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)
