Hardware Review
NZXT Duet Case
HTPC cases are now becoming very popular in living rooms. It's also an important product line for many computer case manufacturers. With this in mind, NZXT has released their first HTPC case, the NZXT Duet. We would like to thank the NZXT team for making this review possible.
We have reviewed several cases from NZXT before. However, this is the first time we'll be reviewing an HTPC case. The NZXT Duet is designed to be both vertical and horizontal positioning. Now let's take a closer look on the case.
Our review sample came in a NZXT Duet retail box via UPS. Inside the box, the case was nicely packed in a clear plastic supported with Styrofoam. The Duet is a steel case with an aluminum front panel. The aluminum door is held up with two magnets and is controlled by a gear to open and close the cover. Behind the panel is where you'll find the reset button and the two 5.25" and one 2.5" drive bays.
Here are a few detailed specs of the NZXT Duet case.
| MODEL | DUET |
| CASE TYPE | MID TOWER HOME THEATER/DESKTOP CHASSIS |
| Motherboard Support | ATX, MICRO-ATX, BABY AT |
| Power Supply | 400 WATT PS2 ATX 12V ( OPTIONAL ) |
| DRIVE BAYS |
2 EXTERNAL 5.25" DRIVE BAYS 1 EXTERNAL 3.5 " DRIVE BAYS 3 INTERNAL 3.5" DRIVE BAYS SCREWLESS RAIL DESIGN For 5.25" and 3.5" Bays |
| Expansion Slots | 7 |
| Side Open | Yes |
| I/O Interface | USB x2, Fire wire, Audio input & output |
| Cooling Fans |
Bottom, 1 X 80 mm Fan (Optional) REAR, 2 X 80 mm Fans Included SIDE PANEL, 2 X 120mm Fans ( Optional ) |
| Dimensions (DxWxH) | 455 X 148 X 455 mm |
Click the image to see it full view...
The motherboard installation was very straight forward and simple. For the motherboard, we used a micro ATX case. Two small exhaust fans are included at the back of the case. They spin at a very low RPM rate, making the noise acceptable during its usage. The NZXT Duet has two front accessible 5.25" drive bays. You would need to take the front panel out for the drives to be installed. Installations of the drives are completely tool free with the two drive rails provided. For the 3.5" inch drive bay, we decided to put in a fan controller with built in temperature monitor. A series of color coded cables connect the front panel ports as well as the motherboard connectors. The front panel ports include two USB ports, Firewire and two 3.5mm jacks for the headphone and microphone.
Click the image to see it full view...
The PSU bay is placed towards the front of the case. A power cable runs through the inside the case and leads to a power connector located at the back of the case. We used a standard PSU with a 120mm fan. The side panel of the case has exhaust holes for the hot air to come out. Space became a bit of an issue when I started to place the rest of components. We were planning to place our ATI 9700 Pro with an Artic Cooling Accelero passive cooler. However, the depth of the cooler was too much and it wouldn't allow us to place the side panel. We have instead placed a spare GeForce 5950 Ultra that we have. The GeForce 5950 was considerably longer than the ATI 9700 Pro, we were concerned that there wasn't enough room between the card and the PSU. With some cable adjustments, the card did fit in. We placed an extra 120mm case fan on the side of the case to help with air circulation.
With everything in place, the inside of the case is somewhat very tight. We would recommend using a modular PSU to install on this case, to make things a bit easier to install and organize. We also thought that the side panels somewhat scratch fairly easily, so be careful when handling the side panels. The case was fairly silent when we turned on the computer and the ambient temperature inside the case was about 36 degrees. Overall, though not perfect, we found the NZXT Duet to be a very well designed case. We would've liked to have seen the case be a bit more scratch resistant as well as an easier way to access to the drive bays. We give the NZXT Duet case a score of 8 out of 10.
Pros:
Dual orientation
Nice compact design
Screwless drive mounting system
Shinny case finish
Cons:
No removable motherboard tray
Interior can get pretty cramped
Manufacturer Link:
