PC Case Vinga Black Widow

The selection of cooling systems from the Vinga brand is quite modest, but the number of case models in their range is simply enormous. We probably won't have the strength and time to talk about everything, so it was decided to choose a few of the most interesting chassis worthy of our readers' attention. The first was the Vinga Black Widow - a rather strict-looking case that resembles, both externally and in content, the popular Define series from Fractal Design.

Specifications

Packaging and supply kit

The chassis packaging is quite simple and consists of a regular cardboard box with monochrome printing on the sides, and two foam dampers and a plastic bag inside. On the front and back sides of the box, there is only the name and image of the product, while the sides duplicate the brief technical specifications of the product, information about its manufacturer and supplier. Unfortunately, there are no carrying handles. And they would come in handy, as the case is quite heavy.

Vinga Black Widow is the first case in recent years where I did not find any assembly instructions. Accessories are stored in a neat white cardboard box inserted into the 3.5" drive bay. The removable magnetic filter is simply attached at the back. The chassis supply kit includes the following parts:

• metal magnetic filter for the top panel;
• eight cable ties;
• a set of seven rubber plugs for external USB, audio, and card reader ports;
• diagnostic speaker;
• three screws;
• three brass motherboard standoffs (the other six are screwed into the case by default);
• four case screws with plastic knurled heads;
• four screws for the power supply unit;
• eight screws for securing 3.5" drives;
• 35 small screws for the motherboard, 2.5" drives, and 5.25" devices.

Vinga Black Widow has a strict and solid appearance. The front panel is made of matte plastic, with a texture very similar to brushed aluminum. There are no openings here, except for the recesses at the bottom.

On the triangular front leg at the bottom of the case on the right is an inconspicuous, at first glance, silver inscription Vinga. It becomes visible only when the light falls on it at a certain angle.

The front panel is a door that opens to the left and is held in the closed position by two magnets. There is a small indentation on the right for opening it. The door itself is heavy, about 10 mm thick, and lined with a layer of soundproofing material on the inside. The hinges are non-removable, so it cannot be re-hung on the other side.

In the middle on the right are two three-position fan speed controller sliders. The upper one controls two channels, and the lower one controls three. The regulation is done by changing the supply voltage. The "L" position corresponds to 5 V, the middle position to 7 V, and the lower "H" to a full 12 V.

A high-quality dust filter is installed at the front, consisting of a fine mesh and inclined plastic grid ribs, which is easy to remove and clean. Soft dampers are glued at the corners where the filter contacts the metal of the case. Air access is provided through side openings on the sides of the front panel. After removing the filter, it is possible to install two 120 mm fans. However, to screw in the upper 140 mm fan, the front panel will need to be removed completely.

At the top, there are two slots for 5.25" devices covered with solid plugs. Considering that the front door in the closed state fits the panel without a gap, no fan controller with protruding knobs can be fixed here. Only devices that can be installed flush will fit.

All ports and buttons are located on the top edge of the front panel. Here is practically everything a modern user might need: a card reader for SD and MicroSD cards, two USB 3.0 ports, and two USB 2.0 connectors, two 3.5 mm audio outputs for a microphone and headphones, a red dot indicator for drive activity, a blue dot power indicator, and a small rectangular button for system start. There is no reset button.

The right side panel is solid and metal, held by two screws with knurled heads, and has a handle for easy removal. Ventilation openings occupy more than half the height of the front panel edge.

The right side panel is made completely similar to the left and is interchangeable with it.

Both side panels have high strength and greater weight. They have good stiffening ribs, and on the inside, they are lined with a solid layer of soundproofing material.

The top panel is metal, with most of it occupied by a ventilation grille covered by a plastic overlay.

The overlay is held by six magnets, easily removable without opening the case, and lined with a layer of soundproofing material on the back. The grille has large honeycombs and two sets of mounting holes for two 120- or 140-mm fans. The holes for mounting a 240-mm radiator are shifted entirely to the left panel, preventing any conflict with motherboard components when installing a liquid cooling system.

If more cooling is required from the case than silence, and fans are planned to be installed under the top panel, the plastic overlay can be replaced with a metal magnetic dust filter included in the package.

The rear panel of the case is quite standard. At the top, there is a ventilation grille where a 120-mm fan can be mounted. The mounting holes are elongated, approximately 30 mm long, allowing for height adjustment. Seven PCI slots are covered with reusable ventilated plugs. To the right of them is another ventilation grille.

The PSU mounting holes allow it to be oriented with the fan facing up or down. The power supply is protected from dust by an easily removable dust filter.

The base of the case has two large plastic feet - front and back. The rear foot partially covers the power supply ventilation grille.

Soft dampers are attached to the feet, with a total height of 28 mm.

Let's take a look at the interior of this chassis.

Internal Structure

The Vinga Black Widow case supports the installation of ATX, MicroATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards in a vertical position. The front part of the case also has holes suitable for E-ATX, but the threads for standoffs are not cut. The allowable height for a CPU cooler is 180 mm. The possible length of expansion cards in all slots is 410 mm, excluding the thickness of the fans. A power supply up to 190 mm in length can easily fit into the case. The internal volume of the chassis is conditionally divided into two zones by a non-removable power supply shroud.

The clearance under the top panel to the edge of the motherboard is 25 mm, which is just enough for mounting two standard thickness 120- or 140-mm fans. Since the holes for 120-mm models are shifted to the left, a 240-mm radiator will not interfere with the motherboard. However, installing a 280-mm radiator here is likely impossible.

The case does not have stock fans, likely to reduce the overall cost of the product. The advantage is that the user can choose any models according to their taste and budget. The downside is that using this chassis without any fans is not advisable, as even the coolest system will overheat. A 120-mm fan can be installed on the rear panel. The seven PCI slot covers are held by standard case screws, which can be replaced with the included screws with plastic knurled heads if desired.

The power supply shroud is solid and non-removable. On the side of the motherboard tray, there are three holes for cable routing, and in the front, there are ventilation holes for hard drive cooling. The clearance from the shroud to the front panel is 70 mm, allowing for the installation of a fairly thick liquid cooling radiator.

Two 120- or 140-mm fans can be installed on the front panel from the inside. At the top, on the one-time plugs, there is a set of holes for mounting a third 120-mm fan, but this is likely an atavism from another chassis modification.

In the front part of the motherboard tray, there are mounting holes for two 2.5" drives. The supporting bracket on top, for two 5.25" devices, is held by two screws and can be removed if needed.

On the back of the motherboard tray, there is a cutout for the CPU cooler reinforcement plate, six cable routing holes in the middle, and two more holes on top. Fifteen cable tie loops are located in the right places. In the lower right part of the tray, a white metal tray is attached, where one 2.5" drive can be installed. The cable management space behind the tray (to the side cover) is a record 32 mm for this class of chassis.

The cage for two 3.5" hard drives is located at the front. It contains white trays

The trays can hold one 3.5" or 2.5" drive each. The hard drive sleds simply fit from below, while the 2.5" drive needs to be screwed in. Vibration dampers are not provided here. However, there are holes to which an 80- or 92-mm fan can be attached. This is likely another atavism from a different chassis modification, as there is practically no space for them in the cage.

At the rear of the shroud is the mounting space for the power supply. Four soft dampers are attached to the bottom panel of the case for it. The maximum PSU length that will fit into this space without issues is 190 mm.

The front panel is held by eight plastic "tulip" type fasteners. It is unlikely to need removal, but if necessary, it should be pulled by the notch at the bottom, releasing the fasteners one by one. All wires from the external connectors and fan controller are fixed on the panel, so they should be disconnected and released before removal.

This is what the front panel looks like without the plastic trim:

The front panel cables include the system start button, power and drive activity indicators, USB 2.0 headers, card reader, HDAudio, and USB 3.0. All are black and have sufficient length for proper connection to the motherboard.

The fan controller is powered by a pass-through "molex" connector and has five labeled headers (FAN1 and FAN2) for connecting three-pin fans.

Let's move on to system assembly and thermal testing.

Assembly

Assembling the system in the Vinga Black Widow case is quite straightforward and doesn't raise unnecessary questions. It's particularly easy to manage cables in it, as the space behind the tray is ample, and the doors close without issues, regardless of the thickness of the cable bundles.

The drive activity indicator is bright, and its red color can be blinding if looked at directly. The blue power indicator, on the other hand, is quite muted and not irritating at all.

Test Bench

The following configuration was used to test the cooling efficiency of components in the Vinga Black Widow case:

• Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K (3.5 @ 4.2 GHz, 1.300 V, delidded);
• Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Performa;
• Motherboard: ASUS STRIX Z270G GAMING (Intel Z270);
• Graphics card: MSI N770 TF 2GD5/OC (Nvidia GeForce GTX 770);
• Memory: HyperX Savage HX424C12SBK2/16 (2x4 GB, DDR4-2133, 15-15-15-36-2T, 1.20 V);
• Solid-state drive: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 (64 GB, SATA 6Gb/s);
• Hard drive: Western Digital WD2000JS-00MHB0 (200 GB, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200 RPM);
• Power supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 (550 W);
• Thermal interface: Noctua NT-H1;
• Additional fans: 2 x Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-12, 120 mm, 1200 RPM; 1 x Noctua NF-P12, 120 mm, 1300 RPM; 1 x 120 mm — be quiet! Silent Wings USC (BQT T12025–LF), 1500 RPM.

Testing Methodology

Thermal load was created using simultaneous operation of LinX 0.6.5 stress tests with 2048 MB of allocated memory and MSI Kombustor 3.5.1.0 for 10 minutes after temperature stabilization. Hard drive load was conducted using Crystal Disk Mark 5.2.2 x64. At the end of the testing cycle, the system ran idle for 10 minutes to determine the minimum thermal indicators. The ambient temperature was 23 degrees Celsius. The speeds of the CPU cooler and graphics card fans were fixed at maximum RPM. The peak power consumption of the system was 411 watts. Testing was conducted in a single comparison mode with an open bench. Four 120-mm fans were installed in the chassis: two intake fans on the front panel, and one exhaust fan at the back and top. All case fans operated at maximum speed during the test. The top panel was covered with a magnetic dust filter during the test.

Testing Results

Even after installing the full set of four 120-mm fans running at full speed, the Vinga Black Widow shows far from the best cooling results and completely falls short compared to the open bench. The largest difference of 13 degrees is noticeable in the graphics card temperature, with another 7-degree lag in the CPU and motherboard, 5 degrees in memory heating, and a minimal difference of 2 degrees in hard drive cooling. Nevertheless, none of the components exceeded the standard temperature range, indicating that under normal operating conditions, rather than stress load, the case's cooling scheme can be considered satisfactory. It is sufficient for systems with low to medium thermal power (200-400 watts), but no more than that.

Conclusions

The Vinga Black Widow is a decent mid-range case. It is well-built and sturdy, equipped with soundproofing, has a thoughtful design, a full set of external interfaces, a controller for all possible onboard fans, and offers wide compatibility with modern PC components, including excellent cable management capabilities.

The ventilation scheme here is far from ideal, which is its main drawback, but for a closed-type case designed to suppress noise, the results are not bad. To be fair, it should be noted that soundproofing only saves from parasitic sounds of electronic components and cannot drown out, for example, the howl of a graphics card with fans running at full speed. As a result, the Vinga Black Widow can be recommended for building quiet systems with medium or low heat output.