Remember when Batman Begins came out? He was having to run across the city and was getting his ass kicked by every building he scrambled down. And then… that tank thing came along. The best piece of butt-kickery to grace a superhero with no powers. How awesome would it be to run around the city in something that looks like that? Well, there’s not a flaming chance of you getting to sit behind the wheel of that tank, but at least you can have a case that looks just as hardcore.
NZXT, those moguls of awesomeness, have delivered unto us the Beta Steel Mid Tower. No wussified mini-ATX case here, this thing is a titan. The best thing to me is that even though it’s a budget gamer case, priced at under $50, it still offers so much more than many of the cases that cost twice as much. Here’s a little information to get us started in showing what this thing is really made of. You know, steel. It says so right in the name.
Announcing the BETA, a mid-tower steel case that delivers gamers a chassis designed for tremendous value without sacrificing performance. Built for maximum expandability, BETA expansive jet black interior provides ample room for 4 external 5.25″ drives, 5 HDD racks, and fits large 10.5″ performance graphics cards. NZXT continues their expertise in effective cooling by offering BETA users expanded cooling that directly cools video cards and CPU with 4 120mm fans(1 front, 1 rear, and 2 side) and a meshed front panel that improves airflow. The front 120mm fan can fit thicker fans like the Scythe Ultra Kaze that can help maximize airflow. Additional features like screwless installation for 5.25″ drives/hard drives and top mounted USB/Audio enhance ease of installation and convenience for gamers.
Features
- Fits ATX standard motherboards and power supplies
- Fits large 10.5″ performance graphics cards
- Expanded cooling directly cools video cards and CPU
- Screwless installation for hard drives and external 5.25″ drives
- Black internal finish for sleek look
- Meshed front panel allows for better airflow than traditional cases
- Top mounted Dual USB/Audio/ESATA for convenient usage
| MODEL | Beta Series |
| Case Type | Mid Tower Steel |
| Front Panel Material | Plastic |
| Dimensions | 200 x 430 x 501mm / 7.78 x 16.9 x 19.7 inches |
| Cooling System | FRONT, 1x120mm blue LED (included) REAR, 1x120mm SIDE, 2x120mm |
| Drive Bays | 9 Drive Bays 4 External 5.25″ 5 Internal 3.5″ Screwless Rail Design |
| Material | Steel with black finish |
| Expansion slots | 7 |
| Power Supply | 500 WATT PS2 ATX 12V 2.0 (optional) |
| Weight | 7.28 KGS |
| Motherboard Support | ATX, Micro-ATX, Baby ATX |
On the next page we take a closer look at this case…
Right away my eye is drawn to all those drive bays. Four separate ones for the optical drives or whatever you like to stick in there, and five for all your HDDs. Can you imagine the Raid array in this thing? It would be awesome. And to keep it all cool, four 120mm fan mounts. And it looks like a Batman tank/car thing? This is just screaming to be stuffed with lots of gaming hardware. Alrighty, so now we know what it is and what it does, let’s see what it’s capable of. Time to get messy.
As always, we’ll start with what’s in the box. Of course, there is the case itself surrounded by a protective cocoon of Styrofoam, wedged into the box so tight that I had to grab both sides of the case and put my foot on the box to pull it out. A pain, but puts aside any worries of shipping-related jar damage. Once the side of the case was off, which is achieved with two plastic thumbscrews, you find the various connectors for the fan, audio, eSATA and USB ports on the top. There is also a box wedged into the HDD bays that contains all the screwless HDD and optical drive locks. Underneath this is a letter from NZXT thanking me for purchasing the case and telling me where to go to see more of their stuff or to get questions answered. Handy.
My first feelings on this case are how super heavy it is. There are heavier cases out there, but for this one’s size it is pretty darned weighty. Being made of steel can really add some baggage to a PC. But for the added durability and stability, you can’t beat a solid steel case. This one wasn’t nearly as weighted as I was expecting, as they didn’t include the 500W power supply for me to test as well. That would have been a nice little extra for this piece, but alas… The coolest thing is that they actually painted the inside to match the outer flat black finish. It’s really a nice touch and gives it a much more aggressive look than those that are painted so nice on the outside and are dull metal gray on the inside. And then the front power and reset buttons. They are in a triangular shape to match the case, and glow blue to match the LED fan in the front.
They also replaced the standard front pop-out bezels with mesh bezels for increased airflow. I was told early in my computer years by my mentor that for the best airflow in a case, there should be no place anywhere on a case for the air to flow aside from where the fans are. However, later on in my life, I realized that those drives up top give off quite a lot of heat themselves, and with no airflow hitting them, as is the case most of the time, they can create an enormous heat buildup. So having the front bezels meshed is a great idea as far as I’m concerned. And to match the bezels, the ridges down the front are also covering mesh that guards the blue LED fan inside. Looking at the back of the case, we see that the rear PCI slot covers are also mesh. Welcome to the future, ladies and gents. Things might actually start looking cooler now.
On the next page we render our verdict…
The thing I’m really excited about is the fact that it has room on the side panel for two 120mm case fans. Direct cooling from large fans right on the hottest areas of the PC, the CPU and GPU. And since it supports the larger video cards out there, this is perfect when it comes to the amount of cool air that would be needed inside the case while playing a game. The main problem I have with many cases on the market these days is how little cooling is thought of during the initial design. NZXT created this case with cooling in mind. You really can’t beat four huge fans throwing wind around inside your case. Now I know how the Japanese feel when a Typhoon hits Tokyo.
Altogether, I am happy and a little impressed by the craftsmanship of the Beta Steel. It is damned near indestructible for starters. I would know. I accidentally knocked it off a chair onto the concrete floor of my garage and it didn’t even scratch it. It has massive amounts of room inside for any size motherboard, tons of hard drives, several optical drives, and a whole host of PCI/PCI-e cards. And then, my favorite, is all that room for cooling. It’s enough to bring a tear to my eye. All in all, I find that it’s a great case for any gamer who wants to get the next level and not have to worry about space or heat issues. It’s durable, it’s big, and it rocks the effin’ house.
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