Tech Reaction

NZXT Lexa S Review

“We really wanted to offer gamers a solution for under $70 that offers optimal performance with out compromise” said Johnny Hou, Chief Designer at NZXT. “With Lexa S you get enhanced airflow, sleek aesthetics, superior cable management and added features like an SSD bracket.”

Features

• Immense Performance: 5 fan capability ( Front fan, Top 140mm fan, Side 120MM LED fan rear 120mm exhaust included ), fans rated at 43CFM, 23dB(A)
• Fan control: Determine noise and airflow based on your needs, dual intakes and dual exhausts are controlled independently
• Night light: A ambient light over the 5.25? drives give visibility in dark rooms and at LAN parties
• Black on Black: Smoked clear window and a black interior gives the best combination of black on black.
• Meshed front panel allows for more airflow
• NZXT Solid State bracket allows for two SSD drives to be installed
• Wire Routing: Motherboard punched holes allows for quick CPU bracket removable and optimal wire routing.
• Turned HDD also helps with providing a cleaner look.
• Pre-drilled water cooling holes on the backplate
• Side mounted USB, Audio, and E-SATA ports
• Mounting holes for dual radiator at the top
• Removable filter at the bottom PSU

First Looks

The chassis, as expected, in a colorful and attractive box with an eye catching cover art. The caption at the top states the much advertised features.

The chassis itself was safely secured and protected with a plastic dust-cover and hard styrofoam “bookends” to protect the case. The vulnerable parts of the chassis have another protective layer of plastic applied to it, hence it’s quite well packaged.

Accessories bundled seems sparse, unlike a typical kit.

HDD Holders in the box, Black Thumbscrews, Mobo Standoffs, Mounting screws and the Manual.                                                                                                                                                                         Disappointing to note that no zip ties were provided, neither was any vibration dampers for the PSU and such.

A close up of the Black Thumbscrews. Not so black after all. Very unsightly with those Silver screws, should have been blackened.

Exterior of the Chassis

At the front side we have the bezel and can open up a door to access the 4x 5.25″ drive bays and single 3.5″ drive bay. The power On/Off and Reset switch are at each end of the 3.5″ drive bay, and yet again we see the shiny silver against the black. 2 Knobs serving as Fan Controllers are situated just above the Silver NZXT Logo.

A close up of the front. As you can see, there’s no indication of the direction of the speed of the fan controller, which is an obvious lack of details by NZXT.

To the bottom left side of the chassis we spot the front panel connectors. I sort of like this location as they are not in a direct line of sight. Also a handy eSATA connector is to be found here. A pity when I tried inserting 2 USB devices, both could not fit together as the ports are too close too each other. Very disappointing indeed.

The PSU is mounted at the bottom, which makes cable management slightly easier. A regular 120mm exhaust fan is positioned close to the CPU and above it, should you want to opt water-cooling, and need holes for tubing, there are 2 holes available with rubber grommets fitted. Expansion slots and covers are held together by screws and 4 Black Tnumbscrews holds the side panels in place.

The bottom of the case features four hard plastic feet and a perforated mesh that allows the power supply to draw in cool air from outside of the case.  Obviously, this only works with power supplies that feature a bottom mounted intake. A dust filter is included too, very thoughtful.

Interior of the Chassis

So here we can see the innards of the chassis. Black coated interior, very nicely done.Wiring looks very messy. You’ll spot a couple of Molex connector, these are used to power up the front LEDs and the Fan controller situated in the front. For the fans you can use Molex and 3-pin connectors, meaning the fans are PWM controlled, very important as if you need a little more silence you can control these fans.

Back of the chassis. Notice the cut out on the motherboard tray, great convenience for installation of coolers. Also, various cable management holes have been pre cut and fitted with rubber grommets, nicely designed

The much advertised SSD Bracket. Mounting it to the HDD bays is very easy, simply attach the included HDD holders and slot it in securely. With the capacity to hold 2 SSDs, this is indeed a unique feature.

A close up of the exhaust 120mm fan. The white blades coupled with the black frame is very attractive. There are 4 of such fans, 1 each at the top, rear, front and side with specs rated 43cCFM and 28db(A).

Here’s the removable front panel. Removing it is simple, just tug with a bit of force at the four ends to remove, very much like a Lian Li. Removing it reveals yet another mess of cables, this time from the Fan Controller and the front panel. The wires can be easily remove if not in use too.                                                                                                                                                   We can see that the drive bays covers have foam backing on each of them, possibly to trap dusts. A minor detail, yet taken care well.

Final Pictures

Conclusion

As this chassis has just been released recently, there isn’t much reviews out in the market yet. However, it is clearly seen that the highlight of this chassis is of course the overall design of it and the exceptional price/performance ratio that it delivers.

Notable features includes the SSD holder, the fan controller, the motherboard tray cut out, the cable management holes and the 4 included sexy fans.

Some improvements could be at the accessories bundled ( at least bundle a few zip ties ), the indication of the fan controller,  a swap to full black thumbscrews would be good too.

The NZXT Lexa S is currently available for an MSRP of $69.99.