Comment Thread for NZXT Alpha Case Review

[SKYMTL]

Wankerfx's review of the NZXT Alpha has been posted here:

NZXT Alpha Mid Tower Case Review

Please use this thread to post your questions and comments.

[Mr. Friendly]

I thoroughly enjoyed your review Wankerfx that must have been a real annoyance with the rubber feet too! did you take them off to see if they are indeed not the same in dimensions?

I have to say tho, I take a little bit of exception to the cooling test being your Tuniq Tower interfered with the side panel 120mm fan. I think we'd find most won't use a cooler of that size, which would allow the 120mm to work, which would give some serious help to the cases airflow. the fact that the temps were so similar to the Soprano DX without the side fan, you'd find the thermal properties would change a bit in the favor of the Alpha. I'd love to hear more about the cooling if you were to use an HSF that's not so hefty

again, that was an excellent review!

I hope HC gets the Rogue in for a review, as that NZXT case is the first one to 'really' catch my eye...besides teh Lexa Black

[Wankerfx]

Originally Posted by Mr. Friendly

I thoroughly enjoyed your review Wankerfx that must have been a real annoyance with the rubber feet too! did you take them off to see if they are indeed not the same in dimensions?

I have to say tho, I take a little bit of exception to the cooling test being your Tuniq Tower interfered with the side panel 120mm fan. I think we'd find most won't use a cooler of that size, which would allow the 120mm to work, which would give some serious help to the cases airflow. the fact that the temps were so similar to the Soprano DX without the side fan, you'd find the thermal properties would change a bit in the favor of the Alpha. I'd love to hear more about the cooling if you were to use an HSF that's not so hefty

again, that was an excellent review!

I hope HC gets the Rogue in for a review, as that NZXT case is the first one to 'really' catch my eye...besides teh Lexa Black

I didn't want to take off the feet, because they do dampen the noise/vibration. I just wedged a piece of paper underneath one of the feet, and now it stands as it should.

I don't have another heatsink to cool my computer with unfortunately, but I've been using the Tuniq Tower 120 as a standard heatsink for all my reviews, so that they are consistent.

The Rogue does look marvelous, it looks like it's meant for LAN parties - something that I should be attending more often during my Christmas break!

Thanks for the positive comments!

[SKYMTL]

I believe the next case we will get from NZXT will be the Zero. Unfortunately, the Rogue is only compatible with mATX mobos which is a bit of a pain. Maybe in the near future we will tackle that one....

[llama_egg]

Very well done review if I do say so myself! And does look like a quite impressive case for such a small price tag!

[Mr. Friendly]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

I believe the next case we will get from NZXT will be the Zero. Unfortunately, the Rogue is only compatible with mATX mobos which is a bit of a pain. Maybe in the near future we will tackle that one....

I know, eh? only mATX mobo...which is the pits being there's no performance focused mATX mobo's out there! I have wondered for quite some time if/when a mobo manufacturer would realize the market out there for one and take advantage of it.

if you still have the case with you Wankerfx, would you consider taking the rubber feet off just for a comparison to see where the issue is?

and I can appreciate that you love your TT as a cooler, but if you're going to review other cases, it may be an idea to adopt something smaller, as I won't be surprised if you run into problems with more cases while using it. it's not a cooler that every Tom, Dick n Harry would be using, so a complaint about stuff not fitting right would become a constant. while it sucks that the case may not have consideration for a cooler of that size, even a smaller, but powerful cooler, would inidcate to you how much room there is or isn't, so you could air a warning about a possible conflict with the jumbo sized HSF. :) just a thought...

btw, how badly did the paint job on the metal and plastic mark up with finger prints?

[Wankerfx]

Originally Posted by Mr. Friendly

I know, eh? only mATX mobo...which is the pits being there's no performance focused mATX mobo's out there! I have wondered for quite some time if/when a mobo manufacturer would realize the market out there for one and take advantage of it.

if you still have the case with you Wankerfx, would you consider taking the rubber feet off just for a comparison to see where the issue is?

and I can appreciate that you love your TT as a cooler, but if you're going to review other cases, it may be an idea to adopt something smaller, as I won't be surprised if you run into problems with more cases while using it. it's not a cooler that every Tom, Dick n Harry would be using, so a complaint about stuff not fitting right would become a constant. while it sucks that the case may not have consideration for a cooler of that size, even a smaller, but powerful cooler, would inidcate to you how much room there is or isn't, so you could air a warning about a possible conflict with the jumbo sized HSF. :) just a thought...

btw, how badly did the paint job on the metal and plastic mark up with finger prints?

Sure, I'll try to take the feet off when I power down and I'll report back the next time I'm online. I'll see if I can get a hold of a stock Intel cooler - I guess I have to buy a new CPU

Seriously though, I'll go shopping around and will probably pounce on a good deal when I find one.

There aren't any fingerprints on the case, even after ~2 weeks of use; maybe it's because I use purel everyday... The case would probably be covered in prints if you let your body oils accumulate for a few days, but they can easily be wiped off with a suede rag.

[Wankerfx]

Originally Posted by llama_egg

Very well done review if I do say so myself! And does look like a quite impressive case for such a small price tag!

I was very impressed with all the details offered for the price, although, there are a few minor details that should be touched up.

[3.0charlie]

Originally Posted by Mr. Friendly

I know, eh? only mATX mobo...which is the pits being there's no performance focused mATX mobo's out there! I have wondered for quite some time if/when a mobo manufacturer would realize the market out there for one and take advantage of it.

Actually, there is: GIGABYTE - Product - Motherboard - Overview - GA-G33M-DS2R. The G33 is known to be one heck of an oc'er.

GA-G33M-DS2R - [H]ard|Forum

A quick 1st look: GA-G33M-DS2R, mATX P35 mobo (pic heavy) - VR-Zone IT & Lifestyle Forum!

A quick 1st look: GA-G33M-DS2R, mATX P35 mobo (pic heavy) - Page 2 - XtremeSystems Forums

[Mr. Friendly]

Wankerfix, I wasn't saying you had to drop down to a stock cooler...just get something a little smaller that works awesome to replace your Tower with or something. it won't do any good to create a comparative chart in the future once you have more and more cases reviewed (HWC that is, not necessarily you) for how good the cooling is. if you find a nice cooler you like (Ultima 90 maybe?) you will have a solid test bed to run with...or something like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7? just something smaller...don't want you to compromise your system's health with excess heat

and Charlie, thanks for those links! I'm gonna have to look at those later! btw, does 3.0 mean you're the Jr's jr or your Intel/AMD clock?