Hardware Geeks

My initial reaction upon receiving the NZXT Whisper Case box was that there is no way in hell that thing is all case, because of how huge it was.

Well, it was all case. Upon opening the box my only reaction was “Crap, this thing is HUGE!”. Amazingly huge at that!

It’s not so much heavy as is it awkward due to its size.  This is fine in all aspects though.

Upon my initial inspection of the case I was blown away by it. NZXT has included everything you need to upgrade, from predrilled holes for an external aqua reservoir to panels that easily pop off.  After further investigation I found that everything is well placed with plenty of room for all that you can throw at this case.  Which is probably nicest feature.

Here is a little slideshow of the unboxing and of the case it self.

My Initial Thoughts:
NZXT claims the Whisper Full Tower case can support any motherboard you may have, and well I decided to test that out.  I took a piece of cardboard and cut out of the cardboard the sizes of a full E-ATX Motherboard and I stuck it in there, and there is literally tons of room left over inside the motherboard section for proper cable management if you’re a stickler like me and have to have the inside of a case perfect before even contemplating turning it on.

All the cables they give you for connecting the fans, etc. are long enough to connect to the PSU and then some. Which is good, as I have had trouble getting cables from the PSU to parts of the motherboard on other cases where the PSU cables aren’t as long.

The screw less 5.25” trays are a nice touch for easily swapping out optical drives that are dead or being upgraded, I love that feature.

Also, the insulation at only 10mm doesn’t seem like much even though it is, but, I will discuss that later on in the review.

Second thoughts:
After playing with the case a little longer, I have come to the conclusion that this is indeed an awesome case.  I put to the test just how well the Whisper is when it comes to sound deafening.  I took an older model 250w PSU and I put the rubber gasket onto the PSU and inserted into the PSU slot in the case.  I then plugged in all fans (2 x 120mm, 2 x 80mm) and put a hard drive in to see how well the rubber grommets in the HDD trays handle the vibration and turned it on and put the panel back on.  Well, much to my surprise, I heard only the wind blowing.  I even turned off my baby monitor to see if I can hear anything else, nope, just the exhaust fans blowing out the air could I hear.  There was little to no vibration from the PSU thanks to the rubber gasket for the PSU or the HDD trays, which is very nice.

The popup panel works great for ease of access, however it does seem a little flimsy, but it has to be or else it would never open and the front door itself is very nice and sturdy, I have never seen a door so sturdy on a computer case in my life.

*Mind you I did not put everything into the case that should have gone in if I was building a computer, that’s because I am not going to be putting things into it for awhile as I need to buy parts.

My final thoughts:
This case is just amazing, I love it.  Everything you need comes with it.  Screws, everything.  I will be sad to see it go when I give it away in a few months.  But c’est la vie.  It will go to a great home.  This is a must have if anyone is heavy into computers and needs adequate space for HD’s and other equipment.

Specifications:

Materials:  Aluminum/Plastic (Front Panel)
Steel (Rest of case.)
Internal Bays: 10 x 3.5” HDD Bays (9 Internal, 1 external).
6 x 5.25” Drive Bays.
Motherboards: Extended ATX, ATX, Micro ATX and Baby AT.
Expansion slots: 7.
Stock Cooling: 2 x 120 mm (4.72”) fans. (1 intake, 1 exhaust.)
2 x 80 mm (3.12”) fans. (2 Exhaust.)
Dimensions: 211.5 mm (8.3“) Width.
512.5 mm (20.5“) Height.
562 mm (22.14“) Depth.
Weight: 12.3 kg (27.1lbs).
Color: Black.
Extra: 2 x USB 2.2 ports (Top.)
1 x eSATA port (Top.)
1 x Headphone port (Top.)
1 x Microphone port (Top.)
1 x Blue LED (Front fan.)
Water cooling ports.
Wire management system.
Rubber Hard Drive Vibration Damper Grommets.
10 mm (0.39”) thick foam sound dampening pads (Side and top panels.)
Rubber PSU Vibration damper.

Price Range: TigerDirect:  $149.99
NewEgg:  $124.99 after 20 Mail in Rebate
Amazon:  $139.99
CompUSA: $149.99

My Rating:
Case:  5/5
Accessories:  5/5
Overall score: 5 out of a possible 5.

Post Tags: review  reviews  nzxt  whisper full tower case 

Next entry: Review: HP Comfort Desktop Previous entry: Review: Logitech Squeezebox Boom