of 319 x 140 x 58mm, you should have no problem, outside of the difficulty of obtaining an affordable GPU in the current market.

My only complaints are about motherboard installation and the minor design issues I mentioned above. The installation of my own Mini-ITX motherboard is that the largest PCIe cable for the power supply needed to reach the opposite end of the case. It was great that they included several sizes. The one problem I experienced was that the cable was stretched over my AMD Ryzen 3600 CPU and the included cooler that sat above it.

The cable is touching the cooler at the moment which means I may need a larger PCIe cable than the largest one provided. In the info packet that was sent, they show an ideal situation of the cable running around the inside of the enclosure, away from any parts of the motherboard. Unfortunately, I did not have an ideal situation, and would still need enough cable to reach around the area. If there was, say, one more cable for it to be another four to six inches more, I could use the included zip-ties to attach around the inner part of the chassis.

HYTE has definitely set the bar with its design choices for the Revolt 3 case. Going back to a less futuristic and simple design with a lot of modern ability, this is definitely a great option for people that want a less impact size with a lot of options. Again, I do question whether you would see any RGB accents when you have all four panels attached unless you were to open the panel to dust and debris.

The grid-lined holes on the panels are quite small and I feel that it would take away from the experience of showing off your gaming rig. For the low price of $199 for the case by itself, or the $249 power supply option is great for not only first-time buyers, but people looking to spend more for the inner workings of their gaming/content creating system, this is hands down a fantastic choice. And, for those first 200 lucky customers to receive the Founders Kit, as well as the highly protective travel case, are in for a real treat with its extremely rugged design.

You can purchase the case only for $129 from HYTE.com. The Revolt 3 Case + PSU is available on HYTE.com, Amazon & Newegg. European customers can expect the Revolt 3 case as well as the Revolt Case + PSU at the end of September 2021.

A wonderful and modern minimalistic case with more features than it appears.

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