Introduction
Korea-based Zalman is one of the most respectable cooler and case manufacturers in the world. Their fame came thru the use of only top-notch materials and innovative solutions, especially their passive cooling products. Their latest release that should be reaching the market pretty soon is their new all-aluminum case, under the Fatal1ty franchise. We had the chance to take a good look on this new Zalman case.
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Figure 1: Zalman Fatal1ty case.
As you can see on Figure 1, Fatal1ty case is a top-notch black all-aluminum case. According to Zalman, it is all hand-made, using thick 5-mm aluminum sheets. It has a transparentch side window, two 92-mm fans on the front (not 80-mm as usual) and one 120-mm fan at its back, four external 5 ¼” bays and one external 3 ½” bay.
On its frontal panel you will find a power button, a reset button, a speaker jack, a microphone jack, two USB ports and one Firewire port.
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Figure 2: Front panel.
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Figure 3: Zalman Fatal1ty case, rear view.
Let’s take a look inside this case.
Inside Zalman Fatal1ty Case
Opening the case we can see something very different from what other manufacturers are doing: Zalman added a pair of hinges, making you to open the case side panel like a regular door. It also doesn’t use screws, making it very easy to open the case.
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Figure 4: Opening Zalman Fatal1ty case.
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Figure 5: Inside Zalman Fatal1ty case.
What is very unique about this case design is its three hard disk drive bays. These bays are 90-degree rotated, making it easier for you to install hard disk drives inside this case. It is not only the position of the bays that helps us to install hard disk drives. These bays use a different mechanism where no screw is necessary for us to install our hard disk drives. The only drawback of these bays is that there are only three of them, so if you have more than three hard disk drives you won’t be able to install all of them.
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Figure 6: Hard disk drive bays.
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Figure 7: Installing a hard disk drive.
Main Features
Fatal1ty main specs include:
- Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one.
- Material: All-aluminum.
- Available colors: Black.
- Size: N/A
- Weight: N/A
- Bays: Four 5 ¼” bays and one 3 ½” bay plus three 3 ½” internal bays with screwless mechanism.
- Expansion slots: Seven.
- Fans: Three, two 92-mm fans at the front and one 120-mm fan at the rear.
- More Information: http://www.zalmanusa.com
- Average price in the US: This product isn’t available yet.
Conclusions
We were very impressed by the overall quality of the new Fatal1ty case from Zalman. The material used is top-notch and the use of two hinges and a latch makes it very easy to open the case.
The hard disk drive bays are one of the highlights 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 in less than 5 seconds. The hard disk drive bays are actually one of the flaws of this case. As only three of them are available, you will have trouble to install more than three hard disk drives in this case.
This product isn’t on the market yet, so we don’t know its exact price. Probably it will come with a sour price tag, on the USD 200 range, we think. So this terrific product is reserved for very special people that demand only the best and can afford having the best.
Originally at http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/376
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