Are you looking for a sleek-looking compact case for your next PC build? One that has enough room to house higher-end graphics cards and taller CPU coolers? Something that offers dual tempered glass panels and a panoramic view of your build?
And, do you want something that comes with multiple ARGB case fans preinstalled?
And, what if that case also offered an ARGB controller and a preconnected fan splitter so that you don’t have to worry about how you’ll connect all of those RGB lights and case fans to your motherboard?
And, what if I told you that you could get all of those features from a case at a very affordable price?
All of that is what this little-known case, the Okinos Aqua 3, brings to the table.
Overview, Specifications, & Features
The Okinos Aqua 3 is a micro-ATX case that does almost everything right, at an extremely low price point.
Now, I had never heard of Okinos before getting this case, but the Aqua 3 caught my attention when I was browsing Amazon for a micro-ATX case for this $800 gaming PC build.
Its dual tempered glass panels and low pricetag drew me onto its listing. And, then seeing that it came with three ARGB fans and an ARGB fan controller preinstalled, I knew I had to get this for my build.
Despite offering a very compact compartment up top to house your build, this case can still hold bigger graphics cards—up to 330mm long—and taller CPU coolers—up to 164mm in height.
So, it just fit my 323mm-long XFX RX 6750 XT graphics card…
…and my 156mm-tall Thermalright Assassin Spirit CPU cooler…
I chose the black version of this case, but it is also available in all-white, so if you’re looking to build a white-themed PC, you can do that with the Aqua 3.
The case’s bottom power supply compartment is covered on the front and sidel panel in a 1.2mm steel mesh that helps contribute to the cases aesthetics.
For the front panel, this case offers a USB-C port, two USB 3.0 ports, an Audio Jack, a button to change the RGB lighting effects on your case’s fans, and, of course, a power button.
Also worth noting is that Okinos uses all black-cables for their front panel connectors. A lot of case manufacturers still use multi-colored cables for the HD audio connection and, in my opinion, that can hurt the aesthetics of a well-planned build. It wouldn’t have mattered much in my build, though, as the HD audio cable wouldn’t have been visible underneath my graphics card.
Still, it’s a nice feature from Okinos, when even more expensive cases don’t always do it.
The case’s tempered glass panels are on the thinner side, but they are very easy to remove. The side panel is held in place by two screws, and once removed, the panel can be slid backwards and lifted out.
The front tempered glass panel can then just be popped out. There are no screws holding it in place.
Building Inside of the Aqua 3
Now, I didn’t realize how convenient it would be to build a system without the front panel getting in the way, but not having this panel on on during the build process made installing the motherboard and connecting all of the cables incredibly easy as it gave me more room to work with and allowed me to approach some of the connections from a convenient angle
This case also comes with a 3 and a half inch storage bay if you want to install a traditional mechanical hard drive, but this bay can easily be removed by removing the screws on the bottom of the case. I chose to remove it to give more space for my power supplies cables.
The included ARGB controller sits on the backside of the motherboard panel of the case. The ARGB connectors from the fan are already preconnected and there is even an additional ARGB header available, which I used to plug in my CPU cooler’s 3-pin ARGB connector.
All this controller requires is a SATA power connection for power, and then, of course, you’ll need to connect its 3-pin ARGB connector to one of the 3-pin ARGB headers on your motherboard, and that will give you full control over the RGB lighting on your fans.
The case fans in this case are 3-pin DC fans, so these won’t be the quietest fans out there, but that’s probably something to be expected for a case in this price range. The fans also only operate at maximum of 1000 RPM, so they aren’t the best performing fans, either.
The case fans are all set to exhaust air out of the case, so it is a completely negative pressure setup, which, in terms of cooling isn’t necessarily bad, but it will draw in a lot of dust.
Either way, though, I was still able to see adequate temperatures on both my CPU and GPU while gaming.
My RX 6750 XT never went above 70-degrees and my Ryzen 5 5600X mainly stayed in the mid 60’s to 70’s, occassionaly touching 80-degrees under heavier loads.
In Fortnite, the 5600X did stay in the upper 70’s for the entirety of matches.
While that is on the warmer side for the 5600X, it is still well within normal operating temperatures.
Now, it may be worth switching either the top fans or the rear fan to intake air to test and see if I can improve temperatures a bit, but then, of course, I’d be stuck looking at the bracketed-side of the fan or fans I flipped around.
I also didn’t play with the fan curve at all and I’m sure I could bring temperatures down a bit if I used a more aggressive profile.
Ultimately, I wasn’t expecting great cooling performance with this style of case, as not having a grilled front panel is going to restrict airflow a bit.
But, either way, my CPU and GPU stayed within normal operating temperatures while under heavy gaming loads and that was good enough for me.
Minor Issue Connecting the USB 3 Front Panel Connector
There was one other minor issues with this case that I wanted to point out.
With my motherboard’s USB 3 header located on the bottom of the motherboard, it was difficult to connect the Aqua 3’s front panel USB 3 cable.
The cable is rigid and the opening slot on the Okinos Aqua 3 isn’t big enough. So, I really had to bend the cable in order to get the USB 3 connector installed. And, I really had to make sure to get the USB 3 connector pushed down, because the graphics card sits right above it and if it were to stick up too far, it could get hit by the middle fan on my RX 6750 XT.
This isn’t necessarily Okinos’ fault as a lot of micro-ATX motherboards have their USB 3 header on the right-side of the motherboard. And, if I chose a motherboard that had the USB 3 header on the right side, this wouldn’t have been a problem at all.
So, just note that if you choose a motherboard that has the USB 3 header on the bottom-side of the motherboard, you’ll really need to make sure you force this cable down as low as possible.
Conclusion
All-in-all, I really enjoyed building a PC in the Aqua 3. It was easy to build inside of, it provided me with all of the room I needed to house my system, and it looks great, too.
Now, if you’re looking for a case that will provide excellent airflow and top-of-the-line cooling performance, this probably won’t be the best option for you.
But, if you’re looking for a budget-oriented micro-ATX case that will offer you upgraded aesthetics, GOOD ENOUGH thermals, and an easy-to-build-in chassis, then I highly recommend you consider the Okinos Aqua 3.
It has exceeded my expectations and I’m very happy with the purchase.
In any case, that does it for this review. Thank you all for reading.