Arctic showed their new Xtender case at Computex, however we didn't get to visit their booth which means this review is the first time KitGuru has got to grips with this rather large case. The headline feature is that it can accommodate a 420mm cooler in the side and also a 420mm cooler in the roof. That's interesting… but as you will see in our video, it is the VG or Vertical Graphics side of things that devoured our attention.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:27 Meet the Arctic Xtender
01:05 Removing the panels
03:15 Drive installation
06:19 Building the test PC
08:35 Leo hits a snag with the PSU
11:21 CPU cooler installation
13:24 Some GPU shenanigans
14:49 Thermal testing
17:01 Leo’s not happy – trying a new GPU
20:26 Pricing and closing thoughts
Specification:
- Motherboard support: E-ATX (up to 285mm wide), ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX.
- Power supply support: ATX.
- Expansion slots: 7.
- Included fans: 3x 140mm side intake, 2x 120mm rear exhaust.
- Fan mounts: 3x 120mm/140mm side, 3x 120mm/140mm roof, 2x 120mm rear.
- Radiator mounts: 420mm/360mm/280mm/240mm side, 420mm/360mm/240mm/280mm roof.
- 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None.
- Internal drive bays: 2x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch, 4x 2.5-inch.
- Front I/O ports: 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 Type-C, audio.
- Dimensions: 530mm H x 530mm D x 232mm W.
Testing and Performance
To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, Palit RTX 5080 and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Arctic Xtender VG‘s cooling capabilities.
Test System:
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
- CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 420 A-RGB
- Motherboard: ASRock Phantom Gaming X870E Nova WiFi
- Memory: 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal Neo DDR5-6000
- Graphics card: Palit RTX 5080 Gamerock OC 16GB
- Power supply: Montech Titan PLA 1000W Platinum
- SSD: Crucial T700 M.2 NVMe
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
Cooling Performance

Cooling Performance Overview
In our testing the Arctic Xtender acted like two completely different cases. With the Vertical Graphics riser removed it works just fine and keeps both CPU and graphics card nice and cool. However, with the riser installed, we had a distinct problem where our Palit RTX 5080 graphics card and Arctic AIO cooler clashed and drove up CPU temperatures by 20 degrees C. Switching out the huge RTX 5080 for a slightly less huge MSI RTX 4090 was just about OK with the vertical riser, as we demonstrate in our video. Our conclusion is that you need to proceed with caution and carefully select components that work together correctly.
Closing Thoughts
The engineering behind the Arctic Xtender is rather Germanic with a hefty main glass window and large metal panels with huge cut-outs for ventilation. if we gave an award for ‘Case Least Likely To Flex Under Pressure' we would immediately grant it to Arctic.
Instead, of course, we focus on the niceties such as building a PC in the case and checking thermals, and that is where we ran into some questions.

As we show in our video, the Vertical Graphics riser caused us some problems with the lack of clearance between our chosen AIO cooler and a modern and large graphics card, with the result that CPU temperatures were sky high. The fix, clearly, is to opt for the non-VG case and install the graphics card horizontally in the motherboard.
That will certainly work but it raises the question of exactly which graphics cards will work correctly in the riser, and sadly that is unknown and relies on the traditional suck-it-and-see approach.
Arctic sent us the below table outlining the price of the various Xtender models. Arctic is currently offering low prices on the webstore, which will reduce the cost as shown below:
SKU |
Original MSRP |
After rebate |
Xtender (Black) black window w/o GPU vertical mount |
€ 199,99 |
€ 144,99 |
Xtender (Black) black window with GPU vertical mount |
€ 219,99 |
€ 169,99 |
Xtender (White) transparent window w/o GPU vertical mount |
€ 209,99 |
€ 154,99 |
Xtender (White) transparent window with GPU vertical mount |
€ 229,99 |
€ 184,99 |
Xtender (Black) mirrow black window w/o GPU vertical mount |
€ 204,99 |
€ 144,99 |
Xtender (Black) mirrow black window with GPU vertical mount |
€ 224,99 |
€ 174,99 |
Arctic Xtender
Pros:
- Arctic Xtender is a large and smart case that is solidly constructed.
- Five ARGB fans are included.
- Decent airflow and good cooling.
Cons:
- This is a huge case that weighs plenty and takes up loads of room.
- A printed user guide is not included.
- Air flow to the power supply might be restricted.

Arctic Xtender VG
Pros:
- Arctic Xtender is a large and smart case that is solidly constructed.
- Five ARGB fans are included.
- Brackets are included to allow installation of 120mm fans.
Cons:
- The GPU riser and Arctic 420mm AIO cooler clashes with our Palit RTX 5080.
- A printed user guide is not included.
- Air flow to the power supply might be restricted.

KitGuru says: The huge Arctic Xtender can pack in two 420mm coolers and a massive graphics card but has a few issues.
The post
Arctic Xtender Review with Vertical Graphics mount first appeared on
KitGuru.