The Riotoro Prism CR1280 Case Review

The Exterior of the Riotoro Prism CR1280

The Prism CR1280 sports a postmodern design, mostly based on complex geometric shapes with sharp angles and edges. Most of the case is black, with the exception of the silver aluminum feet. The steel frame and right side panel of the case are well sprayed with a matte black paint, as is the front part of the plastic faceplate. The surrounding frame of the plastic faceplate is sprayed with a highly reflective piano black paint. As for the left side panel, it is entirely made out of Plexiglas, creating an essentially frameless left side panel window.

Measuring 58 cm tall, 22.5 cm wide and 47.5 cm deep (22.8 × 8.7 × 18.7-inches), the Prism CR1280 is a relatively large tower case, especially for a model without a single external 5.25" device opening. With a volume of 0.062 m³ (62 liters), it is only slightly smaller than the similar Cooler Master MasterCase 5 (65.9 liters) and the cubic Corsair Carbide Air 540 (63.1 liters), but much larger than a typical Midi ATX case, such as the Corsair 450D (51.6 liters). Despite the size, the Prism CR1280 is relatively lightweight, tipping the scales at just 8 kg.

11.2 oz/330 ml soda can inserted as size reference

A look at the rear of the case reveals that the PSU compartment is located at its bottom, with a significant distance between it and the main system. Other than that, there is nothing of noteworthy to be discussed about the rear side of the Prism CR1280, except perhaps the observation that there are no round holes for liquid cooling systems and cables.

Riotoro placed the front I/O ports and buttons at the top front of the case, on a slightly tilted surface. Considering that the case is rather tall, the position of the buttons and I/O ports clearly favors placement under a desk, which makes the use of a windowed side panel rather questionable. The larger power-on button can be seen to the left, followed by the RGB lighting and the fan speed control switches. The 3.5 mm audio jacks can be seen at the center of the formation, with the four USB ports (2 × USB 2.0, 2 × USB 3.0) to their right. A strangely large reset key rests to the rightmost part of the formation.

A Plexiglas cover can also be found at the top of the case, made of the same material as the side panel, just a little thinner. It actually has no specific function other than being a slight aesthetic decoration if the Prism CR1280 is left as is from the factory. However, we found that if the RGB fans are moved to the top of the case, the Plexiglas will absorb part of their light and appear as if the top of the case is being illuminated, creating a nice visual effect inside dark rooms.

Two large nylon filters can be found at the bottom of the case, one for the PSU and one for the HDD area. The PSU filter can be removed by pulling it from the back of the case, the HDD area filter from the front. The entire faceplate acts as a filter for the front intake fans as well but, strangely, the filter is not removable. The whole panel needs to come off and cleaned by using a strong blower or vacuum cleaner.

The large aluminum feet of the Prism CR1280 are very strong and add to the overall aesthetic value of the case. Rubber strips are installed to prevent the case from moving/sliding on a flat surface, as well as to prevent damaging softer surfaces. That being said, the edges of these aluminum feet are extremely sharp and can easily damage wooden, vinyl and other soft surfaces. Caution is required when handling the case while it is sitting on any soft surface, lifting it straight up and without tilting the case to any side, otherwise the very hard and sharp corners can easily damage the surface.

The I/O ports are surrounded by a plastic clear ring that is illuminated by several LEDs that provide very good and uniform distribution of the light. Riotoro's logo at the lower part of the faceplate is also illuminated, as the two included 120 mm cooling fans are.

When fully lit, the lighting of the Prism CR1280 is adequate as far as the faceplate and I/O area are concerned, but relatively weak to the interior of the case. There is only so much that half a dozen LEDs can do inside a case this large. The RGB lighting can be controlled by the button found at the top of the faceplate. It is almost amusing that the RGB button is right next to the power button, as one could imagine accidentally hitting the power button by accident.

The RGB capabilities of the Prism CR1280 are adequate, especially considering that there is no USB interface and everything is being controlled via a single button. Riotoro programmed the controller to have eight settings and the button simply cycles through them. The first six settings are standard colors (Red, Green, Blue, White, Yellow and Pink) and the seventh setting initiates the “rainbow” effect, slowly cycling through 256 colors. The eight setting is the “custom color” setting and simply holds whichever color was active on the “rainbow” setting when the button was pressed. If the button is pressed for three seconds, the controller turns the lighting off.