When the courier comes by to drop off new hardware, we always end up getting into a good conversation. The latest discussion was all about the NZXT Crafted Series Hades Computer Enclosure that we’re looking at today. It was interesting to hear the courier comment on things like the front bezel design and question the purpose of feature like the use of a temperature display. If he wasn’t on the job, he’d probably hang out and help review the case. I told him to check back to see what I came up with so without further adieu, we review the NZXT Hades Crafted Series Computer Enclosure.
Features and Specifications
For most consumers, case selection is based on a combination of these three important features: air flow, expansion, and unique case design. The Hades offers ample air flow via 2 x 120mm cooling fans, 1 x 140mm top cooling fan. It also has a massive 200mm side panel fan and there’s even room for another 120mm/1400mm fan up top. It’s optional but you can add your own but I’m sure users would still like to see the slot occupied by something.
Second, the case offers nine 5.25 inch bays for ROM type drives that can be changed to house up to five 5.25 inch devices and four 3.5 inch bays for hard drives. There is also a special 2.5 inch bay to accommodate up to two SSDs at the bottom of the drive bay. The case chassis has been extended to accommodate the ever growing size of high end video cards like the latest ATI HD5970 or old school nVidia GTX295.
An extra feature we’ve seen in other NZXT cases like the Guardian 921, is the addition of a small temperature display. There are three wired sensors inside that can be attached to things like the CPU cooler, chipset, and/or video card heat sinks. It’s your choice, so you pick.
Finally, the top of the case houses the ‘front panel’ expansion options like 2 USB, audio, and e-SATA ports. We’ve often wondered where the best place for these expansion ports should be and the top looks good.
The Hades’ Physique
Once again, we see a dramatic outward case design from NZXT. While you can never tell by pictures, the Hades is actually…light! I was expecting something a bit heavier since it’s made from standard dyed-in-the-chassis steel.
The case sports quite a bit of mesh. The mesh front door is partially hollow with the temp display dead center up top with a vented lower upside V-shaped half to allow the front internal red LED 120mm cooling fan to do its job.
Behind the door, the front bezel is also mostly mesh including the 5.25″ bay covers. Up and down the front, there is quite a bit of filter material for cutting back on internal dust monsters. The minor down side is that you’ll have to remove these for periodic cleaning. Hey, it’s either clean the entire inside of the case, or just some filters.
You can see the two bulges in both side panels. The right panel is offset and houses the 200mm cooling fan. The left side is offset so that any extra case or power supply wiring can be tucked in there to make the case look all tidy and organized.
The back of the case reveals that the entire chassis is jet black. Gamers love jet black painted or anodized steel. There’s a lot of ventilation machined in to the back of the case chassis. Plus, a couple water cooling ports are added in case you need to run some tubing.