NZXT Guardian Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Case 921RB-BL
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- Constant Temperature Monitoring: Three temperature probe monitoring system allows the user to constantly gauge thermals within the system at all times to prevent overheating
- Multimedia and peripheral inputs: E-SATA, Intel HD audio, mic, and two USB inputs are standards with the Guardian 921 allowing for maximum peripheral input
- Silent Cooling: Comes standard with 3 120mm fans installed to maximize cooling performance with minimal noise
- Updated Design: The all new Guardian 921 RB features a bottom mounted PSU, CPU heatsink cutout, and an extra slot for a 140mm fan at the top for more cooling performance. The all new Guardian 921 RB comes in both red/blue LED combinations
- Spacious Interior and Solid Construction: Built from solid .88mm and 1.00mm steel, the Guardian 921 gives the user ample space for large, high-end video cards and space for up to four internal hard drives
NZXT Crafted Series Design: NZXT’s latest addition to the Crafted Series takes cues from gaming culture with elegant curves and a newly designed clear side panel. Building off of the original Guardian’s success, the Guardian 921RB features a robust set of features for the budget conscious PC Gamer. Designed with a futuristic and sleek curves, the Guardian 921RB is the perfect chassis to show off your gaming chassis.
Nzxt Computer Cases
NZXT Guardian Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Case 921RB-BL
List Price: $ 76.00
Price:
Solid, spacious and sexy,
This case has been sitting on my desk – yes, ON, not under or beside – for over six months now, and I still get a thrill each time I look at it. The sleek finish, the cool blue lighting… What’s not to love? It’s gorgeous, and carries a sense of imposing power with absolute style and finesse. The lighting built into the side and front fans is very understated, barely more than an accent, but that may work fine for those who like a more subtle approach to their tower’s lighting. Myself, I like it to stand out like an alien mothership, so I use the Logisys 12″ Cold Cathode Case Lights (Blue) kit to really make this bad boy shine.
The design is excellent; I really can’t praise it enough. Installation of all the parts was an absolute breeze, with everything fitting exactly as it should, no tough screw holes or misaligned bits to be found. The hard drive bays are one of this case’s best features: they have a clip-in design, with absolutely no screw mounting necessary! Plug-and-play never meant so much. Equally as thrilling is the roughly quarter-inch space behind the inner back panel (on which the motherboard is mounted) and the outer one. Yes, there is in fact a gap there, and with good reason: there are three oval-shaped “feed holes,” so that you can actually THREAD YOUR POWER CABLES THROUGH THE GAP BEHIND THE BACK PANEL!! Keeping the interiour cabling ultra-tidy like this not only makes the management and replacing of parts much easier, but it drastically improves airflow to keep the guts running cold.
Space isn’t an issue either, not by a long shot. I had purchased the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus heatsink and CPU cooler, and was worried that it might be a bit too tall to fit into the case, since that was the common complaint with that particular item. As it happens, however, I was thrilled and astounded to find that it not only fit, but fit with a good quarter-inch or more to spare! Between this superiour cooler, the excellent airflow allowed by the “hidden” power cables, the three fans which come pre-installed in the case (!) and the fact that the bulky PSU gets mounted at the BOTTOM of the case – out of the way of the hot air rising from the CPU – my CPU has never reached 50°C, not even after a four-hour stress test in Prime95.
Getting a handle on the heat inside the case is made particularly easy by the pre-installed trio of small temperature sensors which give a constant readout on a small LED display on the top of the case’s front. Mounting them is a bit of a fiddly task, since they have no detectable adhesive or any kind, but with a small amount of forethought I was able to successfully mount one on my CPU cooler, hard drive (SSD to be specific), and PSU. I have no way of confirming the latter two, but the temperature sensor mounted on the CPU cooler never varies by more than ±2°C from the results given to me by CoreTemp, so I trust that the other two are just as accurate.
All in all, this is a fine case, quite possibly the best in the $50-$100 price range. The side panel window is admittedly a rather brittle plastic, and I wouldn’t recommend putting it somewhere where it could easily be kicked, punched or otherwise abused. Similarly, the hinged front panel that covers the drive bays and gives the case its distinctive shape is entirely plastic, and should be opened with care to avoid stressing the hinges, but these are all just precautions. Overall, the NZXT Guardian 921 is a solid, brilliantly designed and beautifully constructed case. I have no regrets, and I doubt that you would either.
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|Hoping to hear from NZXT soon,
Ok two days after fully installing computer in this case the front Y shaped blue LED’s stopped functioning. Now this doesn’t cause any problems with the functionality of the case but does affect the look of it. I am giving three stars because as of today I haven’t heard back from NZXT, the company who makes this product. I don’t want to return the item because it works but was trying to get in contact with NZXT to help me replace the front LED’s and can’t get in touch with them. I will adjust my rating depending on what kind of response, if any, I receive. Can’t say great case, but it is good. No good place to hide wires but everything else is ok.
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|nice mid-tower case,
case works great. plenty of space.
comes with three fans, aren’t the quietest out there, but on econ mode, they are fine. the middle fan on the side panel can be both positive and negative. positive: it sits “generally” on the graphics card slots for most mobos, so u can get some air to them. negative: it’s a bit thick, so it may prevent proper installation if you have a decent sized cpu cooler (air). i have a cooler master hyper 212 plus, and it hits the fan. went out and got a scythe slim.
the lcd temp gauge up front/top is a nice feature. not sure if i need a hhd or sys. maybe on for gpu would be nice.
mobo could use a 0.5 ~ 1mm shim, rear panel is a tiny tiny bit off.
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