Like the previous very high-end case from Zalman, Fatal1ty, we were very impressed by the overall quality of this new Z-Machine case from Zalman. The material used is top-notch (5-mm thick aluminum) and it brings two advantages over Fatal1ty case: the side door is now divided into two panels, making it easier to open the case and allowing you to add or remove drives without needing to open the whole case, and there are now six internal bays for hard disk drives, against three on Fatal1ty. Since hard-core gamers are now running very high-end RAID systems, the more internal bays, the better: three is simply not enough for anyone running RAID10 or RAID0+1, where four drives are required.

The internal hard disk drive bays are definitely the highlight of this product. First they are rotated, making it easier to access them. Secondly, they use a special screwless mechanism, allowing you to install and remove hard disk drives very easily.

Even though the front panel features two USB ports and one Firewire port, we think Zalman could have added an eSATA port there – especially when we consider the price range of this baby. Adding an eSATA port seems to be the new trend with high-end cases.

The major problem with this case will be its price tag. Fatal1ty is quoted around USD 350 and this case should reach the market costing even more, making it affordable only for the very rich.

If you are like 99.9% of the people around there are other very high-end cases from other manufacturers that will probably provide you the same experience costing less than half of this.