NZXT Lexa Mid-Tower Case
Home : Hardware : Reviews : NZXT Lexa Mid-Tower Case
Another useful innovation in this case: the locking system for expansion cards, reminiscent of the system used by Dell, but completely screwless: just pull out the metal tab in front of the AGP or PCI slot you want to use, pop in the card and press down the locking back that secures the entire expansion card bay and you’re done. This system is definitely a lot easier than messing around with screws and made card installation a breeze.
I did run into two more problems on the way to finishing the installation. First, even though the 5.25 inch bay has notches that allow you to slide in CD-ROM drives with drive rails attached, the design does not include the same convention for floppy drives. The instruction booklet hints at the solution to this problem: it turns out the only way to do so is to pop off the front panel on the case – and putting the panel back on is difficult if you have any drives in the 5.25 inch bay. The best solution would be to design the external 3.5 inch bay the same way as the 5.25 inch bay, but for now, make sure you pop the front panel off before you install any CD-ROM drives.
The second problem is with the included temperature sensors, which read out to an LCD display on the front of the case: they’re unlabeled and there isn’t a very good system of attaching them to components. The lack of labels means that there isn’t a very good way of figuring out which sensor is which, unless you’re willing to hold a sensor against a hot component while the computer is on. As for attaching the sensors to components, the instruction manual suggests using tape, which seems like a risky option when dealing with hot pieces of metal and silicon. Some sort of system of clips might be a better way to go.
All in all, it probably took me about half an hour to put everything in place. It’s clear the Lexa is still a design in progress when it comes to installations – there’s a lot of stuff that makes a builder’s job easier, but there are a few design flaws that the designers need to work out for the next version.
Home : Hardware : Reviews : NZXT Lexa Mid-Tower Case
Along with a completely screwless drive installation system, the Lexa has a 3.5 inch internal drive bay oriented towards the side of the case (instead of the back), making it easier to slide drives in and out. Theoretically you can fit 5 drives into the bay, although I found things got pretty tight with cables with one SATA drive and two IDE drives. Multiple SATA drives might have a more efficient use of space, though. The 3.5 inch internal bay is cooled by its own fan, so you don’t need to worry about overheating drives. 
Much easier to get to a hard drive when it’s facing you.
Another useful innovation in this case: the locking system for expansion cards, reminiscent of the system used by Dell, but completely screwless: just pull out the metal tab in front of the AGP or PCI slot you want to use, pop in the card and press down the locking back that secures the entire expansion card bay and you’re done. This system is definitely a lot easier than messing around with screws and made card installation a breeze.
I did run into two more problems on the way to finishing the installation. First, even though the 5.25 inch bay has notches that allow you to slide in CD-ROM drives with drive rails attached, the design does not include the same convention for floppy drives. The instruction booklet hints at the solution to this problem: it turns out the only way to do so is to pop off the front panel on the case – and putting the panel back on is difficult if you have any drives in the 5.25 inch bay. The best solution would be to design the external 3.5 inch bay the same way as the 5.25 inch bay, but for now, make sure you pop the front panel off before you install any CD-ROM drives.
The second problem is with the included temperature sensors, which read out to an LCD display on the front of the case: they’re unlabeled and there isn’t a very good system of attaching them to components. The lack of labels means that there isn’t a very good way of figuring out which sensor is which, unless you’re willing to hold a sensor against a hot component while the computer is on. As for attaching the sensors to components, the instruction manual suggests using tape, which seems like a risky option when dealing with hot pieces of metal and silicon. Some sort of system of clips might be a better way to go.
All in all, it probably took me about half an hour to put everything in place. It’s clear the Lexa is still a design in progress when it comes to installations – there’s a lot of stuff that makes a builder’s job easier, but there are a few design flaws that the designers need to work out for the next version.
The new rig, assembled and ready to go.
Top Games:
World In Conflict | The Settlers - Rise Of An Empire | Crysis | Medal of Honor: Airborne | Supreme Commander | Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars
Top Cheats:
Test Drive Unlimited cheats | Just Cause cheats | NCAA Football 07 cheats | FlatOut 2 cheats | Dead Rising cheats
© Copyright Gameworld Industries Pty Ltd RSS Feeds | Corp Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact
