Pros & Cons
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- Stunning palette of quirky colors
- Wraparound glass for above-average component visibility
- Supports two (or more) 360mm-format radiators
- Aggressive pricing
- Also available in cheaper mesh (versus glass) "Air" version
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- So-so noise control
- Only one dust filter
Hyte X50 Specs
| 120mm or 140mm Fan Positions | 10 |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 20.3 by 10.0 by 20.3 inches |
| Front Panel Ports | HD Audio |
| Front Panel Ports | USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (2) |
| Front Panel Ports | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C |
| Included Fan Lighting Color | None |
| Internal 2.5-Inch Bays | 2 |
| Internal 3.5-Inch Bays | 1 |
| Internal Chassis Lighting Color | None |
| Maximum CPU Cooler Height | 162 |
| Maximum GPU Length | 430 |
| Motherboard Form Factors Supported | ATX |
| Motherboard Form Factors Supported | MicroATX |
| Motherboard Form Factors Supported | Mini-ITX |
| PCI Expansion Slot Positions | 7 |
| Power Supply Form Factor Supported | ATX |
| Power Supply Maximum Length | 220 |
| Power Supply Mounting Location | Top |
| Side Window(s)? | Yes (Tempered Glass) |
| Weight | 25.6 |
The Hyte X50 may have the shortest name for a PC DIY product that we’ve seen in years, but it’s long on value and eye appeal. The X50 targets buyers seeking a fun, unique look for their next desktop build, but who are unwilling to sacrifice on cooling space. Cartoonishly rounded, the X50 is as far from squared-off as PC cases come. Also available in an X50 Air variant that replaces the glass with perforated metal for $30 less, the X50 comes in eye-catching colors like bright red, light green, light pink, and purplish blue with similarly savory names like Wild Cherry, Matcha, Strawberry Milk, and Taro Milk. (Pitch Black and Snow White are also options.) This case’s one-of-a-kind look, aggressive price, and sturdy frame make it an easy Editors’ Choice pick for casual builders looking for a “basic” tower that’s anything but basic-looking. We can forgive it a few noise and dust-control sins.
Design: A PC Case All-Rounder
Our X50 sample is the Taro Milk flavor, something of a lavender. As you can see, it's that shade inside and out. The X50 turns the trend of wraparound PC case glass on its end with a window that wraps around the top of the chassis, matching the curves that surround the front panel to give the final design something of a pillow shape. (Indeed, the X50 Air version’s wraparound mesh makes it look even more pillowy.) Ball-tipped feet that are visually cut into the bottom panel’s curved sides complete the puffy, bubbly aesthetic.
Handgrips on both sides allow those panels to be lifted off keyhole mounts; the mostly mesh front panel uses snaps to attach. An offset center “bar” makes up the portion of the X50’s top panel that isn’t a part of the side panels. Two USB 3.x Type-A ports and one Type-C are positioned between the power button and the headset jack near the front…
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)A clear diffuser ring for the power-on indicator LED surrounds the color-matched power button, and the four-pole headset jack can alternatively be used with a stereo (three-pole) headphones or a headphone/microphone splitter cable.
Hyte fills the X50’s rear panel with rotated louvers to create a somewhat rigid grill that covers both the 120mm fan-mounting area and the space below it. The power supply’s bay sits above the motherboard and the rear fan, and a Hyte “H” logo fills adjacent open space. Paired metal loops that run down one edge of the rear panel are designed to hold included cable straps, giving users a chance to flex their cable-management skills on external peripheral cables. That’s a nifty new touch.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Six strong permanent magnets attach the X50’s sole dust filter to its bottom panel, and grooves at the base of its feet lock one edge into place.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)A removable triple-fan bracket at the front of the case is large enough to hold three 140mm fans and nothing more. The raised chassis floor behind it ensures that nothing as large as a 420mm-format radiator can be mounted there. Builders are instead welcomed to put a 360mm-format radiator on the bracket’s inner mounts, if they’d like.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Located exactly 1.5 inches behind any side-mounted 120mm fans, the motherboard tray is exactly ATX-sized (9.6 inches deep). As the EATX label is sometimes used for boards up to 13 inches deep, Hyte leans on the popularity of 10.6-to-10.8-inch-deep enthusiast-class models to present the X50 as an EATX option. Please keep in mind that whatever cooling parts you’re using, you’ll want to have enough space between those to run your 24-pin EPS/ATX main cable around the front edge of your motherboard.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)The close-up below should give you a better idea of the available mounting space: A plastic raised floor panel rests 33mm behind the front radiator/fan mount and sits 35mm higher than the bottom fan mount. Its rolled edges leave 28mm-thick radiator space in the gap, but anyone who would put a radiator there will need to cut holes in the plastic to pass the radiator’s fittings. And, since the top surface is 35mm above the fan mount, placing a radiator above the floor would require the use of fans greater than 35mm thick to use as spacers. (Note that 38mm is a fairly common thickness for heavy-duty fans.)
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)The side fan mount sits about 50mm behind the motherboard tray.
From behind the motherboard tray, the X50’s cable passages look like small snorkels. There, we also find its removable drive cage and an opening for inserting the power supply from the side.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Hyte says the X50’s 10.5-inch-deep power bay will hold power supplies up to 220mm (8.66 inches), which seems reasonable since the outer rear edge protrudes into the mounting path, and a pair of cable strap loops protrude into its resting place. Its positioning allows the power supply’s fan to aid in motherboard cooling.
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(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)The X50's drive cage is mounted south of the CPU-cooler cutout in the motherboard tray. Screw holes and passages on its bottom allow a 3.5-inch drive to be mounted on the outside of the drive cage, whereas staggered tabs can hold two 2.5-inch SATA drives internally, as shown here...
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Building With the Hyte X50
The X50’s installation kit includes a folded instruction sheet and bundles of zip ties, #6-32 combo-head power-supply screws, #6-32 panhead screws for motherboard standoffs and 3.5-inch drives, and M3 screws for 2.5-inch drives. Also in the kit are a standoff socket with a #2 Phillips-head drive, a spare snap for the front panel attachment (in case one breaks), and three "H"-themed hook-and-loop cable straps.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)The case connects to our motherboard via a combined header block for the power button and LED, an HD Audio lead for the headset combo jack, a 19-pin connector for the USB 3.x Type-A ports, and a Gen 2x2 (Type-E) header cable for the Type-C port. All standard stuff.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Here’s our buildout with our standard ATX test components inside, including our stock 240mm cooler mounted in the side position. As for that cooler's mounting orientation, we know: Some may point out that it’s easy to bleed any trapped air out of a closed-loop cooler’s pump by positioning its fittings above the pump, not as we have it. But it was just as easy for this builder to bleed any such vapor into the opposite end of the radiator by tipping the case backward. Of course, ours is a non-permanent build setup for testing. You might want to obey the conventional wisdom, not us, for your own X50 build!
The result is a mostly clean look, though perhaps a reroute of the graphics card cable could tidy it up a bit more.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)And here’s the endpoint of all that work. As tucking the 12VHPWR cable behind the cooling lines is merely an aesthetic decision, we decided to move forward.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Adding Fans: Hyte’s Optional Fan Kits
Speaking of moving forward, the air inside the X50 wouldn’t be moving anywhere without the benefit of our CPU, GPU, and PSU fans. Hyte decided to show off the X50’s true potential by adding two $50 four-packs of its color-matched FA12 fans to our review bundle. Each kit includes four fans, 16 mounting screws and a four-fan splitter cable.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Perhaps Hyte has been paying attention to our test kit? It took exactly eight fans (two kits) to fill all the remaining mounting positions that our stock parts didn't.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)The fans don’t do much for the look (maybe contrasting colors would be better than Taro Milk on Taro Milk), but we’re sure that they’ll add every bit of their $100 to the X50’s performance.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)Performance Testing the Hyte X50
Hyte’s as-delivered configuration will be our baseline for evaluating its X50 performance, with added fans taking secondary consideration. Here’s the rest of the test kit:
Without any of the optional fans installed, the X50 turned in the worst performance among the fan-free cases here, as the losing case (the Cougar FV270) actually has one fan of its own. Adding $100 in Hyte fans to its cooling makes it perform like most other fan-equipped cases (see Corsair’s Frame 5000D as an example), but at higher cost.
We immediately noticed that while the X50 does a poor job of blocking in the noise of our other components, the extra $100 of fans we threw at it added hardly a peep.