Hyte X50 Modern Performance PC case review

Available in seven colours from Pitch Black to Matcha Milk, the Hyte X50 Modern Performance Case is an impressively spacious case. At 485mm x 510mm x 255mm, it’s taller than your average case, but that’s not what sets it apart. Instead, Hyte has worked smarter, not harder, to deliver a cable and cooling-friendly home for your PC components.

The Hyte X50 is seriously stylish, with its perforated side and front panel, and its laminated glass window. It’s not covered in go-faster stripes, nor does it have angles you could slice cheese with, but there’s a real curved beauty to it.

Compatible with ATX and mini-ATX motherboards, it doesn’t come with fans, which is a little disappointing. But you can pick up a pack of four for $49.99, colour-matched to each case (we picked green Matcha Milk). This pack (Hyte provided us with a set) also includes a cable to let you daisy chain up to four fans to a single fan socket, though we plumped for two per socket.

Our only other gripe about the Hyte X50 is that when it comes to installing components, or transferring them from a previous PC, the printed instructions are a let down. Hyte provides a lengthy YouTube walkthrough, which you can watch below. But we’d also have liked a proper printed booklet instead of a folded sheet of paper.

But, component by component, it all comes together, and it’s absolutely worth taking your time. Unlike some cases, you can access both sides of your motherboard, threading wires through the rubber grommets surrounding it. That, in turn, makes for a much neater layout, keeping cables close to the frame instead of having them dangling over the motherboard.

When it comes to cable placement, you’ll have less choice if you’re using a non-modular power supply but we were still able to tidy up our transferred PC’s internals. Having gazed inside our old case, which resembled a convention of gin-addled snakes, we were astonished by just how spacious the X50 seems. Hyte’s wizardry extends to the power supply, too. Your PSU slips inside a special bay at the top of the machine, preventing it from clashing with the case’s colour scheme.

Being able to remove both panels is handy when it comes to keeping the see-through side clean. Yes, it’s a fingerprint magnet, but you can wipe the smudges away from within, from the perforated panel’s side. The toughened laminated glass feels suitably sturdy though you can purchase the cheaper, glassless X50 Air ($119.99 instead of $149.99) if you’re less concerned about gazing into your PC’s guts.

However, the glass has another important benefit – being able to see when your PC is on. Hyte boasts that the X50 is big on airflow and they’re not wrong. Following the video tutorial, we had one rear fan blowing out air and three bottom fans taking it in (protected by a magnetic dust cover), and our PC was quieter than it had ever been.

Want to take things to the next level? Featuring a removeable front mount, the Hyte X50 will accommodate up to ten fans, or two radiators and four fans. The company even makes their own Hyte Thicc Q60 liquid cooler, which we’ll also be reviewing shortly.

Even with those four fans and our standard CPU fan, this hole-heavy case was so effective we had to lean in to hear anything when working on the desktop. Gaming made it a little louder but even pushing through Pathologic 3 and other games, it was little more than a whisper. And, while our current CPU is not overclockable, we can see the X50’s airflow being a boon for those who want to squeeze a little extra out of their setup.

The Hyte X50 is so damn pretty that, putting it together, I was afraid of chipping it. I did manage to make the tiniest mark on one of the fans, which the OCD part of my brain will not let me forget about. But the metal parts of the case took a couple of bumps and emerged unscathed.

Blending smart design and striking aesthetics, the Hyte X50 Modern Performance Case is a breath of fresh air in a market where sharp edges and RGB overload are the norm. Whether you’re building a PC from scratch or just want to give your existing setup a facelift, it’s easy to recommend.

Thank you to Hyte for providing a X50 for the purposes of this review.