Hyte Y60 Review: A Clear PC Case for Great Builders | WIRED

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7/10

Full-height tempered glass and sculpted mesh panels are practically ubiquitous now, so it's rare for a case to really catch my eye like the Hyte Y60 and its three-piece panoramic window.

It feels like we're entering a new era of computer case design, though the three panels raise more issues than you might imagine. The front panel has historically been a key intake point for cooling, so turning it into a solid glass panel also means finding new and more clever fan spots, and generally embracing a wider footprint.

The benefits are purely aesthetic, and your building skills will have nowhere to hide. With the Hyte Y60—and given the right desk setup, cable management, and part selection—your build will stand apart from the crowd.

As the key focal point of the case, it's important that the fit and finish around the glass panel looks tight. While there’s a small gap in between each of the three panels, it’s a consistent gap, with beveled edges that curl in together pleasingly. There’s a distinct line, but it doesn’t take away from the fish tank effect the case is trying to achieve.

Your system will be on full display, for better or worse. If you have ugly components, or can’t keep your cables tidy, there won’t be much to hide behind. On the other hand, if you want to sport custom braided cables, interior LCD panels, or complex RGB patterns, the Y60 will help them truly shine.

It’s worth talking about the elephant in the room here, which is the size of the case itself. Even as someone who often reaches for larger cases, the Y60 is noticeably wider and deeper than I’m used to. At 11 inches wide, it’s a full 2 inches wider than my previous case, the Corsair Air 4000D ($105), which I already felt like took up a pretty good chunk of my desk.

Hyte Y60

Rating: 7/10

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In my case, the Y60 sits in the back right corner of an L-shaped desk, and that setup works great for me, but my desk is larger than average. It’s possible to rotate it so the wider side faces to the front, but then your cables would hang off the left side of your desk instead of the back and it would take up even more space.

It might not also surprise you that the Y60 isn’t particularly easy to move. This isn't a case I would want to try and take to a LAN party, and I also tend to make any upgrades or repairs in place, rather than moving it to a more open area in my house. Taking it apart to get inside requires extra steps compared to most cases, and you have to be careful handling the individual glass panels, as well as taking care not to put weight on top of the case when the center panel is removed.

All this to say: If you’re considering the Y60, make sure you measure and plan your space ahead of time, more so than most PC cases.

The extra wide case doesn't skimp on space for components, supporting motherboards all the way up to eATX, full size ATX power supplies, and a GPU up to 375 mm long, with a width caveat I’ll get more into below. The Y60 saves some space right behind the motherboard for two removable bays that each hold either one 3.5-inch drive or a pair of 2.5-inch SSDs.

They leave plenty of room for cable management, with a spacious closet behind the motherboard for stuffing extra slack, and a basement for even more storage. Instead of rubber grommets, Hyte opted for beveled channels for the main motherboard and GPU cables, which is a little touch I appreciated. These were noticeably less fiddly than those mustached flexible rings that tend to pop out anyway, and they accomplish the same goal of hiding any extra cable length.

Hyte Y60

Rating: 7/10

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Fan placement is extraordinarily generous. The front side intake supports two 120-mm or 140-mm fans, with radiator support up to 150 mm, which is mostly for reservoir clearance in open loop systems. The top has room for up to three 120 mm fans, as well as support for radiators up to 30 mm. I put my CPU AIO cooler up top, and I found it made running some of the final fan cables tricky, but not enough to warrant moving it.

Finally there are some included fans. There are two 120-mm fans in the basement that act as intake for the motherboard and GPU, and a 120-mm fan at the rear of the case for exhaust. You could technically mount a radiator here too, but it would be a tight fit, and I don’t generally recommend 120-mm AIO coolers anyway.

While I’ve seen cases with shrouds and lower compartments before, the basement in the Y60 really stands out. There’s a false bottom that runs across the front interior of the case, adding over an inch of extra height, with channels from the rear compartment for running cables or stuffing extra LED strips.

Meanwhile, two included fans blow up through the vented floor, directly onto the motherboard and essential components. Extra cooling and ventilation, more space for cables, and an effortlessly clean look? That’s an elegant solution to the challenge the extra glass panels present, and a feature I’d like to see in other PC cases.

Hyte Y60

Rating: 7/10

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They even make sure that your graphics card looks great: The included vertical GPU mount and riser face the broad side of your card towards the largest glass panel. That’s typically the more attractive side anyway, so it’s worth showing off, but the trade-off is cooling.

Most modern GPUs pull in air through the fans on the front of the card, which in this case is now pointed directly at a glass panel. It technically has a maximum width of 75 mm, according to Hyte, but they recommend 60 mm for best performance.

For a point of reference, my GPU is a Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, which is 52.67 mm wide, and leaves about 28 mm of clearance between the fans and the glass. I haven’t noticed any issues cooling the card, or extra fan noise under load, but if your card is much wider, you might consider the almost identical Y70, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.

You can replace the corner panel on the Y60 with an LCD kit for $150. That’s an expensive upgrade, but it does add some real functionality, allowing you to monitor vital system info, or just play your favorite YouTube videos on repeat.

Buyers should note that there’s also a slightly larger Y70, which comes in both a regular and Touch Infinite version that includes the aforementioned LCD panel. The only major change to the Y70 is a slightly different GPU configuration that gives your card a little more clearance between the glass, as well as some changes to the cable management paths. You’ll spend a bit more, and the case is slightly wider to make room, but this might be worthwhile if you have a particularly wide GPU.

Hyte Y60

Rating: 7/10

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Finally, the Hyte Y60 is available in four standard color configurations, as well as a series of different bundles and collaborative special editions. I personally chose the Panda configuration because of a sale, so that’s what you’ll see in the pictures. If I had to do it all over again, I might’ve opted for the Snow White interior, but I do think the black interior looks better when lit up at night.

The Y60, and cases like it, feel like the direction the custom-built PC market is taking, armed with the proper cooling tools and manufacturing know-how to make it work properly. If you’re hunting for a case with this particular look, it has few true competitors, the most similar being the NZXT H6 Pro ($135) and the Corsair 6500X ($200).

We’re even seeing big box system builders like MSI trying it out with the Vision Elite RS (9/10, WIRED Recommends). This well-equipped gaming PC has a beautiful curved panoramic panel, and is fully assembled, and ready to game.

With a $180 list price, you’re spending more than you would typically for a standard gaming PC case, and what you’re spending it on is mostly aesthetic. The good news is you don’t have to make many other sacrifices to achieve a slick look, as long as you have the desk to match.

Hyte Y60

Rating: 7/10

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