Custom PC - UK (2019-12)

elookedatRaijintek’slargerOphion
Evoin ourlastmini-ITXLabstest,but
thistimethestandardOphionis
goingupagainstthecompetition.Thetwo
casesarenearlyidenticalexceptthatthe
Ophionis smallerstill,sacrificingitsroof
clearancetocreatea morecompactcasethat’s
afewcentimetresshorteraswellasleaving
youwitha tennerinyourbackpockettoo.
Thisis fineif youwon’tbeconsideringa
liquidcooler,butthereducedclearanceand
smallerheightcomesattheexpenseof
radiatorcompatibilityhere,withtheOphion
beinglimitedto 120 mmfans.Asthere’sonly
90 mmCPUcoolerclearance,you’rerather
limitedinyourcoolingoptions,withAMD’s
WraithPrismcoolersincludedwithitsmore
powerfulRyzenCPUsevenofflimits.The
reducedclearancealsomeansthe case
ditchesthethird120mmfa n mountinthebase
that’spresentintheOphionEvo,although
we didfindhalf-heightfanssuchasNoctua’s
NF-A1 2 x 2 5 stillfit. Thankfully, whileCPU
coolersarelimited,thecaseoffersa generous
330 mmofGPUclearanceandafull-sized
ATXPSU mounttoo,although
ggiventhetightconfines,we’d
ddefinitelyrecommend
uusinganSFXPSU
ttomakeyour
lifeeasier.

RaijintekOphion/£120incVAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

The GPU mount sits behind the

motherboard courtesy of a PCI-E riser cable

and your graphics card points its cooler at

the side panel as a result. However, this also

means that the case isn’t compatible with the

Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Impact motherboard

as the cable isn’t long enough. The Ophion is

small and attractive with tempered glass side

panels, and a brushed aluminium front fascia,

but mostly steel construction, although there

are no audio ports and just a single USB 3 port.

You do get a Type-C port, but it’s limited to USB

3 specifications and ties into the single USB

3 header cable. Raijintek has made good use

of the interior, though, with a dedicated 2.5in

SSD mount in the front of the case under the

aluminium fascia, while the roof can be home

to a 3.5in hard disk or two further 2.5in SSDs.

With no fans included as standard, the

Ophion was never going to top the charts and

a CPU delta T of 64°C is poor, although still

cooler than the Lian Li PC-Q37WX and Metallic

Gear Neo Mini. Clearly, a pair of roof cooling

fans would greatly improve the situation and

it’s a bit disappointing not to see them included

given the price. The GPU delta T was equally

average at 61°C although still not

the worst on test.

Conclusion

TheOphionis a goodeffortfromRaijintek

andcoupledwitha decentlow-profile

CPUcoolerandpairofrooffans,itscooling

credentialswouldbemuchimproved.

However,wefeeltheOphionEvois a much

betterchoice.It’snotmuchbigger,but

offersspaceforAIOliquidcoolers,while

theSilverStoneLD03costslessandoffers

betteraircoolingandwater-coolingsupport

too.However,if youwanta tinyair-cooled

PCthatcanhousea full-sizedgraphicscard,

theOphionis definitelyworthconsidering,

solongasyouadda coupleofrooffans.

VERDICT

Rather limited in cooling prowess

and features, but it’s extremely compact.

CHILLING

+ Compact

+ Can house standard

PSUs and long

graphics cards

+ Good use of space

RAGING

• No room for AIO liquid
  coolers


• Expensive compared
  with better-equipped
  mini-ITX cases


• Limited CPU
  cooler height

LABS TEST / MINIITX CASES

SPEC

Dimensions (mm) 174 x 375 x 245 (W x D x H)

Material Aluminium, steel

Available colours Black

Weight 3.14kg

Front panel Power, 1 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3 Type-C

Drive bays 1 x 3.5in/3 x 2.5in, 1 x 2.5in

Form factor(s) Mini-ITX

Cooling 2 x 120mm roof fan mounts

(fans not included), 1 x 120mm base

fan mount (fan not included)

CPU cooler clearance 90mm

Maximum graphics card length 330mm

COOLING

22 / 30

DESIGN

23 / 30

FEATURES

15 / 20

VALUE

15 / 20

OVERALLSCORE

75