Zalman Z-Machines GT 1000 Case

Installation

Installation went with pleasure.  I'm not saying this lightly.  I'm a cable and all round chassis neat freak.  The double doors on each side of the chassis allowed easy access to components for installation and cable routing.  Looks were also deceiving in the case of the HDD cage.  The cutaways and open areas on the cage itself allowed me to route power and SATA cables through with ease which is far from the case with many drive cages.  Under power, the red fans give off what seems to be just the right amount of light for effect without being overpowering.  No one wants a case that is brighter than the monitor next to it.  BTW, the bluish light in the pic below is coming off a blue LED fan on the CPU cooler to avoid confusion.  One last thing about the fans is the noise.  Low but not silent sound level.  About on par as other performance oriented cases.

Conclusion

Wow!  What a case.  The Zalman GT 1000 certainly does raise the bar.  The truly tool free optical and 3.5" drive mounting systems were the best I have EVER seen.  Aside from ease of use, the HDD mounting on the floor and in the cage itself was lush with vibration dampening that did its job well under power.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I think Zalman has a nice mark set.  This is accomplished by making the thick aluminum walled construction easy to pick out which says solid, high end craftsmanship.  The looks are also augmented by the oval area for the two 92mm LED case fans in the front bezel.  Initially, I was surprised to not see a dust filter here.  After testing, I installed a DIY dust filter favorite, a small sheet of foam attached over the fans with a rubber band.  This took away from the case's appearance quite a bit.  So much so in fact that I took it off opting for the clean lines over the practicality of the dust filter.

Weight is an issue and at 25 pounds, case handles would have been nice.  Short of this one point there is nothing negative to say about the Zalman GT 1000.  If I were to design my own case, it would be just like this.  Now we come to price.  At just under $400, the Zalman GT 1000 is not for the faint hearted or the faint-wallet.  After a lot of consideration, I asked myself "Would I spend $400 of my own money on it?"  My answer was reasonably quick; yes I would.  The Zalman Z-Machine GT 1000 is the best case that has ever come through our doors.  With that being over a hundred case reviews under our belts, that is saying something.  If the $400 price tag is in your budget, this case will not disappoint. 

Pros

• Fantastic looks

• Thick aluminum panels

• Best tool free optical mounting EVER

• Best tool free hard drive mounting EVER

• Removable mainboard tray

• Double doors for each panel

• Superb construction quality

• Vibration dampening throughout

Cons

• Price out of a lot of people's budgets

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