Introduction

The BUC (pronounced “buck” and not “bee-you-see” – which would be kind of funny, actually) is the latest mid-tower case from In Win, featuring hard drive bays that can be accessed from outside the case. Let’s check it out.

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Figure 1: In Win BUC case

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Figure 2: In Win BUC case

The left-side panel comes with a relatively big mesh supporting two 120 mm fans, which don’t come with the product. This mesh features an air filter, which is definitely a plus.

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Figure 3: Left-side panel

On the left-side panel we have one of the highlights of the BUC, a small door (which has a lock) where you have access to three of the five internal hard drive bays. These three bays that are externally accessible have hot-swap connectors.

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Figure 4: Access to the hot-swap bays from outside the case

The Front Panel

In Figure 5, you see the front panel of the BUC. It supports three external 5.25” devices and one external 3.5” device. The 5.25” bays use meshed covers, but no air filter is available. One important detail is that the second and the third bays have a metallic plate in front of them, so you will need to break and remove them to improve airflow inside your computer.

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Figure 5: Front panel

The BUC has a 120 mm sleeve bearing fan at the bottom of its front panel (In Win DFS122512L), which glows in blue when turned on. This fan has only two wires and uses a standard peripheral four-pin connector, so you cannot monitor its speed.

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Figure 6: Front fan

On the front panel we also have two USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port, and the traditional audio jacks. The case also has a USB 3.0 port on the top panel, which we will cover in the next page.

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Figure 7: Buttons and connectors

The Top, Bottom, and Rear Panels

In Figure 8, you see the top panel of the BUC. It comes with a 120 mm sleeve bearing fan (In Win FD1212-S3133E) at its rear part, which doesn’t glow when turned on but comes with a three-pin power connector, so you can install it on your motherboard and monitor its speed. There is a huge compartment with a USB 3.0 port occupying almost half of the top panel, and this compartment was designed to hold a device that you want connected to the USB 3.0, such as an external hard drive.

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Figure 8: Top panel

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Figure 9: Compartment and USB 3.0 port

The bottom panel, seen in Figure 10, has an air filter for the power supply fan.

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Figure 10: Bottom panel

The rear panel and the interior of the In Win BUC are painted black. The power supply is installed on the bottom part of the case, and it comes with seven expansion slots, all protected with meshed slot covers. However, only the top cover is reusable; all the other ones must be broken and tossed away.

There are two holes with rubber covers for passing hoses of liquid cooling solutions. The rear fan is identical to the one used on the top panel. The blue cable is the USB 3.0 cable that must be installed on an available USB 3.0 port from the motherboard rear panel.

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Figure 11: Rear panel

A tab for locking the left-side panel with a padlock or a warranty seal is available, but it comes inside the case and must be placed outside the case by the user.

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Figure 12: Tab for padlock or warranty seal

Let’s now take a look inside the In Win BUC.

Inside the In Win BUC

Both panels of the BUC are fastened to the case using tool-less plastic latches. See Figure 13.

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Figure 13: One of the plastic latches that hold the side panels

The motherboard tray has a huge hole for you to access the backplate of the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case. The motherboard tray also has several holes for you to route cables behind it and small holes for you to fasten cables using cable ties.

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Figure 14: Overall look

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Figure 15: A view behind the motherboard tray

In Figure 16, you have another overall look inside the case. Expansion cards are fastened to the case using individual plastic tool-less mechanisms. The BUC supports video cards up to 11” (280 mm) long.

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Figure 16: Overall look

Notice that the power supply can be installed with either its bottom fan facing up or facing down, so you can decide if you want the fan of your power supply pulling air from inside the case or from outside of it. As previously shown, the BUC has an air filter for the power supply fan, accessible from the bottom panel of the case.

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Figure 17: Power supply compartment

The Disk Drive Bays

The In Win BUC has three 5.25” external bays, one external 3.5” bay and five internal 3.5”/2.5” bays. The external bays feature tool-less installation mechanisms, and the external 3.5” bay can be used as an internal 3.5” bay, but in this case you will have to use regular screws to install the drive.

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Figure 18: Disk drive bays

Four of the internal 3.5”/2.5” bays have hot-swap connectors, but only three of them can be accessed from outside the case.

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Figure 19: Hot-swap connectors

Each 3.5”/2.5” bay is a small drawer. Three-and-a-half-inch devices are installed using regular screws with rubber rings to absorb vibration. Two-and-a-half-inch devices are installed using plain regular screws.

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Figure 20: Drawer

Main Specifications

The main specs for the In Win BUC case include:

• Style: Mid-tower
• Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one
• Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC)
• Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product
• Available colors: Black
• Side panel: Meshed
• Dimensions: 19.1 x 8.3 x 19.9 inches (485 x 210 x 506 mm) (H x W x D)
• Net weight: 16.5 lbs (7.4 kg)
• Gross weight: 20 lbs (9 kg)
• Bays: Three external 5.25” bays, one external 3.5” bay, and five internal 3.5”/2.5” bays (four of them with hot-swap connectors)
• Expansion slots: Seven
• Maximum video card length: 11” (280 mm)
• Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
• Fans: One 120 mm fan on the front panel (glows blue when turned on), one 120 mm fan on the top panel, and one 120 mm fan on the rear panel
• Optional fans: Two 120 mm fans on the left-side panel
• Extra features: Tab for padlock or warranty seal
• More Information: http://inwin-style.com
• MSRP in the US:  USD 110.00

Conclusions

The BUC has a very cool look and comes with extremely nice features.

Strong Points

• All hard drive bays support 2.5” devices
• Air filters for the front, side and power supply fans
• Individual plastic mechanisms for fastening expansion cards
• Meshed slot covers
• Meshed bay covers
• Hole in the motherboard tray to access the backplate of the CPU cooler
• Holes to route cables behind the motherboard tray
• Rubber rings to reduce hard drive vibration
• Tab for installing a padlock or warranty seal
• Door to access three of the five hard drive bays
• Four of the five hard drive bays come with hot-swap connectors
• Tool-less mechanism to remove the side panels
• USB 3.0 and eSATA ports

Weak Points

• No air filters on the 5.25” bay covers
• Slot covers are of the kind that you have to break and toss away