PC Components

Raijintek Ophion 7L – Ultra-compact SFF case for low-profile graphics cards

The Raijintek brand was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Taiwan. The goal of the foundation was the development of high-end products in the lifestyle and IT hardware sector. The manufacturer mainly focuses on the development of cases, CPU coolers, water cooling systems and case fans. Raijintek’s best-known products probably include the ITX cases Metis and Ophion. A special feature of all cases is often the unique design, which clearly stands out from the rest of the crowd.

Then in the fall of 2020, Raijintek introduced a particularly small SFF case. With the name Ophion 7L, it quickly becomes clear that this case can only boast a volume of just 7 liters. The case was designed in such a way that a full ITX mainboard, an SFX power supply, up to three 92-millimeter fans and a low-profile graphics card can still be installed. At the same time, it is partially made of aluminum and weighs only 2 kilograms. Color-wise, Raijintek offers the Ophion 7L in black and white. Whether the Ophion 7L is recommendable for a price of 100 euros (current: € 103.44 *), you can read in this review.

Technical details

Model: Ophion 7L
Case Type: ITX
Dimensions: 101 mm (W) x 255 mm (H) x 312 mm (D)
Weight: 2 kg
Material: Aluminum, steel
Color: Black
Front connectors 1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 1x USB 3.0 Type-A
Drive bays: 2x 2.5″ (internal)
Expansion slots: 1x horizontal (single-slot, low-profile)
Form Factors: ITX
Ventilation: Lid: 2x 92 mm
Bottom 1x 92 mm (only if no GPU is installed)
Radiators: N/A
Max. CPU cooler height: 70 mm
Max. Graphics card length: Single slot, low-profile
Max. Graphics card height: Single-Slot, Low-Profile
Max. PSU length: SFX
Price: € 103.44 *

Scope of delivery

The Raijintek Ophion 7L is delivered in a small cardboard box made of brown cardboard. On this, the name of the chassis, all important technical data and several schematic drawings were printed in black letters. There are also notes about the color variant and contact information. Inside the cardboard box, the manufacturer wraps the small case with a plastic film and two thick blocks of soft foam. The accessories have been stowed away inside the Ophion 7L. A plastic bag contains a few cable ties and all the necessary screws for assembly. Lastly, the chassis comes with a short installation manual with text and pictures.

Exterior Impression

Visually, the Ophion 7L has a very understated and timeless design. If you put or place it in a living room cabinet next to a game console or the TV, it should hardly be noticed. The front is made of brushed aluminum and is surrounded by a thin silver frame. The manufacturer’s logo is in the lower area, which also serves as the power button and is illuminated in white. The front part cannot be removed.

Since SFF cases are much more dependent on better ventilation, Raijintek has made the lid of the Ophion 7L very airy. Thus, it has numerous small ventilation openings and mounting points for two 92-millimeter fans. The manufacturer has placed the I/O panel in the front left area. There is one USB 3.1 Type-C and one USB 3.0 Type-A port with internal connectors for the motherboard. All cables are completely black.

Raijintek has designed the side panels differently. Both side panels are made of aluminum, but only the left side panel has ventilation openings. These visually resemble those in the lid. The right side panel is completely closed. Both panels are connected to the body via four small screws that are countersunk into the side panel.

At the back and bottom there is not so much to see. Thus, only the opening for the I/O shield of the motherboard, ventilation openings, a free low-profile PCI slot in the lower area and the connection for the power cable in the upper area can be discovered at the rear. The Ophion 7L is jacked up via four simple rubber feet that are attached to the body with screws. Unfortunately, these left numerous black marks on our table. Otherwise, there are more vents on the bottom and a third mounting spot for an optional 92-millimeter fan.

The exterior finish, paint and stability of the Raijintek Ophion 7L is very good. There are no noticeable workmanship or paint defects. However, the use of steel for the body and aluminum for the front and sides automatically results in a slightly different surface texture.

Interior Impression

Raijintek does divide the Ophion 7L into two chambers, but due to the small overall volume, the main chamber is attributed circa 95% of the interior space. The main chamber consists of the planar motherboard tray with space for an ITX motherboard on the left and a PSU frame on the right. There are three openings in the lower as well as upper area. These are used for cable management and are necessary so that fans can be attached there. As mentioned before, two 92-millimeter fans can be installed in the lid and one 92-millimeter fan in the bottom of the Ophion 7L.

The PSU frame was connected to the body via three small screws. If you loosen these, the frame can be removed and equipped with a power supply. In our case, however, the frame jammed and required a bit more force to disassemble. The chips from the painted screws, which were removed beforehand, caused slight scratches on the tray. We were also able to spot an unpainted area on the frame.

The back of the motherboard tray doesn’t hold any major surprises. Only two 2.5″ data carriers can be installed here. They are attached from the front of the tray with four screws each. Since the space between the side panel and the tray is very small, only flat SATA power cables will be used.

The material quality and stability in the interior are basically okay. However, as has already been mentioned, we could discover problems with the paintwork and handling of the PSU frame. Considering the purchase price of the case, one should definitely be able to expect better here.

System build in the Raijintek Ophion 7L

Now we come to the system build. For hardware, we are using an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X* on a Gigabyte B450I AORUS WIFI with 32GB Crucial Ballistix Sport. The Ryzen is cooled by a Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 * and is not overclocked. Since the GTX 1060 6GB from Gigabyte AORUS of our test system doesn’t fit in the Ophion 7L, we had to resort to an Nvidia Quadro 400. The power supply is handled by the fully modular Corsair SF450 Gold with an 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating.

As is so often the case with SFF cases, the installation of all components requires a precise order. However, due to the small dimensions of the Ophion 7L, that was even more important in this case. If you want to install 2.5″ data carriers, you should start with this. Otherwise, the mounting points will be covered by the PSU. After that, the power supply is installed with the help of the frame. In the next step, you can install the mainboard and possible fans. If this is modular, it is recommended to attach the cables to the motherboard beforehand. The CPU cooler should only be installed after the cabling is complete.
Despite the order, the cabling and routing of the cables turned out to be a bit more complicated due to the compact space conditions and non-existent cable management eyelets. In any case, we recommend installing a fully modular power supply.

Overall, the Raijintek Ophion 7L has room for an ITX motherboard with a CPU cooler that can be a maximum of 70 millimeters high and room for a low-profile graphics card with a maximum 1.5-slot depth. So, anything above an Nvidia GT 1030 is currently out of the question. Possible power supplies may only have the SFX form factor.

Finally, we come to the temperatures that were reached in the Raijintek Ophion 7L. During the stress test, Prime95 and FurMark were run for 15 minutes at a room temperature of 25°C. In addition, the test was performed in different scenarios (number of fans, fan speed).

Scenario
Temperature
CPU: 50% PWM (1300 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (2800 rpm)
Without fan (default configuration)
CPU: 95 °C (CPU clocks down to 2.6 GHz
GPU: 100°C (crash/image errors)
CPU: 100% PWM (1900 rpm)
GPU: 100% PWM (5000 rpm)
Without fan (default configuration)
CPU: 83 °C
GPU: 75 °C
CPU: 50% (1300 rpm)
GPU: 100% PWM (5000 rpm)
2x 92 mm on 50% (1100 rpm), 1x blowing out, 1x blowing in
CPU: 93 °C (CPU clocks down to 3.4 GHz)
GPU: 74 °C
CPU: 50% (1300 rpm)
GPU: 100% PWM (5000 rpm)
2x 92 mm on 50% (1800 rpm), 1x blowing out, 1x blowing in
CPU: 89 °C
GPU: 74 °C

As you can see, additional case fans are mandatory with a slightly hotter CPU. Also, you should definitely invest some time in configuring all the fan curves and positions to get a good middle ground between volume and cooling. Basically, though, as with any other SFF case, cooling options are limited.

Summary on the Raijintek Ophion 7L

The Ophion 7L from Raijintek is an attempt to attack the sub-10L SFF case segment and make it more affordable. After all, cases like the DAN Cases A4 or the Louqe Ghost S1 offer a lot of space despite their low volume, but they also cost between €200 and €300. On the other hand, there are systems like the ASRock Deskmini, which is smaller at 2.7 liters, but is less upgradeable or customizable and requires an external power supply.

The mostly well-made Ophion 7L already starts at 100 Euros (current: € 103.44 ) and thus places itself well below the cases mentioned above. It offers space for a full ITX motherboard, 70 millimeter high CPU cooler and an internal SFX power supply. On top of that, there is even room for a low-profile graphics card such as a GT 1030. Raijintek has packaged all of this in a very attractive aluminum look.

On the other hand, we did not like the build quality that was not consistently achieved. At least in our test device, we could detect paint defects in the interior. Furthermore, the Ophion 7L only offers limited space for expansion cards and only limited cooling potential. Thus, this case is not suitable as a basis for a gaming system. However, you automatically get these two negative features as soon as the volume falls below a certain value.

Nevertheless, the buyer gets a very well thought-out and particularly compact case, which is mostly very well manufactured. In our opinion, the Raijintek Ophion 7L offers a very good basis for an HTPC or small office PC with a great focus on compactness.

Raijintek Ophion 7L

Workmanship
Structure
Features
Cooling
Value for money

83/100

The Raijintek Ophion 7L is a very compact ITX case with room for a full-sized ITX motherboard as well as SFX power supply and a chic aluminum look. Only the build quality was to be criticized in our case. Due to the limitations of the graphics card, the Ophion 7L is hardly suitable for a gaming system.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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The Raijintek brand was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Taiwan. The goal of the foundation was the development of high-end products in the lifestyle and IT hardware sector. The manufacturer mainly focuses on the development of cases, CPU coolers, water cooling systems and case fans. Raijintek’s best-known products probably include the ITX cases … (Weiterlesen...)

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