Introduction

When it comes to computer casings 3R System probably won’t be the 1st company that would come into your mind, but we hope that’ll change after this review. There are many case manufactures out there in the market; however the ones you remember are those who manufacture really innovative ones. And we’d like to believe 3R System falls into this category.

Today we bring to you one of 3R System’s new additions to their product line-up; the “R110 – The One” mid tower casing. We found this casing to be quite innovative and well suited for today’s overclockers demands, but before we go onto the details time to look at the specs for the case.

Specifications

• Dimension(Chassis) : 200(W) x 430(H) x 435(D)
• Dimension(Total) : 200(W) x 437(H) x 473(D)
• Drive Bays : 5.25" x 4ea ,3.5" x 6ea (Hidden : 5)
  * Full Heat Sink aluminum HDD Bays : 4ea
• M/B Form Factor : ATX, Micro-ATX
• PSU Form Factor : ATX
• Weight : 7.5Kg
• Colors : Black, Silver
• Expansion Slots : 7 Slots
• Front Fan : 140mm (Removable Dust Filter)
  Rear Fan : 120mm
• Port : USB 2.0 x 2ea / MIC / SPK
• Side Panel CAG 1.1 : 120mm Air Duct(Removable Dust Filter) + VGA Cooling Hole
• Navigation Display LCD : 6-level Fan Speed Controller (2 channels), temperature display, visual Indication of FAN/HDD operation, system running time display

The Contents

The R110 was shipped to us in a standard brown cardboard protecting with good protection inside to keep the case from any damage during transport.

Taking the case out of the packaging reveals the stylish design of the R110. Its got a very sleek design painted with a black mat finish. The R110 also comes in a silver flavor as seen below, so depending on what you fancy you got a choice.

 

From first glance you will not see anything outrageously flashy about the R110, which is something I personally prefer. The case is primarily built of steel, with the front panels made of plastic.

 

The front of the casing boasts four 5.25” drive bays with the top 2 bays designed for optical drives only. They consist of front covers which hide the optical drives from view and show them only when the drive tray is open.

The R110 also consists of a 3.5” floppy drive bay too, so if you’re one of those rare people still using a floppy drive you can still use it. Certain add-on devices like USB card readers, fan controllers come in the size of a floppy drive, so you could use this space for something of that sort too.

Next comes an interesting device on this casing; as you all would have noticed by now, the front LCD panel.

The LCD panel not only boosts the look of the R110 but it also serves a true purpose. It monitors the system temperature, has 2 fan controllers with 6 levels of control which also has an auto mode where by the fan speed is controlled by the system temperature. It also shows the system running time, hard drive activity and a mascot (a little dog) catching a Frisbee.

The top left buttons is to mode and the bottom for resetting the settings. The two buttons on the right are for up and down controls.

Below the LCD panel contains the power button with a bluish outer glow ring. The reset button is placed in the right side of the casing in case you're wondering there is no reset button on the case.

On the left side opposite to the reset switch you find two USB ports, MIC and AUDIO jack for convenient access to these ports from the front.

The front air intake is stylishly hidden away as per the picture below. It can draw air from both top and bottom intakes. The front air intake fan is a 140mm cooling fan drawing ample air flow to the casing. Dust covers on the inside of the casing stops dust particles getting in through the intakes.

 

The left side of the case panel consists of two air ducts for the CPU and graphics card. The one on top is a length adjustable air duct with dust filters. The air duct is 120mm in width giving good air flow into the CPU area. The duct is removable in the event your CPU location does not align properly with the CPU location.

The bottom duct is simply an air flow grill for better heat dissipation for graphic cards and surrounding area.

 

The front plastic panel comes off quite easily for installing optical devices and for initial setup. All the circuitry is exposed once you open the front panel, but make sure you do not damage anything in the process. The front dust cover is also exposed here, so in the future if and when you need to clean it, simply removing the front panel you’ll have easy access to it.

Now going to the rear of the casing you’re offered with 7 expansion slots, 1 x 120mm exhaust fan and a standard space for an ATX PSU.

One of the most unique features of the R110 is it’s 3.5” internal hard drive bays. Pretty much the whole 3.5” internal drive bay for the hard drives is an aluminum heat sink. There are two heatsinks on either side of the hard drive mounting points and on each mounting point there are thermal pads to ensure good contact for heat dissipation and minimize vibration.

To install the hard drive you need to remove the heatsink pad on the left and using the screws provided you install the drive while it’s laid flat on a surface. One thing 3R System’s should ensure is to provide their instructions manual in English as well, even though the diagrams in it do make sense and you really don’t need any manual to install the case.

This setup is an excellent for people having RAID setups or multiple hard drives since you don’t need to worry about putting in extra heat sinks to keep the drives cool. Mind you, hard drives do create a lot of heat and add significantly to the overall temperature of the case. And the 140mm cooling fan being located right in front of the 3.5” drive bays adds more punch to the cooling power.

One of the drawbacks of this case is you cannot remove the motherboard tray to install your motherboard. It would have been very convenient if this was possible, a feature offered by some of the higher end manufactures like Lian-Li. Nevertheless the case supports both ATX and micro ATX motherboards.

Another thing to be concerned is if you plan to use all the hard drive bays as it’ll become a problem when trying to install a high end graphics card. Remember that this is a Mid Tower casing, so if you’re planning on a water cooled setup you will not be able to do that as the case will not have any room for it.

 

Noise Levels

Noise Levels aren’t too bad but probably higher than normal due to all the vents on the case. It’s obviously not unbearable as the main noise comes from the CPU cooling fan, so if your CPU cooling fan is quiet then you won’t have any problem. The 120mm rear exhaust fan and the front 140mm intake are very quiet even on full load, and you really don’t hear them working. The included thermal diode sensor was placed close to the hard drive enclosure to check on the drive temperatures and it ranged between 35-36C.

Our system temperatures were at 34C-36C without any overclocking so it’s on par for an average user. The ventilation of the case is quite decent but you can’t expect real good cooling performance due to the limited size of the casing, therefore if you plan on overclocking the system this case won’t be your best choice.


Conclusion

Overall 3R System’s have done a good job with the R110. It’s aimed at the average user looking for some sleek styling to their casing at an affordable budget. The case has good airflow with the 140mm intake fan and the 120mm exhaust fan, and if you need more powerful ones you have the option to do that.

The aluminum 3.5” drive bay heatsinks are a great feature and if you’re running multiple hard drives on your system, especially a RAID setup; you can really take advantage of these heatsinks as it’ll keep all your drives cool.

For the average user the features offered by the R110 is very good but remember that this case isn’t designed for the hardcore user as the case doesn’t offer a great deal of room for additional devices than the most standard. The LCD panel in the front gives the R110 quite a unique look and the overall black finish adds more to its luster.

One of the current problems you as a user might find is buying one of these cases as 3R System’s seem to have a large presence in the European region at the moment than the rest of the world. This is surely going to change as more companies become aware of their products, however for the moment you will have to check on their website for available locations.

So if you’re on the look out for a good functional case with a sleek stylish design at an affordable budget give 3R System’s R110 a chance. They have really improved their designs since we last looked at one of their casing’s the Neon Light a few years back.

They have a wide selection of casings available on their website to cater to varying needs and budgets; we really did find the R110 to be a good performer for its intended purpose and certainly recommend it provided you’re fine with the minor drawbacks mentioned before.

 

Built Quality	96%
Performance	94%
Style	95%
Value	95%