NZXT Rogue LAN Case

The NZXT Rogue also touts tool free drive rails.  My initial look at these gave me smiles and promise but they ended up a huge blemish on an otherwise fantastic case so far.  To explain, these short push in plates allow (in theory) for a drive with them installed to be pushed into the drive bay and locked in place.  Problem one: you have to remove the front bezel (only four Phillips head screws) so you can access the locking screws for the bay covers.  Not a huge deal but nothing that generates love that's for sure.  The upside is that with the bezel removed you can take the drive cage for the 5.25" and 3.5" drives out of the chassis after removal of three more screws.

  

Problem two (the big one); When I when to push the optical drive in with the tool free tabs pushed in place, the drive wouldn't go back all the way.  You can see from the cut of the tab where the locking piece is supposed to fit.  Now the rub.  In the third pic below you see what looks like a pressure tab - well it's not, or at least not on this particular unit.  The pressure tab isn't cut all the way so it acts like a door stop, a solid stop.  Short of drilling this piece out, the tool free tabs are not going to work.  I don't know if this was a manufacturing glitch on this specific case or the entire line but be aware.  Now I don't want to harp too much or hard here as the drives can be screwed in place via the normal screw/screwdriver method easily and quickly.  Having to remove the front bezel still rates a six on the suck scale though.

     

One last observation before we plug it all in.  When I went to reinstall the drive rack back in place I noticed that the floor of the NZXT rogue measured a nice 13" x 10"; easily enough room for a full sized ATX board with its orientation turned to the side.  This isn't a fault of the Rogue just an observation for their engineers to be thinking about another possible option.  That would be called a hint for future design...

Under power

Installation went reasonably smooth (since I didn't use the tool free drive mounts).  Mounting the power supply over the expansion card slot area felt awkward and forced us to use the removable motherboard tray and have the side panels off to tuck cables properly.  With everything in place and juiced we were greeted with a soft purr.  The thick panels appear to insulate some of the sound of the system.  Being that we don't have a sound meter I can't say for certain but it certainly seems that way.  As far as noise generated by the three included 120mm fans, these were for all intensive purposes silent.  Check out the blue CCFL on the edges of the bezel.  Tastefully done.

One last thing before we wrap it up is the included carrying strap.  A webbing frame that attaches via two snap buckles around the Rogue shows you that a custom fit carrier can't be beat.  The straps have a handle up top for hoisting as well as a clip in shoulder strap if so desired.  One side has a mesh pocket that isn't going to allow much storage beyond a few disks but hey, its there.

Conclusion

NZXT's slogan of 'crafted gaming armor' truly fits the Rogue case.  A solid and worthwhile design with extras to make the most demanding user happy.  As far as a highly portable LAN rig it is hard to beat.  Multiple drive bays, it takes extended length VGA cards and power supplies, easy access to the interior components at will all blend with the sturdy looks of this 3mm thick aluminum all business look.  The carrying strap and lighting only add that much more. 

The nonfunctional tool free drive rails were a bit of a disappointment more from being such a blemish on a well engineered and crafted case.  Well engineered except for having to take the front bezel off for removal of the expansion bay covers.  We all have bad days but for the entire design team to all go to sleep at once and let bezel thing go by was just embarrassing.

If NZXT could address the bezel having to be removed and somehow figure a way to have a mainboard mount in at a 90 degree angle allowing full sized ATX boards, the NZXT Rogue could possibly be a top three contender in any class of cases for features, looks and function.  As it stands now, it will have to settle for the best LAN box available at present.  If you gotta settle, settle for best of class!  The NZXT Rogue is the case to have for a portable LAN box.  Pricing at $150 seems fair and for my money, something I would buy for myself and whole heartedly recommend to anyone else.  Thanks to NZXT for sponsoring this review.  Here is a link to the NZXT Rogue at NewEgg for your holiday shoppers.

Pros

• Fantastic looks

• 3mm thick aluminum plates

• Killer air flow

• eSATA

• Can take longer VGA cards like the 8800

• Can accept extended length PSUs

• Tasteful accent lighting

• Five 120mm fan mounts (three fans included)

• Removable motherboard tray

• Side panels and case top are removable

• Removable drive rack

• Best carrying strap I've ever used

Cons

• Optical drive rails

• Front bezel needs to be removed to install externally accessible drives

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