NZXT M59 case is best described as an aggressive looking case with interesting features and a high build quality.

INTRODUCTION

To me, NZXT’s lineup of cases is rather typical for most case manufacturers with several product lines with different characteristics and price levels. A couple of months back I took a look at the NZXT Beta which is a case from one of NZXT’s lower priced series. The case which I will review today, the NZXT M59 is part of their “Classic” series which is a step up from the lower budget models.

The NZXT M59 is a medium range case which is oriented towards PC builders interested in modding. Here are the specifications:

As you can see from the specifications you get a lot of nice features with this case even though it is only a medium range case. I am especially intrigued by the cooling system which can be really extensive if you install fans at all the possible places.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

NZXT uses the catch phrase “Cool Clean Black” on the card board box in which the M59 case comes in. I am prepared to agree.

The included accessories are: a printed manual; anchorages for the 3.5 units and all the screws of different types.

NZXT M59 IN DETAIL, THE OUTSIDE

If I had to choose two things worth mentioning about the design of the NZXT M59, then I would choose the front and the side window. These two characteristics really define the case and make it stand out from the crowd.

The front of the M59 is mostly made of plastic. NXZT has placed the power buttons and the front connectors in the middle angled slightly upwards. Above the connectors there are some 5.25” expansion bays and below the connectors there is a metallic grid behind which a 120mm fan is placed by default.

The front expansion bays are illuminated by a LED light at the top of the case.

The left side is equipped with a window of rather big dimensions which really shows off the inside of the case. NZXT has also added a 120mm LED fan which is located on about the same height where the graphics card will be placed.

As you can see from the shot of the back of the case, the PSU is placed at the bottom of it. At the very top you can see the two pre drilled holes for installation of liquid cooling. Directly below those two holes there’s a 120mm fan. The backside is covered with a metal grid in most places to facilitate the cooling of the case.

In the ceiling of the M59, NXZT has made it possible to mount two 120mm or 140mm fans. As I said above, the power supply goes in the bottom of the case. As you can see from the image below, there’s a metallic grid intended to work as the air intake for the PSU. This air intake is protected by a dust filter which is a nice detail.

The rubber feet of the M59 give the case a bigger elevation over the floor than what I am used to see with other cases. I guess the intention with the higher feet is to facilitate for the PSU to draw in fresh air from the floor.

NZXT M59 IN DETAIL, the INTERIOR

I took of both sides to investigate the inside of the case. Apart from the window and the fan on the left side there’s not much to talk about.

A good thing about the included case fans is that they have several different types of connectors which facilitate the wiring and the administration of the fans.

I really like that the interior of the case is painted in black because it will make the system look cooler through the side window once it’s running. Another detail which I appreciated at first sight was that the motherboard back plate is very well thought through with hollows for the cable management and another hollow for where the CPU will be placed which makes it easier if you ever need to remove the CPU cooler.

I wouldn’t say that the case is small inside but the max graphics card length it can support is 290mm, which means that Radeon 5970 will not fit.

You can fit in a total of seven 3.5” units in the front bays which is not bad at all. I like that NZXT has turned the bays 90 degrees which makes it easier to work with the drives (5 units fit in this drive bay). NXZT has included a 2.5” adapter which may come in handy if you want to build a system with a SSD startup drive.

The NZXT M59 has four 5.25” bays of which 3 are equipped with anti-dust filters. The forth is covered by a black plate which is intended to be fastened on the drive front. This means that you can use a drive of any color and it will still look good.

There’s quite a lot of wiring coming from the front connectors and the power and reset buttons, we’ll see later if it causes a problem.

The PSU will rest on four rubber pivot points which serves as vibration dampeners. Above the PSU you can see the seven expansions slots. Note that all the expansion slots have back plates that allow air to pass through.

On top of the expansion slots there’s another 120mm fan of the same type as the one in the left side.

It’s possible to place two 140mm or 120mm fans in the ceiling of the case.

The M59 has a cable management system as you can see from the image above. There’s room for another 120mm fan in the lower part of the front, just below the front panel connectors.

INSTALLING HARDWARE IN the NZXT M59

The installation of the hard drive is facilitated by two adapters which you fasten on the sides of the hard drive and then you just slide the drive into place. The installation of the optical drive is similarly easy thanks to the screws which you can fasten with your hands, i.e. no screw drive is needed (check the accessories above).

The installation of the rest of the components didn’t give me any problems at all. The case feels fairly spacious and all the small smart innovations in this case helps a lot, like the fact that there’s hole in the motherboard back plate where the CPU goes.

I would say that I ended up with quite a clean looking installation thanks to the cable management system. Check out the images below to see what the case looks like in operation. I personally liked the blue LEDs in action.

In operation both case fans were so quiet I didn’t feel it was necessary to use any kind of fan control system.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the second case from NZXT that I have reviewed and I am as impressed with this one as I was with the first. I feel the biggest benefit with the NXZT cases is all the smart innovations which make them so pleasant to work with.

Another remarkable thing about the M59 case is of course its somewhat unusual design. I’m sure that it’s not for everyone but I love the aggressiveness in its design. It looks especially good when it’s running in a dark room.

The price for this case is around $60 which I think is very good considering all the extra features it holds. I cannot do anything else but give the NZXT M59 my highest recommendations.

Pros:

• Interesting design
• Excellent finish
• Spacious (although it’s not compatible with Radeon HD 5970)
• Extensive cooling system
• Good cable management system
• Excellent price

Cons:

• None

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “NZDT M59″ our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to NZXT for letting me review this case.

Check out our case category for alternatives!

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: The AeroCool Vx-e Pro is directed towards the gaming market with outstanding features such as the advanced cooling system with an integrated cooler controller and of course the aggressive design.

AeroCool has been around for quite a while. They are well known for their cooling solutions, their multifunction front panels and their cases. Their most recent launch is the “PGS”-series (Performance Gaming System) which includes a total of 5 families of products: VALUE; Professional; Aluminum; Ultimate Gaming and Compact. So far only the “VALUE”-series is official with 5 different models.

INTRODUCTION

The case that AeroCool has sent us is one of the more extreme gaming cases in the VALUE line, the “Vx-e Pro”. With the VALUE-line, AeroCool tries to reach out to advanced users by providing them with complete solutions of quality but with a reasonable price tag. Let’s take a look at the specifications of the Vx-e Pro:

The specifications for this case are interesting to say the least. What really caught my attention was the extra room given to PCI cards. With a free length of 307mm we will be able to install any of the currently available high end cards on the market.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

OK, so let’s take a quick look at the packaging. The case comes in a quite discreet cardboard box. On the backside, AeroCool has printed some of the specifications of the case in different languages.

When we opened the box, we found the case perfectly protected by the usual white protective material and a plastic bag. The box arrived to us without any marks or bruises so this protection seems to be enough for postal transport.

The accessories that AeroCool has included with the case are not much to speak about, a mounting kit (5.25” to 3.5” adapter), three bags of screws in different sizes and a manual.

AEROCOOL VX-E PRO: OUTSIDE

At first sight of the case, my first thought was the aggressive design of the case. It really brings me then years back in time, when cases looked somewhat like this. Extra everything. But that is not to say it looks out of date or anything, in my opinion the design is quite is nice.

The front has a total of 5 external bays, 4 of them are 5.25” and one is 3.5”. Below the expansion bays, AeroCool has placed a 140mm fan with blue illumination with the looks of an airplane turbine. The fan is slightly tilted which gives it a nice touch and also helps the air flow to go slightly upwards into the case. This should help the circulation and the overall cooling performance, excellent idea.

In the upper part, above the expansion bays, AeroCool has installed another entry point of air, but I guess it will have little effect without any dedicated fan drawing air into the case from it. The top of the box has the Power and Reset switches and the fan controller. The fan controller has three modes: “Off”, “60%” and “100%”. They have also placed to very convenient USB 2.0 ports and a microphone and a headphones outlet. Behind these controls, they have placed a grid which should give provide some dust filtration for the two 120mm fans placed below them.

Moving over to the left side of the case (viewed from the front), we find a generous opening for the 200mm fan installed on the interior side of the side panel. If you flip the case over and take a look at the bottom side, you will find two more fan openings, one for the PSU and one for a 120mm fan. Sadly, if the PSU is of normal size, it will prevent us from installing the 120mm fan.

AEROCOOL VX-E PRO: INTERIOR

OK, so let’s take the clothes of this baby. When completely disassembling the box, we see the hollows for the two 120mm fans (or one of 140mm), which can be installed in the ceiling of the case. The cables from the top panels come out from a small hole next to one of the fan slots in the ceiling of the case.

Behind the front panel I noticed that there is a free space, i.e. possible space for liquid cooling radiator. Of course, the amount of DVD-drives and hard drives you install will perhaps limit the possibilities for this.

Because the PSU is placed at the bottom of the case, the possibilities of distributing the wiring are quite interesting with this case. Another one of the interesting aspects of this case is the hole which lets us change the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard, great!

In the back side of this case we found a pretty standard distribution of holes for PSU, motherboard, a 120mm fan and the PCI expansion slots. As we mentioned earlier, the only thing that’s abnormal about the backside of this case is the placing of the PSU. The fastening of all the installed expansion cards with only one screw is new to me.

Given all the extra components of this case, we are talking about a lot of wires. This means it will be difficult to get a clean install that lets the air flow through the case.

MOUNTING THE SYSTEM IN THE VX-E PRO

The assembly of the system was as easy as with most ATX cases, thanks to the good spacing. The only problem I had was with the wiring. On the right side of the case the free space between the bottom plate and the right side panel is totally insufficient to pass larger cables, which forced me to leave them just hanging on the inside.

I really liked the space available for graphics cards, since for example the Radeon HD 2900 XT that I used in the assembly has sufficient free space.

Check out the pictures above to see what the case looks like in action when it’s dark. The fan control system works very well and I like the placement of the buttons on top of the case for easy reach. The 3 fans standard to the AeroCool Vx-e Pro are rather quiet as long as you don’t run them in the max mode.

CONCLUSIONS

AeroCool has succeeded in producing a nice looking and good performing gaming case with a cheap price tag. I did find some annoyances which I hope AeroCool will fix for their next series. One must remember that this case is from their “VALUE” line with a price tag around $80 (50 Euro), which means there is room for much improvements for their next level series.

To me, the Vx-e Pro is aesthetically excellent, with a nice finish and giving me both an aggressive and sober impression at the same time. The internal distribution of the box is very good. I was especially pleased by the extra room given to large graphics cards and the possibility of putting a liquid cooling solution in the front of the case. One thing I didn’t like was the wiring in the case; I just didn’t find it to be well thought through.

Overall, this is a very good case; especially the price/features (price/performance) ratio is impressive. I am really looking forward to see more from Aero Cool’s PGS series.

The final score is 92.5 out of 100 owls, and we give the “AeroCool Vx-e Pro” our Editor’s Choice Award.

Check out more cool gaming chassis over at our Cases category. Here are some popular alternatives:

• Cooler Master HAF 932
• Antec Skeleton
• Antec Twelve Hundred

Thanks to AeroCool for letting us review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson