Hardware stub

New: Budget Rosewill Patriot Gaming Case Specs

Posted on April 26, 2013

Rosewill's been known to silently release budget/mid-range products without major press fanfare -- the Line-M, which we spotted at CES, is a recent example of this. The new Patriot case had no official press release, but is freshly available on Newegg and has been posted to the company's facebook page; here's what we know about the Rosewill Patriot case from the specs (review hopefully impending):

rosewill-patriot-case

 

ModelRosewill Patriot, 11-147-169
Form FactorMicro-ATX, ATX
Material / ColorSteel, plastic - black only
Expansion Slots2x5.25" External
1x3.5" External 
6x3.5" Internal (SSD-ready)
7xRear Expansion 
Front I/O2xUSB3.0
2xUSB2.0
2x3.5mm audio
Cooling2x120mm Front (included, blue LED);
2x120/140mm top (1x120mm included), OR
1x180mm top;
1x120mm rear (included);
1x120mm bottom (optional).
FeaturesBasic cable management options
PSU dust filter 
Rosewill Patriot MSRP$80, but should drop soon.

 

The Patriot's exterior vaguely resembles the somewhat famous Antec 900 case, albeit smaller, and uses a similar front panel aesthetic to Antec's once-king. The case uses a dense mesh design for the entire front panel, hopefully making for easy passage of air, if perhaps a bit noisier than a panel door design. A large, clear window is found on the left side of the case (though it's mounted externally rather than internally) and the front fans are outfitted with blue LEDs.

The case is made of steel and plastic and ships only in black. It weighs in at 16.8 lbs. pre-build and is marketed as 8.3" x 18.2" x 21" (WHD with bezel). 2x5.25" external drive bays, 1x3.5" external bay (really?), and 6x3.5" internal bays are present, along with 7 rear expansion slots. The internal HDD cages ship with 2.5" SSD compatibility and can be mounted using a screw-less design (for 3.5" and 5.25" drives).

Rosewill's new unit ships with 2x120mm front fans (blue LED), 1x120mm top fan, and 1x120mm rear fan in a standard push/pull configuration. Additional fan slots are present in the bottom (120mm, intake recommended) and top, where a total of 2x120/140mm fans or 1x180mm fan can be installed.

No explicit mention is made of liquid cooling radiator mounting support, though I'd imagine it should at least support 120/140mm radiators, if not 240. This is something we'll clear-up in the review.

Further on the internals, the case is fitted for mATX or ATX form factor boards and has cable cut-outs (non-grommeted) for basic management. We're not yet sure how large the panel gap is on the rear side. Cut-outs are abundant for the relatively small case, seemingly positioned appropriately for just about any connector you'd need access to. The Rosewill Patriot also includes a rear-access dust filter on the bottom of the case.

Front IO is top-bound and equipped for 2xUSB3.0 (internal header), 2xUSB2.0, and 2x3.5mm audio.

We haven't tested the unit yet, but at $80, the case seems to be competitively marketed against Rosewill's own R5 case and Armor Evo (which we slammed pretty hard), at $70 and $100, respectively. Personally, I find the R5 to be more aesthetically pleasing, but I can't comment on performance until we've tested it. Stay tuned for that.

- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.