New PC case maker Tryx goes in a special course than a lot of the mid-2020s discipline. The primary providing of a typical new case model inevitably will get labeled a knock-off by some fans, however the $239.99 Luca L70 is totally different sufficient from something we’ve seen to be its personal providing. That is no design with a mere reworked face panel to suit an present low-cost physique. The Tryx workforce shot straight for the high-end market; the corporate solely clipped the sting of the goal, nevertheless. The Luca seems good, however it’s dear, lacks followers, and has a couple of issues round Tryx’s construct and engineering selections. Our favourite value-minded “aquarium”-style showcase mannequin stays the Corsair 3500X ARGB, and on the larger finish, the Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO.
Design: A Surprisingly Versatile Aquarium
Whereas aquarium-style instances that don’t have any nook assist between the glass face and aspect panels have been round for a few years, the design nonetheless seems recent. The identical may be mentioned for the side-mounted entrance fan bracket and the entry holes for putting in Asus Again to the Future (BTF) or MSI Mission Zero reverse-connector motherboards. As a substitute, it is one thing that isn’t fairly obvious—but—that makes the Luca L70 stand out: Its energy provide bay may be repositioned to take a seat both above or beneath its motherboard tray.
A sturdy aluminum deal with (topped by quirky, semi-redacted area gibberish) that sits on the identical stage because the left and rear edges of the highest panel additionally separates the Luca L70 from equally marketed instances. So does the style wherein the highest panel slopes. It runs from again to entrance or from left to proper in the identical manner a bathe pan declines towards its drain.
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4 USB 3.x Sort-A ports and a Gen 2×2 Sort-C port sit subsequent to a headset combo jack on the entrance panel. A bit off to the left is the plastic gentle diffuser of a hidden power-on indicator LED, and to the left of that may be a flush energy button that, at a look, seems to be a portion of the remainder of this forward-facing aluminum edge.
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The L70’s backside panel hosts a triple 140mm/120mm fan mount lined by a full-length mud filter. The latter slides out from below the sting of the entrance panel for straightforward cleansing comfort. Additionally seen close to the middle of this picture are the Luca L70’s adjustable graphics-card brace and a detachable cable-concealment panel.
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Moderately than being supported by the same old set of 4 case toes, the Luca L70 rests on a crisscrossed platform beneath its backside panel. A number of air gaps of round 1 / 4 inch thickness assist air circulate extra successfully between the varied sections of this uncommon stand design.
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The totally vented rear panel encompasses a detachable energy provide mounting plate, a 120mm fan mount, and a vented spacer for extra bottom-panel radiator clearance. It’s vital to keep in mind that these are the elements that may be moved round to create a special case configuration.
Additionally seen is the thick aluminum panel of the fitting aspect, which is vented on the entrance for its corresponding radiator mount.
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The highest panel has much more radiator area than the underside panel, although a lot of that area is blocked by the ability provide bay you may see on this default configuration. A sheet-metal field on the rear that acts as a secondary prime deal with makes it attainable to elevate the case from both aspect, along with your left hand holding a prime deal with and your proper hand below the opposing (backside entrance or backside rear) nook.
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Tryx tells us that the Luca L70’s energy provide bay helps a 190mm unit at most, however our commonplace take a look at unit from Cooler Grasp is a little bit greater than that. We measured a depth of 235mm, although builders hoping to take full benefit of that area should additionally think about how tightly they’d wish to bend their cables to get across the entrance plate.
The 2 knurled screws that seem free within the picture are those that safe the ability provide to the mounting plate, whereas the opposite two safe the plate to the detachable energy provide bay. As for the bay’s removing, it’s secured by that tiny screw seen to the fitting aspect of these knurled screws.
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The L70’s detachable motherboard tray is held on the entrance by two extra knurled screws and on the again by its I/O panel. Tryx fills 10 of the usual 9 mounting holes with standoffs, because the tenth standoff (close to the third growth slot) has at all times been optionally available for ATX boards. Motherboards that lack a gap on this location will usually undergo a floor fault that forestalls power-up if put in over that standoff. Take away it if yours does not have a gap there.
There’s sufficient area behind the graphics-card brace to suit oversize motherboards as much as 11.8 inches deep: Whereas most such motherboards are labeled EATX, the case’s incapability to correctly assist all the vary of EATX (as much as 13 inches deep) ought to disqualify it from carrying that label.
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An old school, swiveling expansion-card-bracket clip resides over the slot cowl screws on a swivel. Moderately than having tabs to have interaction the screw holes, nevertheless, it merely has holes that clear the heads of the screws, not truly locking something down by itself. The springs and latch make it really feel like a high quality half, however we query its utility.
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Two hinged panels situated behind the motherboard tray are designed to assist as much as 9 2.5-inch drives or two 3.5-inch drives, plus 5 2.5-inch drives whereas nonetheless leaving room to go cables.
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Designed solely to carry three 2.5-inch drives, the ahead hinged panel you may see beneath has magnets on either side to safe it flat towards both the again of the motherboard tray or the again of the aspect radiator mount. The rearward panel holds each 3.5-inch and a couple of.5-inch drives and might slide upward off its hinge pins.
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Constructing With the Tryx Luca L70
The Luca L70’s {hardware} package features a #2-Phillips-to-standoff hex adapter socket, a number of kinds of screws, three standoffs, a pack of zip-style cable ties, three Velcro-brand cable straps, an set up information, a canopy for the view gap on that’s on the aspect of the ability provide bay, and an ornamental property tag. The case ships with the property tag hanging from its outstanding prime deal with.
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As soon as our {hardware} is put in, we’ll join the case to our motherboard utilizing its one-piece F_PANEL connector to serve its energy button and LED; to the HD Audio connector to serve its headset combo jack; to twin 19-pin USB 3.x connectors to feed its 4 Sort-A ports; and its Gen 2×2 (Sort-E) connector to energy its Sort-C port.
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So, about that shiftable power-supply mount. Leaving the Luca L70’s energy provide bay up prime would have pressured us to mount the radiator of our closed-loop cooler to the case’s backside, to the aspect, or to the entrance portion of the highest. As none of those permits our cooler’s followers to correctly cool our motherboard’s CPU voltage regulator, and because the effectiveness of our energy provide as a motherboard cooler is undetermined, we determined to take the most secure path and put our CPU cooler the place the ability bay had been. PSU on the case backside, then.
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The choice configuration used for our take a look at seems a lot because it has for many of our different checks, which ought to at the least make this a good comparability.
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We beforehand talked about that the rearward drive tray helps a few totally different drive configurations, and right here’s what half of that appears like: The area at the moment occupied by a 3.5-inch drive can as an alternative be geared up with two 2.5-inch drives, and the opposite (empty) half of the cage helps two or three extra drives in the identical two configurations.
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Although we didn’t use any of the above drives, you wouldn’t see them if we had. The elements you may see look pretty good lit up (beneath), however finishing the aesthetic would have required us to fill its front-right and rear mounts with matching followers.
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We do have one caveat that emerged from the construct. The aspect panels are held on solely by snaps and lack any secondary technique of securing (resembling screw tabs) for transporting the completed system. In our expertise, the aluminum aspect panel slid off and the hinged glass entrance panel popped open nearly at a suggestion (i.e., with little or no stress utilized). That is a priority particularly once you’re coping with glass.
Testing the Tryx Luca L70
We’re testing the Luca L70 with the ATX variant of our most up-to-date case testing package:
Relying solely upon the followers of our CPU cooler for air flow, the Luca L70 nonetheless achieves fourth place in CPU, motherboard, and GPU cooling. We are able to attempt to think about how significantly better it may need cooled with extra followers, however the temperatures seen listed below are at the least cool sufficient to maintain the system operating at full velocity.
The shortage of extra chassis followers additionally retains the Luca L70 quiet: Disturbed solely by the noises of our inside parts, the L70’s quietness is a metric the place solely the single-fan Cougar FV270 can compete. After all, you may in all probability add a number of followers of your personal, so take this with a grain of salt.
Verdict: Poised for a Value Lower
With the construct full and efficiency confirmed to be at the least enough, our solely remaining concern is whether or not or not the Luca L70 is constructed like a $240 case. Ours arrived with every part completed effectively (some reviewers, observe, obtained samples with QA points), other than the less-than-secure panels we noticed. However that stage of high quality is desk stakes for half the asking value, or a little bit extra.
The most important push behind the Luca’s excessive value is probably going the gathering of precision fitments that make the ability provide bay, the motherboard tray, and the decrease filter panels movable, and the 2 major glass panels meet good at their seam. We’re doubtful of what number of of us want the 2 PSU placement choices. Anybody searching for a great deal will in all probability save their cash by buying a case that helps solely their desired configuration, and depart it at that.
Although the Luca L70 seems adequate constructed out, count on the premium followers you may need to set up inside to push the case-and-fans complete as excessive as $300. You will not need to shell out that a lot except you are eager to point out off your construct. You will have to possess sufficient attraction to attract an viewers to see this showpiece…and have the necessity for the precise form of flexibility it delivers to make it price the additional bucks.
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The Backside Line
Although it seems each bit a high-end PC case, some construct quibbles and the added expense of its reconfigurable energy provide and motherboard positions make the Tryx Luca L70 a tough promote.
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