The actual portability of a desktop computer case isn’t often one of its defining attributes. “Luggable” cases were a category of their own that peaked in decades past, when LAN parties were the rage and server-driven online multiplayer games still had plenty of bugs to work out. Cases of this kind have built-in carry handles, but few such cases capable of hosting real power hardware have been as easy to take with you as the Hyte Revolt 3.
Built around the Mini-ITX form factor, the Revolt 3 ($129, or $249 with a pre-installed 700-watt power supply, as in our test unit) isn’t a beginner’s build box, but it can house huge video cards and is a cinch to carry. If you’re lucky enough to snag Hyte’s limited-edition model, it comes in a travel-friendly suitcase complete with wheels and a slide-out handle. For a portable desktop that can hold killer hardware, it doesn’t get much better than this if you’re seeking a small-footprint chassis.
First Off: Who’s Hyte?
We’ve heard of the Revolt brand before, but the name “Hyte” is new to us. That’s because, well, it is new; it’s actually a freshly launched sub-brand of the venerable PC maker iBuyPower, concentrated on PC-builder components and what it dubs “lifestyle” products.
That said, despite quite a few nifty features we will get into shortly, the Revolt 3 is pretty plain on the outside. It’s not that the case is ugly, so much as it is easy to overlook. The chassis exterior is essentially a black box with square holes punched into it for ventilation. (It’s also available in white.) It’s a case that if you saw in person, at an event or in a shop, you’d likely never look at twice.
If you value functionality over aesthetics, however, you’ll likely love the Revolt 3, as this emphasis on basic materials and portability does tend to make the case safer for travel. You can’t break glass panels that aren’t there, and airflow doesn’t appear to be a problem at all.
The case is designed to be set on one of the smaller faces of the rectangle, standing roughly 16 inches tall. This part of the case has rubber feet and a sizable cutout that holds both the rear I/O panel and the power connection for the PSU. A notch cut into the back of the case helps keep cables running out from the system neat and organized.
Technically, the case could alternately be set with the back panel against the table, lying down in shoebox orientation, if you would prefer the case to be shorter. (It could also sit with either of the side panels against the table, but that’s not ideal, as this position will block airflow.)
The two side panels are interchangeable and simply pull off, as does the front panel. These panels fasten well enough that they should not fall off accidentally, but removal is easy enough that you don’t need tools to pry them from the frame. With them off, you get easy access to the internal hardware and mounts, but I’ll go over that later. There’s more on the outside to cover first.
Ports, Mystery Rods, and Flight Cases
The front I/O panel is set close to the bottom of the case and gains you two USB 3.0 Type-A ports and a single USB Type-C port. There’s also a square LED-lit power button and a combo headset jack. I’d have liked to see another USB-A or two, especially as the case design limits access to the main bank of I/O ports. After the case is set up, you’ll need to turn it on its side to plug in anything else on the underside, which isn’t something I particularly like to do when a PC is running.
This is a particular pain point with flash drives, which project far from their ports, so you’ll want to keep a front port or two reserved for them. Extra USBs on the front panel would offset this issue, and it’s something I hope is addressed in a future update. For now, having a USB extender or hub to go along with this case is a good idea.
As mentioned up top, a handle is built into the top of the Revolt 3. It’s spring-loaded and pops out when pressed. Naturally, this makes the case easy to carry around. Near the handle on the two side panels are two pop-out rods, one on each side. At first I wondered if these held the side panels on in some way, but they do not detach. Instead, these are meant for hanging headphones, headphone cables, and other such items. It’s a nifty design that could come in handy if you often use a wired gaming headset.
Depending on when you are looking at this review, this may no longer be relevant, but Hyte developed a limited-edition version of the Revolt 3 that the company is calling the “Flight Case Edition.” This model includes a thick plastic suitcase with lots of formed foam padding for safely transporting your Revolt 3 case…
I don’t think you could realistically pack a desktop better than this for travel on an aircraft. In addition, inside the flight case is a perforated bronze plate that you can install underneath the chassis’ top panel to add a little color character to it; the bronze coloration shows through.
You can’t fit much else in the flight case beyond the Revolt 3, but there is a little room where the bronze panel goes that could be used to stash a power cable or possibly a compact mouse. Not much else would fit here, though, and even the mouse fit is questionable.
Unfortunately, few buyers will actually be able to get one of these cases. Hyte isn’t selling them separately, and only 230 were made. Hyte sent 30 of these to tech sites for review, and the remaining 200 will be given away to the first 200 people to order the version of the Revolt 3 with the 700-watt power supply pre-installed. As the Revolt 3 case will be available in both black and white, the company intends to give out 100 with each color variant. The company will also not verify if it is sending the special edition and flight case in any given order; you’ll have to wait for arrival to find out.
The Build Experience
Given that this is a Mini-ITX case, the building experience for the Revolt 3 is quite smooth, despite a few inevitable Mini-ITX-nature problems. After popping all of the side panels off, on the side to the left of the front panel you will find a hinged fan bracket that lifts up to give you access to the motherboard mounting tray.
For testing purposes, I installed an Asus ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Mini-ITX board, hosting a Core i9-10900K “Comet Lake” chip. I also installed a chunky XFX Radeon R7 370 graphics card into the case. It measures 9.2 inches (234mm) long, and I was able to connect the two six-pin PCIe power connectors that attach to the right edge of the card with room to spare. This isn’t shown in the later build pictures, however, as I removed the card for visibility to the interior.
Getting the board in and the cables plugged up to it is fairly easy, but the hinged fan bracket doesn’t like to stay up and continuously fall downs. This became rather awkward while building the system, and ultimately I had a family member hold it open while I finished screwing in the motherboard and adding the CPU and RAM to the system.
My biggest complaint here is that this fan bracket doesn’t need to be attached with a hinge. It’s bolted down with two screws at the top and bottom of the case, and it would significantly improve the building process if the panel simply came off when these screws were removed or (better yet!) if there was a way to make it catch so it wouldn’t fall down.
You can add an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler up to 280mm long to this bracket, in place of two 140mm fans, but it’s a tight fit getting it all in the case. Ordinarily when you mount an AIO cooler, you position it so that the tubing exits the radiator housing on the far side of the case from the CPU. This isn’t possible with the Revolt 3, and instead you have to mount it so the tubing is close to the CPU. The tubing then coils above the motherboard to make it all fit.
I was able to do this, ultimately, with our test unit, but it was rather touch-and-go. I had concerns that the tubing might come loose and leak fluid all over the case, and I almost gave up on doing it out of an abundance of caution. But this wouldn’t be much of a review if I didn’t try, so applying pressure on the hinged fan bracket, I was able to squeeze it all down and bolt it on. (I was using a 240mm SilverStone PF240.) The tubing ended up pressed against the motherboard in a few places, and felt almost spring-loaded. The panel pops out if I loosen the screws, but it’s in. And that’s just with a 240mm cooler; a 280mm cooler, I’d imagine, would be tighter still.
Ultimately, I can’t criticize the Revolt 3’s design too much for this issue, as many Mini-ITX cases don’t support water cooling at all, and plenty are a cable cram. I wouldn’t recommend using a 240mm water cooler in the Revolt 3, though. A 120mm or 140mm water cooler would likely work better, as it could be set on the far side of the case from the CPU socket and give you more room to work the tubing in.
Air-cooler support is also better than your average Mini-ITX on the Revolt 3. As long as you don’t install a fan to the bracket directly above the motherboard, you will be able to add an air cooler that’s 140mm tall or less.
Connecting cables and other items is also fairly easy after you have the side panels off. Most ports and headers can be reached without inserting your hands all the way into the case, and the video card slides in through the top panel. Video cards up to three card slots wide and up to 335mm long should fit, as long as other cables and any possible cooler tubing doesn’t get in the way.
The Power Supply and Drive Mounts
As noted earlier, the Revolt 3 that I received to review came with a power supply unit (PSU) already installed. This particular unit is an iBuyPower-branded SFX-L PSU with model number SFXL-A700GD-IBP. (SFX-L is a slightly longer-bodied variant of the SFX compact-PSU standard, made bigger to accommodate higher-wattage components.) It is rated to handle up to 700 watts of power and is 80 Plus Gold certified. If you get the model without a pre-installed PSU, you’ll need to purchase either an SFX or an SFX-L PSU separately. Standard ATX PSUs are not supported.
This is a modular PSU, so you can yank any cables you end up not using, though in the case of my sample build, that was not necessary; they could be tied out of the way easily enough. The PSU is seated in a removable cage and held on by four screws. It’s not technically necessary to remove this cage to change the PSU, though; you can simply unscrew it and slide it out through one of the panels. The same is true for adding a new one to a case that comes PSU-bare.
Directly above the power supply is a 3.5-inch drive mount, and two 2.5-inch drive mounts are set behind the motherboard’s mounting tray. Technically, these 2.5-inch drive mounts aren’t behind the motherboard; they are more below it and underneath where the GPU goes. Behind the motherboard itself, Hyte left a large cutout to make installing CPU-cooler brackets or bottom-mounted M.2 SSDs possible without removing the board.
Connecting cables to headers isn’t difficult, but neatly organizing the cables in the case is an entirely different story. With the system fully built, you’ll be hard-pressed to keep it from becoming a cable mass, or cable mess. Temper this criticism, however, as this is again the norm for Mini-ITX cases. Many larger cases often struggle with neat wire management, and it’s no surprise that a small case like this one still ends up compacted.
Verdict: You Can, Mostly, Believe the Hyte
Hyte’s Revolt 3 case is not perfect. No Mini-ITX case is. It’s not particularly pretty, the cabling can be tight if you use a liquid cooler, and that hinged fan bracket needs a rethink. All of these things could use some improvement, but none of them should stop you from buying this case if you’re looking to build a powerful Mini-ITX gaming PC.
With support for large graphics cards, solid cooler clearance, a breezy design that lets plenty of air pass through, and a capable, high-efficiency 700-watt PSU, the Revolt 3 is an excellent case for gamers. The portable design is also highly useful even if you just occasionally move the system around, and the positive aspects of the case more than make up for its shortcomings. Keep it and Streacom’s pricey DA2 V2 on your shortlist if you are looking to build a high-powered gaming PC with a Mini-ITX board, and favor this one if a small footprint is your primary checklist item.
