Inter-Tech Elektronik Handels GmbH is a company based in Germany and was founded in 1996. Since then, the main focus has been on a Europe-wide distribution of OEM and retail hardware for PC systems. Originally, the portfolio mainly included PC cases and power supplies. However, this has since been expanded to include numerous divisions (fans, peripherals, hard drive enclosures, etc.). In December 2020, Inter-Tech introduced some new cases for the tight budget. Among them is the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET.
Behind this unassuming name is a midi tower with RGB lighting and an acrylic side window. Besides these optical features, the IT-3303 Hornet is also supposed to convince with a spacious and well thought-out interior as well as dust filters and a hard drive decoupler. The midi tower is supposed to be rounded off by a purchase price of only € 66.39 *. Find out if the Inter-Tech IT-3303 Hornet can hold its own in the competitive budget segment and how it performs in general in this review
Technical details
| Model: | Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET |
| Case Type: | ATX |
| Dimensions: | 210 mm (W) x 455 mm (H) x 400 mm (D) |
| Weight: | 3.38 kg |
| Material: | Steel, plastic |
| Color: | Black |
| Front connectors | 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x headphone, 1x microphone |
| Drive bays: | 2x 3.5″ (internal) 2x 2.5″ (internal) |
| Expansion slots: | 7x horizontal |
| Form Factors: | ATX, mATX, ITX |
| Ventilation: | Front: 3x 120 mm or 2x 140 mm Rear: 1x 120 mm Lid: 2x 120 mm Mains partition tunnel: 2x 120 mm |
| Radiators: | Front: 1x 280 mm or 1x 240 mm Rear: 1x 120 mm |
| Max. CPU cooler height: | 160 mm |
| Max. Graphics card length: | 300 mm |
| Max. Net part length: | 160 mm |
| Cable management space: | 20 mm |
| Price: | € 66.39 * |
| Features: | Dust filter, cable management, hard drive decoupling |
Scope of delivery
The packaging of the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET corresponds to the estimated purchase price. The cardboard box is kept plain brown and was printed with a schematic drawing of the case and numerous technical data. Inside the box, the IT-3303 is encased in thin styrofoam and a plastic film. Due to the low weight of the tower, this should be just enough to prevent damage. The included accessories are in a plastic bag and have been secured inside with a cable tie. Present are all the screws needed to install the components and a motherboard speaker. Unfortunately, the case does not come with assembly instructions or cable ties. Additionally, the accessories include a magnetic dust filter for the lid and a pre-installed fan with a frame width of 120 millimeters.
Exterior impression
On the outside, the Inter-Tech IT-3303 is quite striking. The front panel is mostly plastic with a large mesh grille in the lower third. Furthermore, various shapes, indentations as well as two thin RGB strips in the upper third provide a special look. If you also look at the front panel from the side, you can see that it converges towards the front. If you pull off the front with a strong jerk, the mounting rails for three 120-millimeter fans or two 140-millimeter fans are revealed behind it. One of these slots is already equipped with a 120-millimeter fan including RGB lighting ex-works. Unfortunately, you won’t find a dust filter on the front.
The lid is designed for high airflow and therefore consists of about 80% honeycomb design fan grille. To improve the appearance and protect against dust, Inter-Tech has also placed a magnetic mesh dust filter mat over the fan grille. Also visible in the lid is the I/O panel. This is located on the right side and is arranged in an elongated form. There are three USB ports (1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0), two ports for headphones and microphone as well as two buttons for power and the RGB control.
Inter-Tech has designed the IT-3303 for an eye-catching look. Therefore, a side window must not be missing. This is, as usual, on the left side, but is unfortunately only made of acrylic. Acrylic side windows have basically become quite rare and tempered glass is also on the rise in the lower price regions. The acrylic window is connected to the body via four flat thumbscrews. The right side panel is made entirely of steel and has an extractor or thumbscrews for attachment.
There are no surprises at the back of the IT-3303 for a midi tower in this price range. The mounting point for the PSU is in the bottom and above that there are seven PCI slot panels that can be broken out. At the very top, you can see the unpopulated space for a 120-millimeter fan.
Things continue similarly unspectacular on the underside. The midi tower stands on four solid plastic feet, each of which has been equipped with a rubber strip to protect surfaces. A simple mesh mat was placed in front of the power supply to protect it from dust. Unfortunately, the removal and installation of this mat is a bit awkward.
Interior Impression
Inside, Inter-Tech doesn’t dare to experiment with the IT-3303 and follows the standard. This results in a separation between the main chamber in the upper area and the power supply chamber in the lower area. The main chamber offers space for ATX mainboards and long graphics cards. Furthermore, the mainboard tray has been equipped with numerous cable management openings and also has a cutout for CPU cooler backplates. Due to the compact dimensions of the case, a normal ATX mainboard is hardly wider than the tray itself. Nevertheless, there is enough space in the right area to mount two 2.5″ SSDs there.
The lower area of the interior is covered by a large cover. This covers the cables of the power supply and the HDD cage underneath. However, in order to allow air exchange between the two chambers, the top of the cover is perforated and allows the installation of two 120 millimeter fans. Unfortunately, the screws needed for this are not included with the accessories.
Let’s now turn to the back of the IT-3303. With a total of 20 millimeters, there’s enough room for cables here and they can be tied down well with the sensibly placed tabs for cable ties. The power supply and two 3.5″ hard drives can be stored in the lower chamber. The PSU rests on simple steel elements and is not decoupled.
The Inter-Tech IT-3303 has room for a total of four data media. Two smaller 2.5″ ones can be screwed directly to the motherboard tray. In contrast, only two 3.5″ hard drives can be accommodated in the HDD cage in the base. The manufacturer advertises a decoupled installation, but only tells half the truth. Unfortunately, the decoupling is only on the right side. The left part of the HDD lies on a conventional steel rail.
System installation in the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET
Now we come to the system build. For hardware, we’re using a AMD Ryzen 5 1400 on a MSI B350 PC Mate with 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT gray DDR4-2666. The Ryzen is cooled by an Enermax ETS-F40 Silent Edition* and is overclocked to 3.8GHz (1.25V). A GTX 1060 6GB from Gigabyte AORUS is responsible for the image output. The power supply is handled by the fully modular LC-Power LC550 V2.31 Platinum with an 80 Plus Platinum efficiency rating.
Due to the open main chamber, the motherboard including the large CPU cooler was very easy to insert and screw in. However, we immediately noticed that three of the cable management openings are completely covered by a normal ATX mainboard. However, since there were two more suitable openings, this fortunately made no difference in our case. All cables could be routed appropriately and tightened with the help of cable ties. The overall result looks tidy on the front, and it could look worse on the back as well.
The compact dimensions of the midi tower only slightly limit the choice of other components. The IT-3303 offers space for 160 millimeter high CPU coolers and 300 millimeter long graphics cards. That is definitely enough for many cooling solutions and also faster pixel accelerators. However, owners of high-end hardware would probably look for another case anyway. You have to be a bit more careful with the power supply. The manufacturer itself does not make a precise statement here, but according to its own measurements, it should not exceed a length of 150 millimeters (if fully modular) or 160 millimeters (if not modular).
The pre-installed fan has a frame width of 120 millimeters and has a fancy RGB ring. Power is supplied via a black 3-pin cable and driving the RGB LEDs is made possible via a 5V 3-pin RGB header. At its full speed of 1200rpm, the fan is audible but not overly loud. Slight ambient noise is present.
Lastly, we come to the temperatures reached in the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET. During the stress test, Prime95 and FurMark were run for 15 minutes at a room temperature of 21°C. Furthermore, the test was performed with two different fan speeds of the standard fan and with an additional fan in the rear.
Scenario |
Temperature |
| CPU: 50% PWM (850 rpm) GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm) 1x 120 mm on 100% (1200 rpm, front) |
CPU: 80 °C GPU: 72 °C |
| CPU: 50% (850 rpm) GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm) 1x 120 mm on 50% (900 rpm, front) |
CPU: 85 °C GPU: 74 °C |
| CPU: 50% (850 rpm) GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm) 1x 120 mm on 100% (1200 rpm, front) 1x 120 mm on 100% (1800 rpm, rear) |
CPU: 68 °C GPU: 67 °C |
The stress test shows that the Inter-Tech IT-3303 looks quite good with an additional fan in the rear, and you should definitely plan for it when buying the tower. Despite a large CPU cooler, the processor already starts to sweat a bit. However, the temperatures of both components could be neatly reduced by an additional fan.
Lighting options in the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET
RGB lighting can be discovered in the Inter-Tech has the IT-3303 in two different places. First, the front fan with RGB ring should be mentioned here. The mesh grille only barely clouds the view here. Additionally, there are two RGB elements integrated into the front panel in the upper area. Ex works, both the elements and the fan are connected to the control unit in the I/O panel and can be switched with the push of a button. In addition to the solid colors, there is also a Rainbow mode and an automatic color change. If that’s not enough, you also have the option to connect both components directly to the motherboard via a 5V 3-pin RGB cable and control them with the appropriate software. Finally a few impressions.
Summary of the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET
Let us now come to the conclusion of this review. However, our feelings about the Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET are somewhat mixed. Considering the price of € 66.39 *, this midi tower can convince on the one hand with enough space for hardware and a chic look. Especially the latter is of course always a subjective assessment and left to the taste of the individual. On the other hand, the cooling options are a double-edged sword. The processor gets relatively warm ex-works or with the only fan in the front. However, adding a second fan in the rear achieves good temperatures. However, this also means that you have to add the cost of a fan to the purchase price.
Furthermore, the included accessories are quite limited. We would have wished for a few cable ties and replacement screws. Finally, there is the acrylic side panel. Similarly priced models from other suppliers often offer a Tempered Glass side panel with the same features. Overall, the Inter-Tech IT-3303 is a usable case. In our opinion, however, there are very strong competitors with better features for the same or slightly more money.
Inter-Tech IT-3303 HORNET
Workmanship
Structure
Features
Cooling
Value for money
76/100
The Inter-Tech IT-3303 is an inexpensive and compact midi tower with enough space and chic RGB effects. However, the factory cooling leaves something to be desired and the acrylic side panel doesn't look quite up to date.
