The Metis Evo from Raijintek: Small Form, Big Execution
The Presentation of the Metis Evo
Unboxing
It’s small. It’s compact. I carried it everywhere. Say hello to the Raijintek Metis Evo. It comes in a box small enough to think your loved ones just bought you a puppy. Inside the box, the Metis Evo comes in a bag and is secured with foam end caps, keeping the tempered glass on each side safe from any damage. Moreover, the case comes a bag with accessories like screws, an SFX power supply mount and adhesive filters.
Metis Evo’s Design
The Metis Evo is made out of aluminum with optional tempered glass sides. Looking at the other Metis variants from Raijentek, it’s easy to see that the Evo is designed for as much airflow as it can provide from all directions of the case. Raijintek’s other cases, the Metis Plus and discontinued Metis Classic, are smaller, but they do not provide front and top airflows like the Evo does. The Metis Evo also has color options, just like the other Metis designs. The Evo comes in Black, Silver, White, Blue, Red, and Pink. Raijintek provided us with the black model and tempered glass sides.
Front
The entire front panel of the Metis Evo is vented. It’s like the Apple desktop that looks like a cheese grater, but with smaller holes and subtle design. The front panel has a power button at the top left and I/O inputs for one USB 3.0 connection and one USB C-Type on the bottom left. The inner chassis allows one 200mm, one 140mm or one 120mm fan installation at the front. Optionally, you can install a 30mm thick radiator at the front. However, this limits the total graphics card length from 280mm down to 220mm. So be thoughtful when considering water-cooling.
Sides
Tinted tempered glass covers both the left and right sides of the Metis Evo case. There is a gap between the case and the tempered glass, but Raijintek provides adhesive filters that you can put on the case. Ita thoughtful option from Raijintek.
Top and Back
The top is actually a shell that covers the chassis of the case. Screwed in from the sides, you will need to remove it to install component parts. There is a vent at the top but there are no fan mount options. At the back end of the case, Raijintek configured the power supply to be on the opposite side of where the motherboard mounts. There are two PCI slots with an area for the I/O shield. Next to the shield are fan mounting areas that allow for two 92mm fans.
Bottom
Attached at the bottom of the case is a magnetic dust filter that covers the entire area, and for good reason. The bottom of the case has a honeycomb vented design, meaning it will have a sturdy body while allowing more airflow. Additionally, you can install one 120mm or one 92mm fan right in front of the motherboard area.
Inside the Metis Evo
Inside the Metis Evo, Raijentek’s design looks like it took a mid-size case and folded it in half on itself. This is a great idea to save space and continue to provide efficient airflow and heat separation. The Classic and Plus only have one compartment for the PC components and power supply. In the Metis Evo, there is a separate area for the power supply with a hard drive bay above the PSU area. The bay allows two 3.5-inch hard drives and one 2.5-inch hard drive. The opposite area holds the motherboard and graphics card, with room for optional fans. With little room to work with, Raijintek took into consideration component placement and uses a barrier to facilitate air exhaust, this preventing any overheating.
Installation
The Metis Evo, like all other small form factor cases, is a challenge. I ran into some obstacles but none were breaking points of the case. After all, the Metis Evo has a smaller work area compared to usual mid-size/full-size cases. These challenges make you appreciate Raijintek’s thought process when they created the Metis Evo. There are designs that take airflow into consideration. In order to get started, the cover must be removed prior to installing any components. Connected by 8 screws, 4 on each side, the cover opens up the motherboard area and drive bay.
Fans
I had two 120mm fans on hand and decided to install one at the front of the case and the other at the bottom. In order to install the front fan, the bracket needs to be removed. It is secured to the chassis with 3 small screws. With the screws being fairly small, I tried to not strip the heads. I installed teh front fan first, then the bottom fan. There are other possible fan mount areas at the back of the case on the motherboard side. Here, two 92mm fans can attach to the case and provide more airflow.
Power Supply
The Metis Evo provides a PSU mounting bracket already attached to the case for ATX power supplies. Alternatively, Raijintek also provides an SFX mount for small form factor power supplies. I did not have any issues screwing the mount to the ATX PSU and placed it in with little to no effort. The case contains a small metal support to brace the power supply as you secure it in the case. I did not have a modular power supply. I had to work with a ton of unnecessary cables, but it was a good challenge. This also showed off the extra room that would otherwise be open for much airflow. Note to self: I must get a fully modular power supply for future builds.
Motherboard
The Metis Evo holds Mini-ITX motherboards. For this build, we used the MSI B450 Gaming Plus AC. I installed the motherboard but upside down. That’s right. Upside down. The CPU and heatsink are at the bottom and the graphics card is on top. This helps with Raijintek’s design concept due to the power supply and motherboard pointing towards the back of the case like you would with a mid/full-size case.
Graphics Card
The graphics card fit well in the two PCI slots. The unique design of the Metis Evo allows the graphics card cooler to pull air from the top of the case, giving it fresh air to cool itself down. The Plus and Classic did the same, but only the Plus had a vented top to offer cool air intake. I find this to be a great positive feature of the case. It leaves the case fans to focus on cooling down the motherboard and processor.
Hard drive and Bay
The drive bay is right above the power supply, hidden from sight when the case is put back together. Adding drives requires the removal of the entire bay. Five screws secure the drive bay: two inside the case and three at the back. After removing the bay, you have access to install a total of 3 drives: two 3.5-inch drives and one 2.5-inch drive. After installing the drives reattaching the bay back to the Metis Evo was effortless.
Final Thoughts on the Raijintek Metis Evo
As I put together the finishing touches for the Metis Evo build, I couldn’t help but think about one word during the entire build: airflow. This case had plenty of it and it came from everywhere. From the chassis to the cover, all areas had vents to allow plenty of air to flow through the case while keeping it sturdy. Raijintek also improved the overall design in comparison to its predecessors, strategically placing the components in spots that wouldn’t obstruct others. It’s definitely a powerful successor to the Plus and Classic. Overall, the Raijintek Metis Evo is a small-form-factor case that is consistent with the ‘challenge’ every other SFF case offers while suppressing any thoughts of overheating. Priced at $150 at the time of this review, it’s definitely worth looking at when you want high airflow.
Leave a Reply