XPG Invader X Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

XPG, a manufacturer of many computer hardware components such as memory, SSDs, PSUs, and PC cases, has sent over their new Invader X Mid-Tower case for us to take a gander at. So what makes the Invader X so special? Jumping into the ring with its fishbowl-type PC case, that is. Fit with not one but two tempered glass panels, one in the front and one in the side, the Invader X is fairly compact and has a lot of the features a builder could want.

Priced at a staggering $169, can she win you over? Let's take her for a stroll and see!

XPG Invader X Mid-Tower Chassis

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$169.99	$169.99	$169.99	$169.00	Buy
	-	-	-	$169.00	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 4/29/2024 at 5:21 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Packaging

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XPG has used the industry standard brown cardboard box to package its cases. From the outside of the box, you would never know it had two tempered glass panels.

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The backside of the box is more beat up. However, it shows a blown-out image of all the parts that make up the Invader X. For those counting, XPG has included 5 120mm aRGB fans, 4 reverse-bladed, and a single regular blade for the rear exhaust.

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XPG has placed the full specifications of the Invader X on the side of the packaging, which is always helpful.

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The other side of the Invader X packing shows all the physical dimensions, model numbers, and colors.

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XPG's packing for the Invader X is good, with soft-touch foam and a plastic bag for added protection.

Outside the XPG Invader X ATX Mid-Tower Case

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Removing all the packing materials, the Invader X has the classic tempered glass fishbowl look with clean lines.

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The front, being 95% 3mm tempered glass, allows the user to view the chamber easily and see the hardware inside from a different perspective. The front I/O lines the bottom.

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The 3mm thick tempered glass side panel is slightly tinted but transparent enough to see inside.

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The rear of the Invader X shows a typical ATX layout with support for either a 120mm (pre-installed) or 140mm rear exhaust fan. Seven PCIe slots are present; however, they are of the breakaway type, thumbs down. One redeeming feature in front of the PCIe slots is the ability to unscrew four captive thumbscrews and bam; you can install an included vertical GPU bracket. XPG has included a PSU bracket to install pesky power supplies in tight spaces easily.

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The rear side panel allows the Invader X to intake air via its three included 120mm reverse aRGB fans. The same triangle design is present throughout Invader X, ensuring great cohesion.

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The top section of the Invader X is removable via two captive thumbscrews and has the same triangular ventilation pattern mentioned earlier. A magnetic dust filter is under that panel to aid in dust reduction.

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The bottom of the Invader X has two large pedestals that act as wide feet, along with four triangle-shaped rubber dampeners. The side removable dust filter is also in place, spanning the case's length, and has larger triangle patterns. More triangle ventilation is found, and a pattern is sensed here.

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The Invader X's front I/O section is located on the bottom of the front panel, just under the tempered glass section. It consists of a triangle power button, a reset button, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a combo 3.5mm headset/mic jack, and a very fast USB 3.2 Type-C port.

Inside the XPG Invader X ATX Mid-Tower Case

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After removing all the panels and exposing the Invader X internals, the five included 120mm aRGB fans are visible. There is a good amount of open space, and the Invader X supports ATX, mATX, and mITX form factors. Radiator support is pretty good here as well, with support for 360mm radiators in both the roof and side locations, provided a vertical GPU is used.

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The PSU shroud has more triangle ventilation and four cable cutouts; however, rubber cable grommets are not present, which would have cleaned up exposed cables.

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Looking to the backside of the Invader X shows HDD/SSD support for up to 3.5"/2.5" drives via the bracket to the right. Cable management is good, with five pre-installed cable tie-downs running up the center. Also on the right-hand side is a bracket that can support three 3.5" or 2.5" HDD/SSDs.

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Take a good look at one of the included 120mm aRGB fans. Model number VENTO120RARGB runs at 12V with .25A running a rifle bearing. Unfortunately, these fans are not available for purchase.

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Another image before the build shows that Invader X is a well-constructed case.

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XPG has included a good number of accessories with the Invader X, a vertical GPU mounting bracket, various screws and standoffs, a slick GPU ant-sag device, stickers, a 180mm PCIe 4.0 Riser cable, and lastly a quick start guide.

Now for the build. See you on the other side.

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

• Motherboard: B650 AORUS Elite AX (AMD B650) - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 - Buy from Amazon
• Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32GB DDR5 5600 RGB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA RTX 3090 Founders Edition - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO XT Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon
• Case: XPG Invader X - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: XPG Core Reactor II VE 850w ATX 3.0 PSU - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit Build 22621 - Buy from Amazon
• Software: AIDA64 Engineer v7.20.6800, CPU-z 2.09.0 x64. GPU-Z 2.57.0, and HWiNFO64 v7.63-5205

Final Thoughts

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Now that the build is complete, let's first take a look at the cable management job that I did with the Invader X. The cable management was really good, mainly because of those five velcro cable tie-downs that run up the center, placing all the cables in all the right places.

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Testing the Invader X from XPG, the standard AM5 test hardware was installed consisting of an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X with the vcore limited to 1.128v while running at the base frequency of 4.5GHz on a B650 AORUS Elite AX motherboard. For memory, two sticks of Patriot Viper at DDR5-5600M/T work nicely. The test GPU is the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, running at stock clocks with 76% of its power limits limited via MSI Afterburner. The Invader X did very well in total system cooling, especially GPU cooling, having three side-mounted 120mm fans and a single 120mm fan drawing cool air from the bottom fan location. Mounting the Arctic Freezer II 360mm AIO in the roof mounting location fits like a glove.

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU only rose to an average temperature of 63.3C, while the GPU, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, averaged only 64.3C while maintaining an average frequency of over 1.9GHz boost clocks. Noise levels were audible; however, they were not to the point of annoying.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test version v7.20.6800 for over 3 hours; the ambient temperature was 18C. Other monitoring software used was HWiNFO64 v7.72-5355, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.57.0, and CPU-Z 2.09.0.x64.

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Here is the final build, which I have taken quite a liking to. One of the first things you'll see with the Invader X is the five included 120m ARGB fans that XPG pre-installed. Now, mind you, they are not PWM-based but are very silent when idle and not terribly loud when full tilt. I suppose XPG is figuring that the user would likely use an AIO like I did with the Arctic Freezer II 360mm, mounting it in the roof location. What is quite interesting here is that we have an equal pressure situation, four intakes with four exhausts, which aids in pretty good cooling for both the CPU and the GPU.

In closing, is XPG's Invader X from XPG a good case? Yes, for the most part, until you get to the price of $169. It's better than it may look if you think about it. Take the five included 120mm ARGB fans, for example; the lowest-priced ones I saw were going for around $8 a piece on Amazon; that's about $40 in value. Next up would be the 180mm PCIe 4.0 Riser cable; again, the lowest-priced one on Amazon was around $30. Those two items alone make around $70 in the total cost of that $169 MSRP, making the bare chassis cost more like a $100 case, which in that market feels quite appropriate. I also would like to see a variant of the Invader X without all the extras, which doesn't corner the buyer to use XPGs fans or ditch them and have to rebuy all new fans at a much higher cost.

Some things could have been improved. The first thing that comes to mind is the breakaway PCIe slot covers. Why? For a tempered glass case in 2024 costing over $150, it should be expected to have full screw-in PCIe slot covers; granted, there are three already included, so why not 7? Also, cable grommets must be included, which would have improved cable management. However, if you are looking for a Mid-Tower PC case that has a front I/O 20Gbps USB Type-C port, five included 120mm ARGB fans, and a vertical GPU bracket with a PCIe 4.0 riser cable while still having a fishbowl-like design then the Invader X from XPG might be the case you have been looking for.