LOUQE Raw S1 Mk I (Rhodium Grey) Mini-ITX Computer Case

Product Information

This increase in size can be found across all specs comparing the two cases. CPU Heatsink height support also increases from 66 mm in the Ghost S1 to 75mm in the Raw S1. This is, of course, largely thanks to the extra 4 liters of volume that the Raw S1 comes equipped with. It is important to note, however, that it is still an extremely small case. tl;dr: Louqe's RAW S1 is a beautiful, high quality case with awful thermal design that can be somewhat mitigated with mods What sets the Louqe Raw S1 apart from the crowded world of PC cases is that it isn’t afraid to go in a totally different direction and limit your options. There is no tempered glass, no watercooling support, no RGB, nothing that falls into the typical trends of today’s day PC case design. And that, I applaud. It takes courage as designers to swim against the current and try something like this.

The CPU Cooler Test - I'll get to this in more detail, but it convinced me thermals are acceptable which is not really the case. So if you're going into the small cases, enjoy your journey down the rabbit hole! You'll wonder why you ever put up with large towers! Internally, the Revolt 3 can also house almost any Mini-ITX system you throw at it, with room for large GPUs, up to a 280mm AIO, two 2.5-inch SSDs and one 3.5-inch drive. Better yet, its layout meanst it doesn't need a PCI-e riser cable, so you won’t have to worry about reduced bandwidth on an RTX 3000 or RX 6000 series graphics card. This does make me wonder a little about Louqe's quality control, and what kind of awful drill press their manufacturer is using. I have noticed a pattern of occasional QC issues like this popping up on Discord, but to Louqe's credit, their support does a great job of taking care of any issues.

The Louqe Raw S1 is more than just a case – it’s arguably a functional work of art.

However, you can fit a PC in here. There’s no AIO support, nor air filtration. So yes, there are sacrifices, but it offers among the easiest build processes – chances are you’ll be done building within the hour and have a very tidy end result. It will also happily fit huge triple-slot graphics cards, despite its ultra-compact 12-litter frame, and with a fancy ‘Cobalt’ PCIe 4.0 riser cable, there’s hardly a thing about this case that isn’t ultra-premium. It even has a carrying handle. That, plus the money you spend on the case is money you’ll save on cutting the RGB and not caring about what your motherboard or GPU look like – not only do you not see the internals – you simply can’t fit much in here. Despite its unique design, the case’s thermals do not suffer. LOUQE has tested temperatures in the chassis with two different GPUs. Using the 3D-mark Firestrike extreme benchmark, the Nvidia RTX 3080 FE (2-slot) reached 70 °C with the case closed. In the same test, an EVGA RTX 2070 FTW3 Ultra (3-slot) reached just under 60 °C. The Raw S1’s ability to fit 3-slot graphics cards is a nice step-up from some competitors. It supports triple-slot GPUs up to 145 x 65 x 320 mm in size. For comparison, the Ghost S1 fits dual-slot GPUs up to 143a x 45 x 305 mm. With a small footprint and beautiful finish in both the tempered-glass and mesh variants, the Evolv Shift 2 is perfect as an SFF PC for use in the living room, or moving around the house wherever you need it. The easily accessible top IO makes plugging devices in a breeze too. Building in it was tight, and came with the typical frustrations associated with Mini-ITX systems, but I still managed a build within about 3 hours, and the end result was well worth the effort. The overall size is a bit bigger than most Mini-ITX cases would be, but the tempered glass side panels do wonders for creating systems to show off, though keep in mind that its single-fan radiator support may be too thermally limiting for some systems.

There are two other cooler options recommended by the community: Scythe Big Shuriken 3 Rev. B and the Thermalright AXP120-X67. Both of these have top mounted 15mm fans, but a 25mm fan can also apparently fit, closing the gap to the shell with a little more wiggle room. Their previous cases are some of the most popular choices for Mini-ITX builds around thanks to their premium materials and minimalist aesthetics. From early images and specs, the new LOUQE Raw S1 offers an increase in size without compromising on much of anything. Now is a good time to mention my goal: maximum performance with silent fans. That means running all fans at around 50%. Eventually I'll set up a proper fan curve, but for now, and most of the rest of the tests, the fans are all just pegged at 50%. There's only a slight performance reduction here, again indicating sufficient airflow, and this is our CPU thermal performance target.This case needs custom length power/fan cables (without sleeves, since you can't really see them anyways) because space is so limited. I recommend using PET hookup wire, since it's easy to work with and very thin. As I'll get into later, maximum airflow is very important.

An anemometer is a device that measures air speed. I measured air speed at 9 points around the exhaust vent and multiplied the average by the approximate area of the vent openings to get an airflow number in CFM. It's not perfect, but it will get us some ballpark numbers. Aesthetically, the Raw S1 has a unique look that blends a modern style with aggressive, “gamer”-esque patterns and details. Red details on the interior, sand-blasted aluminum, and interesting cooling lines accentuate the look. However, most of the build is a simple sheet of aluminum. LOUQE has masterfully balanced these aesthetic choices with performance thanks to small features like a floating top plate and uni-body construction. It is extremely similar to the Corsair One in size, while their designs differ dramatically. Both are slim, vertical cases that are 12 liters in volume that can fit almost anywhere. An important note: the Corsair One case is only available in prebuilt configurations, severely limiting GPU and CPU options. Meanwhile, the Raw S1 will support most graphics cards and CPUs on the market thanks to its construction. The Raw S1 is a more subtle design than the Corsair One, opting for simple sides and vents instead of the Corsair One’s LEDs and large vents. Instead, the Raw S1 looks much closer to its smaller brother, the Ghost S1. There are almost no markings or features on the outside of the case. In fact, the front only features one small button for power, and I/O options are limited to a single Type-C placed on an angled panel. Despite the added pain, the extra fan definitely improves things. The CPU is nearing maximum performance. When I tested the extra fan in open air, though, the difference was minimal. This tells us that the real benefit to having the extra fan is not improving static pressure through the heatsink, but rather cool intake air! With such a tight fit, the extra fan basically acts as a gasket for the CPU cooler. As for looks, the Ghost S1 is most similar. In fact, it looks quite a bit like the same case stood vertically if a few inches were added all around. This is not an issue; the design of the Ghost S1 is a major selling point for many buyers. However, people who were not fans of LOUQE’s last offering are unlikely to change their minds here.

Table of contents

Considering the total size of this offering and its support for some of the largest graphics cards on the market, thermal performance holds up extremely well. There are not many fan formations – only two fans can fit in the case – but it is clear that airflow was a major consideration during design. GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX gave me a bit of headache. CPU cooler clearance is perfect, plenty of room at all sides, however I struggled with CPU-less bios flash. I had to flash the bios to get support for Ryzen 5000 and I couldn't make the flash work. Eventually I googled out that it only works with USB 2.0 thumb drives. Granted I was using USB 3 thumb drive. So I replaced it with older USB 2.0 thumb drive and then the flash went through properly. Another problem with the board is that PWM fan speed regulation sometimes does not work. I have created separate post about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabyte/comments/r79tra/pwm_sometimes_failing_on_b550i_aorus_pro_ax/ . Not sure if it's issue with my concrete piece or if it's general problem with all these boards. This was resolved by removing Gigabyte software (SIV and EasyTune Engine).