First, as always, let’s get down to aesthetics. The box that it was shipped in is also the product packaging. It’s in true NZXT style, a brown box with faint pictures of what’s inside plastered here and yonder. I have grown to love these boxes. It usually means good things wait inside. I get that infernal boxing tape cut off and pull out the case, with about six inches of Styrofoam packing.
Once I got it all uncovered, I got a good look at this thing. It’s a matte black, which is something I’m fond of in my chassis, and it has that aggressive look that most case companies have been moving toward. Straight edges, sharp corners, and recesses that house buttons and ports that as a whole looks like it could be a cousin to that box from Hellraiser.
The port/button panel on the top front houses the eSata, USB 2.0 and audio ports. Beside that is the brushed aluminum power and reset button set. I always get a little disappointed when they don’t put a firewire port on these, right up front. I hate having to search for mine amid the wires sticking out of the back. The side that comes off sports a mostly mesh makeup, designed to hold a 200mm fan that will probably sound like an airliner touching down.
I’m not a huge fan of cases that have a ton of mesh on the sides. To properly cool, chassis use a kind of vacuum, with air flowing from the front to the back and then out through the rear or top. Putting a fan directly over the CPU and VGA area is okay; it’s just adding to the airflow and introducing cooler air. But when the whole side is made up of holes, you’re losing something somewhere. What’s keeping the air from just moving on out? Not that big 200mm fan. It’s sending some back in, but about 50% of your air has already escaped by now.
