by Edgar - 01.23.09
I recently built a new PC, and decided I’d try a new case for it. I was looking for something with lots of ventilation, but that wouldn’t be loud like a tractor. I stopped my search on the NZXT Whisper Case, since I already had the AVATAR mouse from NZXT.
This case surpassed my expectation with the way the case was divided inside. Really well laid out. Having the power supply on the bottom with a plate separating it from the motherboard section, this way the heat from the power supply doesn’t move around the motherboard. This case is packing plenty of fans too. At first I was scared they’d be noisy, but since they’re all big fans, they don’t need to spin fast to make the air flow.
So you have 2x 80mm fans in the back, right over the power supply which pushes the air out. There’s a 120mm fan in the back pretty close to where your CPU is, so it can push that heat out. And you have one 120mm fan with blue LEDs up front to cool down those hard-drives. So the cooling of your system pretty much under control.
The interior is padded with 10mm noise dampening foam, which keeps your beast silent at all times. It’s great for those who having their PCs running 24/7 in their dorm room. This case can be used for a server too, since it has space for 9 hard-drives and 6x 5.25″ bay. There’s also 2 USB ports, an external SATA port and audio input and output on the top of the case, which makes it easy to connect devices like your ipod and external hard-drive quickly without going behind your case to do so.
I love big cases for the room they give me to store wires and organize everything inside, but some would see that has a bulky case. The dimensions are (W x H x D) 211.5 X 521.5 X 562 mm (8.3″ X 20.5″ X 22.1″).
If you’re shopping for a new PC case and you’re looking for a case that is silent and has great ventilation, you should take a look at the NZXT Whisper.
10/10
+ Lots of room to work with.
+ Room for nine HDD and six 5.25″ Bay.
+ Silent.
+ Great ventilation.
I have a Smilodon and I’m super happy with it. One thing that I am a big fan of is that the side hinges open with the motherboard attached. I don’t have to disconnect or unscrew anything to put in RAM, add a drive, etc.
I bought a huge CPU heatsink, though, so I had to replace one of the 80×80x25 fans with a 80×80x15 to get it all to close… but no big deal.
This one looks quite nice too. I wish more cases did the power supply on the bottom. Pretty much kills mine in the drive bay department too lol
Does the USB thing on the front always stick up or can you close it?
Tony - 01.24.09 12:42 am
you can close it
Edgar - 01.24.09 1:01 am
I just got an Nzxt Lexa, and an i7 processor, the comp comes in a couple weeks. I hoppe its good.
naveed - 01.24.09 1:58 am
Tony: i have the same case and i love it except for the stupid front door like you said. but its a sweet looking case when you can close the door. i replaced the 120mm fan in front with a blue one and just ripped out the screen thingy. i also really like the tool-less drive bay latches.
i do like the placement of the power supply HDD bays. My ATi HD 3870 buts right up to my HDDs and it makes it really hard to work with. im kinda looking for a new case and this might be my answer.
you should also check out the Antec Skeleton. im not sure how practical it is but it looks sweet!
kojo87 - 01.24.09 3:11 pm
I have a review for an Antec case coming up.
Although it’s not the skeleton… I was scared that the cat would put his face in the huge fan on top. LMAO
Edgar - 01.24.09 3:21 pm
“i do like the placement of the power supply HDD bays. My ATi HD 3870 buts right up to my HDDs and it makes it really hard to work with. im kinda looking for a new case and this might be my answer.”
Really? I have a HD 3870 (weird lol) and it’s not terribly close… I suppose it could just be our motherboard differences.
Tony - 01.24.09 3:33 pm
I picked up one of these silent bad boys:
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_ind ex=136&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62
Lian Li makes some sweet cases!
Keeko_ca - 01.25.09 12:46 pm
$20 rosewill
solid aluminum painted a matte black.
has done no wrong.
(also, I used an old fish eye lens and re-routed the red power led… sometimes it wont open the drive doors. it just wont let me do that. It’s sorry, but it can’t allow me to jeopardize the mission.)
Lemcott - 01.25.09 11:37 pm
Tony: i do also have an aftermarket cooler on my 3870 and one of the HDDs is in the top bay so they are about 2mm apart lol. now that i look at it the stock cooler would not come as close.
i was going to buy a new case but i spent the money on RAM instead lol. 8GB of Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 baby!
kojo87 - 01.28.09 2:31 am