NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review-Hi Tech Legion-NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review

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NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review

Written by Ron Gillespie -Wulfric-

Wednesday, 27 January 2010 19:59

Page 9 of 9

Conclusion

Gamma Case provided by NZXT

No compensation was received for this review.

Price Point

Price: $44.99 USD

Class: Entry

With a price of just $44.99 USD the Gamma falls into the Entry level category.

Performance

Although the system will support up to six fans, I ran OCCT using the default configuration as the system comes out-of-box with just the one case fan installed. In idle mode, the overall system temperature was 42C. This number barely fluctuated, occasionally peaking at 50C, though quickly returning to normal. Each hard drive had an idle temp of 44C and, under stress, peaked at 47C. The CPU temperature was the most interesting. While idle, its temperature was detected at 53C. Yet, under stress, it stayed consistently between 81C – 84C and peaked at 84C. This is a massive difference of 31 degrees. (Stock Cooling)

However, despite the high temperature and the stress test, the system was still responsive to mouse movement with little lag time when trying to open an image file. Because the CPU temperature stayed consistent throughout the stress test and the system was still responsive, it is indicative all temperatures were within normal parameters. Upon completion of the test, the CPU took approximately two minutes to return to starting temperature.

Reviewer's Opinion

For an entry level case, you get a lot of bang for your buck with the NZXT Gamma. Not only is it built for ventilation, it is also quite light-weight. Out of box, it weighed just over 11 pounds, making it a perfect case to take to LAN parties if you are not going to bog your system down with a lot of hardware.

The only real drawback to this case is that it does not have any external 3.5” bays for the addition of a media reader, which are becoming prevalent in today’s systems. It is missing some of the features high-end cases have, such as screwless installation and insulation against noise. Because the case is so open for ventilation, there is the possibility of excessive noise with multiple fans installed. The buyer would have to be aware and make sure to buy noiseless fans.

Although the front faceplate is easily removable, it would have been nice to already have a front fan installed. With a six fan capacity, that still leaves the end-user plenty of options for cooling customization.

Bottom line: whether you are using the Gamma for a top-secret government experiment or just to play the latest MMORPG, you really cannot go wrong with this case. Once again NZXT has proven that just because a case might be considered entry-level, does not mean you have to sacrifice quality and features. P.S. Neither HTL nor NZXT can be held liable if you turn into a green behemoth. If that happens, you might want to check your math.

Pros