The Riotoro Prism CR1280 Case Review

Conclusion

The Prism CR1280 is not meant to be subtle, with Riotoro trying to make the CR1280 as attractive as possible without making it kitschy. Still, the CR1280 is clearly designed with home users or, more specifically, gamers in mind. It could also appear to some professionals that require very powerful systems and are not concerned about the lack of external drive bays, such as some artists and engineers. Due to its size, appearance and cost, it is unlikely that the Prism CR1280 will appeal to anyone beyond these target groups.

Riotoro did a fine job with the quality of their first design. The overall mechanical strength of the Prism CR1280 is very good, with a strong steel chassis and good quality plastics. There are no sharp edges or other issues that would indicate a bad/cheap design. The paint job is very well applied and the Plexiglas panels appear to be of good quality. That being said, the CR1280 is certainly not the most durable case that we have ever tested, but its quality is more than acceptable for its price range and class.

As a design, the thermal performance of the Prism CR1280 is great, easily competing with other cases of similar size and price. However, the stock 120 mm fans were, in our opinion, a poor design choice, as the use of 140 mm fans would increase the stock thermal performance and lower the generated noise without adding much to the cost. Furthermore, as the RGB lighting of the case is essentially based on the front intake fans, these cannot be replaced without essentially disabling the RGB capabilities of the case.

That being said, the implementation of RGB lighting using LED fans is clearly problematic. It limits the cooling options of the user, who is forced to use these fans somewhere in the case, and has the lighting coming from only the area where the fans are installed, leaving many spots in the dark. We would clearly prefer the lighting to be entirely independent of the case’s cooling system, such as, for example, LED strips across the bottom and top of the system area or a LED lamp at the front top corner of the case. However, such options were likely to push the Prism CR1280’s retail price significantly higher and Riotoro had to keep their first case cost-effective. Perhaps we will see such lighting options applied to future, more expensive designs of the company.

In summary, the Prism CR1280 is a product of fine quality, very spacious for powerful systems and with good expandability options. It is not a subtle product, clearly designed to attract attention, unsuitable for spaces (and users) that dictate understated designs. The MSRP price of $140 is reasonable and we expect the retail price to be lower than that, making it an appealing option to advanced home users and gamers that want a spacious, high performance case, especially if they have RGB peripherals to match.