This $140 Cowboy PC Case Features Real Leather

Chassis, power, and cooling specialists Geometric Future have launched an appealing real leather-clad PC case in its Model 8 designs. The new Model 8 Cowboy mixes the clean lines formed by brushed aluminum sheets and tempered glass with an appealing cantaloupe flesh-colored cowhide trim and front panel I/O section. At first glance, the design and materials choice appears to be quite premium. Thus the price is a pleasant surprise - HK$1,099 according to tech site HKEPC – roughly $140.

Geometric Future is quite a new company, founded in 2020, and resides in Suzhou, not far from Shanghai. Its website says that the company name represents the underlying design philosophy. It seeks to simplify complexity and aim for user-friendliness with practical but sensory pleasing materials and aesthetics. It gives us some idea about the thinking behind the Model 8 Cowboy.

Having seen the PC case pictures above and below, you will have already started to form an opinion about the design, so let us look at the outer construction specs first to get a good measure of the Cowboy.

The front panel is an uninterrupted sheet of brushed 2mm aluminum. A 4mm smoked tempered glass window to either side with a top trim of 2mm cowhide in cantaloupe orange. You can see the company logo, Geometric Future, subtly embossed into the leather on the left side. On the top of the case, you will see the I/O section towards the front edge, seated within a strap of 2mm leather. Behind the I/O section, a perforated steel panel stretches to the back. Around the rear, there is a large rectangular section with large honeycomb-style perforations, and the bottom of the case appears to be almost open, apart from some criss-cross metal struts.

The Model 8 Cowboy is quite a sizable mid-tower case at 500 x 230 x 500mm (19.7 x 9.1 x 19.7 inches). Thus, it fits up to E-ATX motherboards but will happily accommodate ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX boards.

HKEPC offers some further insights into the construction materials and quality. For example, it notes that the structure is 1.0mm SECC steel and that the smell of leather was perceivable.

Summing up the construction, Geometric Future has saved money on deciding not to include filtering over the trio of panels that feature perforations or vents, which is a bit unfortunate.

Looking inside the case, you quickly notice something quite striking. The inside design has featured a 90-degrees rotation. As a result, the rear I/O, back of the PSU, and the I/O emanating from any seven PCI slots point upwards. Geometric Future reckons this makes the design cleaner. You will thread any necessary cables through one of two moderately large rounded rectangular cutouts at the back. The case maker provides some power extension cables which help with this.

With the rear I/O tucked away by this design, it is good that the Cowboy has a decent set of front/top panel I/O for users. Across this leather trim section, you will find the power button, power HDD activity lights, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A, mic and headphone jacks, 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, and a USB 3.1 Gen.2 Type-C port.

For maximum capacity and compatibility figures, please refer to the specifications. Highlights include the capability for graphics cards up to 400mm long and capacity for sizeable triple-fan air cooling arrays at the rear and bottom – or similarly large liquid cooling radiators.

The PC case retails for HK$1,099, or roughly $140, maybe appealing if we can get a distributor selling this case in the west. Another hurdle for some will be accepting the rear I/O oddness caused by the internal orientation switch.

Buyers should also be aware that leather ages so that the color may change over time depending on the care you give it and environmental factors like sunlight, humidity, and so on.