In Win A1 Plus Build Guide & Review: Phone Charging Portability

Today we are building in In Win’s current premier Mini ITX case, the In Win A1 Plus. It is a tiny case that shares some of the same aesthetics In Win has become known for such as a nearly all-metal design with honeycomb vents for fan mounting on the side panels. The A1 Plus includes a power supply which is rare for even the most spacious ATX sized cases, there’s extensive RGB support in the form of lighting effects on the exterior of the case as well as included RGB fans. Finally, the A1 Plus has the unique ability to charge smartphones and gaming mice alike atop the case with the included top panel wireless charger. But is this latest release from In Win worth building in? Let’s find out!

Case Overview

Starting with the primary side, you’ll see the tempered glass side panel which is secured via In Win’s push-pin system. It is extremely easy to remove, and the glass is well-made, solid glass which is tinted.

After removing the primary side panel, we can see inside the case. The A1 plus comes with a hefty 650W 80+ Gold power supply. This is more than enough power to run and overclock even the most high-end of graphics cards and CPUs. The bottom section is ventilated to allow airflow for up to two fans which can be mounted in the lower section of the case.

The In Win A1 Plus comes with two Sirus Loop ASL120 RGB fans which can be seen below. An interesting feature of the Sirius loop fans is that they have RGB lighting on both sides of the fan. They come equipped with In Win’s high-quality rubber pads in each corner to reduce vibration and noise.

The back of the case shows off the 120MM fan mount which can also be used to mount a 120MM AIO liquid cooling unit for your CPU or a hybrid GPU. The PCIe brackets are ventilated and the power port is in the transparent stand section of the case.  

The back-side panel has In Win’s classic honeycomb ventilated design which provides cooling for the Sirius loop fan installed on the inside.

After removing the rear side panel, we are left with the included 650W power supply in the top left corner, a Sirius loop fan below the PSU and two 2.5” SSD mounts on the right side. The front IO cables emanate from the power supply area and are pre routed to the motherboard section of the case. The power supply has an extension cable plugged in are routed to the power port present on the transparent stand.

The front IO consists of a power button, two USB 3.0 ports and front panel audio headphone/microphone jacks.

Lastly, the most iconic aspect of the A1 Plus is the Qi 1.2 10W charging panel on the top of the case. This is an extremely unique and useful feature. The charging panel can be easily utilized as the A1 Plus is meant to sit on your desk, always within reach. Just drop your smartphone or Qi enabled device for a quick charge while using your computer and pick it up when your done. No cables, no hassle.

Here’s the bottom of the case. You can install two 120mm fans in this section which also has an RGB light that can be synced with the Sirius loop fans, etc.

Accessories include: 8x hexagon head screws, 10x 2.5” SSD screws, a graphics card support bracket, 5x cable ties, 4x anti-slip strips, 3x LED 3-pin headers and 1x fan RGB one-click controller. The one-click controller can be used to control RGB lighting instead of your motherboard or regular fan/RGB controller.

Overall the quality is on par with other In Win cases we’ve tested such as the 101C, 303C and 301. The case is nearly 100% metal which we love to see. The largest plastic piece is the bottom section which is transparent for enhanced RGB lighting effects provided by the included RGB strip, it’s solid though and we can live with it to enjoy the lights.

In Win A1 vs. In Win A1 Plus

The In Win A1 Plus includes two Sirius loop RGB fans and a 650W Gold power supply compared to the 600W bronze power supply that ships with the non-Plus version.

Parts List

• CPU: AMD RYZEN 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6 GHz
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI
• Graphics Card: EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra
• Memory: ADATA Spectrix D60G 16GB 3200MHz
• Storage: ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
• Power Supply: In Win 650W Gold Non-Modular
• Case: In Win A1 Plus – White

Building

First, we laid out our Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi motherboard and installed the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor.

Here is the X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi with the CPU installed, it really is a great looking board and has performed exceptionally well.

The next step was to remove the chipset fan heatsink to access the primary M.2 port. For those interested, Gigabyte is using a ball bearing fan rated for 60K working hours on their chipset fan.

Prior to installing our M.2 drive, the 1TB ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro NVMe SSD, we installed its heatsink by peeling off the plastic on the adhesive on the back of the heatsink then pressing the heatsink down on the memory chips.

Here’s the ADATA M.2 drive before we screwed it down and secured it to the motherboard.

Next we added the 16GB of ADATA Spectrix D60G RGB RAM which is among the best looking RGB RAM available.

We were very impressed with ADATA’s take on RGB RAM and simply put, the Spectrix D60G is very well designed.

Now we’re ready to start loading up the A1 Plus!

We tried to fit a Noctua NH-U12A in the case and it can fit. Unfortunately, it completely covered up our beautiful ADATA Spectrix D60G RAM… It also makes installation of anything around it extremely difficult. For those who want superior CPU cooling, we suggest using the included 120mm mount on the back for an AIO or if you must use a massive heatsink, be sure you have all your cables plugged in, screws installed, etc. prior to installation.

Instead we ended up going with the stock AMD Wraith Prism RGB CPU cooler. We needed to test it for our Ryzen 3700X review anyway.

We also added our EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra graphics card which fit comfortably in the A1 Plus with plenty of room for airflow and room to spare for longer length graphics cards.

The included power supply while non-modular and non-sleeved, did include all the cables we needed for our setup. There is of course the motherboard 24-pin and CPU 4+4-pin, 2 PCIe 6+2-pin cables and 3 SATA connectors.

Some have complained about there being only 3 SATA connectors but in today’s world filled with plenty of affordable M.2 drives ranging from every side of the performance spectrum, we simply don’t need many SATA power connectors anymore.

It’s time to trade in your old 2.5” based storage and enjoy the cable-free experience that M.2 provides!

Conclusion

Building in the In Win A1 Plus was for the most part, very easy and enjoyable. If you are planning on building a capable, compact computer for gaming or simply as a workstation, you can’t go wrong with the In Win A1 Plus. Keep in mind that as with all ITX cases, working space is limited and plan out your parts carefully. Opting for M.2 drives can save you several cable management headaches if you are a perfectionist when it comes to that side of your build.

In Win has repeatedly proven that they an industry leader in computer and gaming case designs and implementation. Their cases are more expensive than many competing products but the quality in the A1 Plus as with the other In Win cases we’ve reviewed such as the 909, 101C, 301 and 303C is worth the extra money. If you’re anything like us, you won’t stop enjoying looking at how small, yet powerful the A1 Plus is!

Purchase on Amazon

• CPU: AMD RYZEN 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6 GHz
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI
• Graphics Card: EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra
• Memory: ADATA Spectrix D60G 16GB 3200MHz
• Storage: ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
• Power Supply: In Win 650W Gold Non-Modular
• Case: In Win A1 Plus – White